The Dropping Well
The Dropping Well is a famous petrifying well in Knaresborough.
At the well water from a small spring charged with calcium carbonate and other minerals runs over a rocky tufa outcrop and drops in to a pool just aside the river Nidd. Everyday objects such as hats, teddy bears and other artefacts have been hung up below the dripping rim of the rock where they get gradually coated with a mineral deposit and hence become "petrified" - and so in a way get turned in to stone!
Behind this outcrop is a cleft in the rock which contains a small wishing well (pictured above). Also adjacent to the Dropping Well is Mother Shipton's Cave where the celebrated prophetess Mother Shipton is said to have been born.
The properties of the Dropping Well have been well known for centuries, laying claims to it being (along with the adjacent cave) one of the country's oldest commercial tourist attractions. Many celebrities have visited and left personal possessions to be petrified here, and some of these have been taken down and displayed in a small museum. These include the Agatha Christie's handbag (pictured above), the famous crime novelist having been associated with the Harrogate area and her "disappearance" while staying at the Old Swan Hotel.
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