Rebecca's Well

The fields around Crazies Hill (near Wargrave) are some of our favourite places to walk, but there is one part we don't always include to our normal loop.  This evening I decided we would go a little further and take a look at Rebecca's Well.  It's very well hidden unless you know exactly where to find it.  

The well was built after money was raised by the newly appointed Curate in 1870.  Previous to this the poor villagers sourced their water from what was often a muddy spring in these woods.  When the Reverend Grenville Phillimore was appointed to the village as Curate he was shocked at the conditions and so raised funds and arranged to have a basin fitted to prevent contamination from the mud.  The well house was built later to keep out leaves and was designed by the famous garden designer, Gertrude Jekyll.  

The artwork on the well house is from the biblical story of Rebecca (or Rebekah) from Genesis 24.  Abraham sent his servant back to his family home to find a wife for his son Isaac.  The Servant meets Rebekah at the well of Nahor and after willingly providing water for him and ALL his camels (fulfilling the sign he had asked God for), he asks her to come back with him to marry Isaac. 

The inscriptions on the well (actually from Chaucer?) (seen better in the Extra photo):

"Rebeka and the Servant of Abraham at the well of Nahor" 

"And the servant ran to meet her and said let I pray thee drink a little water of thy pitcher"

A more detailed history, including WHY it was actually called Rebecca's well (instead of the previous Rebra's Well) can be found here and here.  


For something COMPLETELY different - the other extra photo of the 3 cyclists.  These are three local guys I know who I bumped into at the beginning of our walk, and again at the very end.  Quite worthy of a blip themselves, but I'm afraid Rebekah's well won out!