The well was named as one of the seven wonders of Derbyshire by Charles Cotton in his travelogue of 1682. At that time how the ebbing and flowing occured was a mystery.
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The photographs by kind permission of Richard Pederick to whom they belong.
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| The well as it used to look when working. |
The hillside where the water flowed out. |
This well at Chapel-en-le-Frith was less consistent in its working than the ebbing and flowing well at Tideswell. So tourists out to see a ‘wonder’ would be disappointed in a period of dry weather. As a result Tideswell is often named as the site of the ‘famous wonder of Derbyshire’ as visitors could always see it pouring forth at regular intervals.
Now both have ceased working – the siphon is believed to have been ‘broken’ in the Chapel-en-le-Frith well, and at Tideswell the flow has been diverted into pipes as the water spilled down the main road.
Listen to Matt Munroe singing "Ebb Tide" link