Maesbury Walk.

Once we had winded at the head of navigation and returned to the moorings at Maesbury Marsh we decided to go for a walk round the local sites.

St. John The Babtist Church is situated right on the border between Maesbury Marsh and Maesbury and is  on of a diminishing number of tin tabernacles remaining. Corrugated iron was first used  for roofing about 1829, after the method of making it was found, plus a little later the galvanising was carried out to make it last. The first portable buildings were for sale in 1832, mainly for export at that time. This particular church was bought from Harrod's for £120 around 1906. It arrived on the back of a lorry as a flat pack and two men erected it. There was no Anglican Church close by at the time, however it wasn't until 1996 that it became a parish in its own right.

It is a lovely building that is open for viewing. The interior is almost the same as when it was built, other than the 14 pews that were made by the carpenters at the local Gobowen College in the 1950's and 60's. A few years ago there was a great need for a repair of the building, not the iron but the window frames, doors etc etc. They have managed to have this done so the building will last another 100 years.

From this angle Sycamore House does look very similar to the Beech House that is opposite the Ellesmere Junction. That was used by Thomas Telford when working on the and became the Canal head quarters. Strange that they are both named after trees. It was originally called the Wharfingers House and was built about 1830. It Gade II Listed now.

The Navigation Inn is an unusual building. As was seen in yesterday's blog the end of the building nearest the canal was definitely a warehouse. From the road it looks line the entrance near the pub sign may well have been the entrance to the pub and the porch entrance looks like it could have been a shop.

It was a hot day for a walk and the sheep were keen to find some shade in the hedge bottoms. 'Mad Dogs and Englishmen' and all that.

We had seen a name on the map, not too far from the canal so we decided to go and see what it was. The path was over fields and then into the shade of a small wood.

We were looking for St. Winifred's Well. We thought that it would be just a bubbling up out of the ground. St. Winifred was a 7th Century Welsh Princess who had sworn to a life of chastity. The story goes that after refusing a suitor she was running to seek refuge in the church when the angry suitor chopped her head off! Her Uncle was St Beuno and he was said to have brought her back to life. She was well loved in the area that it is no surprise that a well was named after her. The building has been dated as from about 1485 by tree ring dating. The spring was more than likely a place of pilgrimage before that and the taking of the water was likely thought to be a curative and a restorative.

There are three pools, the oldest being the smallest. You can see a niche above the spring that probably held a statue to the saint.

The second oldest pool has been used as a plunge pool with steps built for access. Large modifications were undertaken in 17th Century and maybe this happened then. It was used as a court house until 1824 when it was converted to a residence and the wattle and daub walls infilled with bricks.

It is such a cute building about 100 mtrs down a path from the road. The pigsty that was built when it became a residence is now the bathroom and is just out of shot to the left. In 1928 it was bought by the West Felton Vicar from the farmer and it has been passed down in his family until 1987 when it was sold to the Landmark Trust who preserve old and interesting buildings, and many of which are rented out for holiday lets. This one can be had for around £230 for three nights, but what an unusual place and beautifully furnished.