Allerford Dipping Well – or Pixie House

This small domed structure, about five feet high, is on the edge the hamlet of Brandish Street.  It looks like a small dwelling and, by local story, is a Somerset Pixie House.

Allerford Dipping Well – or Pixie House

It is in fact a Dipping Well.  It is in its original position, but with the re-aligned A39 now alongside, it appears rather forlorn.  It was built a dozen or so feet away from the edge of the stream so that water could percolate through the gravels and form a pond inside the well, crystal clear and fit for drinking.

The stream has since been drained deeper, leaving the well standing high and dry. There may be another such well in Over Stowey.

Contributed by: Nigel Wright

OS Grid Ref:SS 90640 46674