Take a walk along the avenue leading from Soulton Hall towards the bridge, and you’ll encounter a Tudor dressed springhead. This is not just a source of water, it is ‘Old’ Sir Rowland Hill making a symbolic reference to the Well of Catharsis.
The positioning of the springhead is particularly interesting. It lies directly on the “Easter Sunrise axis.” Imagine a line drawn from the chapel within Soulton Hall, extending past the bridge and onwards towards the rising sun on Easter morning. The springhead sits precisely on this line.
What’s the significance?
Catharsis, in Greek mythology, refers to a process of emotional cleansing and purification.
This is without doubt how Rowland Hill wanted his guests to feel about Soulton for the project he was running there.
The springhead’s location on the Easter Sunrise axis, a time associated with renewal and hope, suggests this deeper meaning.
It is likely the water from this well was seen as having cleansing properties, both physically and symbolically…
..perhaps it still is?
