Substack tells me this is too long for email, so do read on the app or website!
On Saturday I went for my quasi-annual trip to Our Lady of Fernyhalgh. I have been fond of Our Lady since my conversion to Catholicism many years ago and she has silently guided me down the years.
This place is largely unknown in England, even in northern England (Lancashire), where it is located. I’d never heard of it until I bought a book in July 2021 about the pilgrim places of Britain, and discovered this place was close by, at a place called Ladyewell (yes, the name gives you a clue!).
The word “halgh” (usually but not always pronounced “halsh”) is still used in northern English and always refers to a woody, damp and secluded area, deeper than the surrounding terrain - sometimes a gully or small valley. This part of the world has, in places, a temperate rainforest which includes a lot of ferns, so the name Fernyhalgh refers to both of these. The well itself is deeper than the surrounding ground and there is a ferny and deep part of the shrine in which they have built a stations of the cross.
The place had a chapel before the English Reformation of the mid-sixteenth century; one record (post-Reformation so a bit suspect) indicates a chapel was built there by a shipwrecked merchant giving thanks for his safe return home. But it seems likely that a shrine was there earlier; archaeological exploration of the well area suggests anglo-saxon or even Roman presence. The old Roman road is very close by (now the M6 motorway) and there are many holy wells in northern England with a similar provenance - they may go back into the Iron Age. Miracles have been reported at the well over the years but it’s not nearly as prolific as Lourdes!
After the Reformation, the chapel was destroyed but Catholics continued to meet at the well and in the 17th century a new chapel was built, disguised as a house - a common tactic in those days to avoid unwanted government attention.
As Catholics became more and more tolerated during the 18th century, a new church was built a quarter of a mile away to accommodate more pilgrims. I will give you a tour of that remarkable church later in this post. But first a quick tour of the shrine.
Here’s a picture of the well area; it’s now capped, with a trapdoor in the middle so you can stand above the well. A nearby tap provides water from the well for drinking.