Little John's Well (see map, circa 1854)
I remember going to Little John's Well as a boy with my friends, this is situated on the A638 road from Wakefield to Doncaster just short of Stubbs Bridge which has recently been rebuilt, also very close to the junction of the road to Skelbrooke. I remember that I was rather sceptical of the name, surely everyone knew that Robin Hood (and Little John) belonged in Sherwood Forest. Now that I am older and wiser I know that they were really Yorkshiremen.
I have read somewhere that the water from Little John's Well was diverted to form what are now known as Stubb's Hall Lakes. The place where I stood to photograph the lakes was on the A638 road, just 35 yards from Little John's Well. The Well is, as sources state, overgrown, unmarked and derelict, but can still be recognised as having once been a water source
From: Peter Gunthorpe (Australia),Sent: 09 July 2006
05:24
Subject: Little John's Well
Greetings Mike,
Enjoyed revisiting your pages and I would like to add to the little
John's well info.
This was on the route of a regular summer walk for we teenagers in the
mid forties,
and it was always a rush to get a drink from this well. The water exited
the rock
face into a stone-trough (for the horses?) this was in existence until
the start of
roadworks behind the rocky hillside.
Do you remember the cave about half way up the steep face behind the
well? We
were led to believe this had been the residence of a hermit, but was
eroding quite
quickly in my youth and had gone when I returned in 1990, this was when
I cried
out loud at the state of Little John's Well as I was Videoing the area.
Bless you, keep up the good work
Peter Gunthorpe