Monument record 2750 - Whistlebitch Well

<1> Ormerod, G., 1882, The History of the County Palatine and City of Chester, Ormerod G 1882 2/107 (Book). SCH1389.

Whistlebitch well in Delamere Forest. Name is recorded on a map of 1813 reproduced in Ormerod.

<2> Chester Courant, 1878-1990, The Cheshire Sheaf, 3rd s/50/10036 Max L P 1955 (Newspaper-Magazine). SCH3105.

In an earlier map it appears as Twisel- bache meaning the 'forked stream'. Local story that is records a famous hound seems an unlikely explanation for this placename

<3> Dodgson J McN, 1970-2, 1981, The Place-Names of Cheshire, 3/212 1971 (Book). SCH3228.

No date or source for earlier map reference given

<4> Ordnance Survey, 1881-2, Ordnance Survey County Series (Epoch 1) 6 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire, Sheet 40 1881 (Maps and Plans). SCH2474.

Shown on 1st edition OS map

<5> Fry, Roy and Hulse, Tristan Gray, 1994, The Whistlebitch Well, Utkinton, Cheshire (Unpublished Report). SCH7729.

A document published in 1600 ( and reprinted in 1975) " Newes out of Cheshire of the new found well" reports a new found well in Utkinton which is reported to haves cured John Greenway of "his ague". The well became popular with people seeking the cure but was closed to the public within 3 years as the queens deer were seen to be under threat and the well sank back into obscurity, losing its chance to develop as a Spa as happened elswhere. Well was at that time known as St Stephens well.

The well is recorded as surviving and is now known as Whistlebitch well, possibly because the water whistled as it came out of the ground. The spring now rises into a locked brick structure and is piped into a holding tank which supplies Primrose Hill, a former hunting lodge is the Wood. The overflow forms a stream in the wood.