Saint · Binsey
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Healing water, blind prince, and a very deep well.
See it clearly
Churchyard of St Margaret's, at the end of Binsey Lane; open grounds. Check before you go.
A prince struck blind, a princess on the run, and a spring that healed him. Alice's treacle well is real.
In the churchyard of little St Margaret's, Binsey, steps lead down to a stone-lined holy well. Legend says the Saxon princess Frideswide fled here to escape marrying the Mercian prince Algar. He was struck blind by lightning while hunting for her. Her prayers made a healing spring rise, and its water cured his eyes. Medieval pilgrims came for healing; a 'treacle' meant a healing balm. Lewis Carroll took the word for the Dormouse's 'treacle-well' in Alice. The well was blocked in 1639 and restored in 1874.