St Margaret's Well - Burnsall
(SE 0295 6172)

A footpath leads past Burnsall church (St Wilfrid) and follows the river Wharfe upstream, passing Wilfrid's Scar, a craggy outcrop cut through by the river. Tradition says St Wilfrid visited the area in the 7th century and preached from this outcrop, perhaps in an attempt to convert the local people who were of Scandanavian origin and most probably followed their own Gods, Odin and Thor etc.

About 1/2 mile from the village, the footpath crosses a small stream of water which flows from St Margaret's spring and then into the river. The spring now rises in a boggy area alongside a tumbled dry stone wall, but on a visit in october 1999 the whole site was a muddy mess, having been churned up by cattle. 
Last century Hope (1) remarked that the well was worth seeing, which suggests there was more to it than at present, and perhaps some stone work or a trough collected the spring water. Edmund Bogg (2) records that in the past the well was decorated with flowers and sugar was dropped into the water as an offering.
See also St Helen's Well which is a little further along the footpath.

1) R.C. Hope, The legendary lore of the holy wells of England. 1893
(2) Bogg, Edmund, Upper/higher Wharfedale? 190?