A picture of Knaresborough, a Historic Market Town in the county of North Yorkshire

This is the Petrifying Well (or the Dropping Well) adjacent to Old Mother Shipton's Cave on the SW bank of the River Nidd in Knaresborough. This famous well petrifies (i.e. turns to stone) items that are hung underneath it. The calcite in the water being deposited on the suspended article in a surprisingly (and unusually) short time. The effect is particularly quick for porous objects (such as teddy bears) but considerably slower for such things as firemen's helmets, though even these will succumb eventually. The two hemispherical bumps higher up the fall were two hats left well over a hundred years ago - and never collected ! Various petrified examples are to be found in the little museum at the southern end of the park, mostly things left by famous people. Visitors used to be able to leave their own items to be petrified, but demand was such that this facility has had to be suspended !

North Yorkshire

This image is available to purchase and is part of our North Yorkshire Stock Photos Collection.