From as far back as the 7th century, it has been a destination for people who travel from great distances to visit the shrine of St Winefride and bathe in the supposedly healing waters of the well, which has been given the name of the "Lourdes of Wales".

The legend of the well begins in 660 AD when a young maiden Winefride refused the attentions of a local chieftain. Enraged, he cut off her head, where it fell a spring of water rose out of the ground. Winefride was then said to have been restored to life by her uncle Saint Beuno. The spring became renowned for its healing properties.

Holywell also has the ruins of Basingwerk Abbey nearby and the imposing ruins were for 400 years the home and workplace to monks of the Cistercian Order. Founded in 1132 the monks were the first to harness the power of the Holywell mills to grind corn and to treat the wool from their large flocks of sheep.

In the 18th century, the water further down from St Winefride's Well, combined with the excavation of mineral resources, gave the area an unrivalled status as a milling and mining community. Established in 1776, the Battery Works was one of the first mills on the site and local people were employed to shape pots and pans from brass sheets.

The adjacent Meadow Mill produced rolled copper sheets for other local companies. A cotton mill further down the heritage park used the area's water to power its machinery whilst Abbey Wire Mill also used the water, but it made brass and copper wire.

Today, Greenfield Valley Heritage Park stands on the site of the former thriving mills and provides an insight into what life was like for the workmen and the surrounding population all those years ago.
Written by the North East Wales Web Team