2l6 MINERAL WATERS AND MEDICINAL SPRINGS OF ESSEX.
good for many illnesses." In this, he is supported by Ogborne76 and
other county historians. Moreover, the well or wells gave name
to that part of the parish of Woodford in which they were
situated,77 as well as to a well-known inn called "The Horse
and Well," which stood (and still stands) adjacent to them, on
the High Road from London to Epping and Harlow. Hood
alluded, of course, to this house when he wrote,78 in 1829, of the
adventures of John Huggins with the Epping Hunt :—
"Now many a sign at Woodford Town
Its Inn-vitation tells ;
But Huggins, full of ills, of course,
Betook him to the Wells."
The days when the Woodford Wells were in good repute
seem, however, to have been brief. Morant, writing in 1768,
says79 that they were then "entirely neglected," and they have
never since enjoyed fame.
At the present day, it is difficult (and probably impossible)
to identify the particular well the water of which was reputed
to possess medicinal properties. The most definite clue appears
to be that given by Lysons, who, writing in 1796, says80 that the
well was "near the nine-mile stone, in the Forest," which then
came, we believe, right up to the east side of the road. It must
also have been, one would think, close to the "Horse and
Well" inn, which is on the east side of the main road, about
one hundred yards north from the 9-mile stone (or, rather, from
its site, for the stone itself has disappeared). As a matter of
fact, a drinking-fountain stands almost opposite the inn ; but
this is, we understand, a modern erection, placed in position by
Mr. E. N. Buxton and supplied from the mains of a water-
company. There are also other wells close to the inn, but these
are all by the roadside and could not be described as "in the
Forest." On the 25-inch Ordnance Map, the "Supposed
Situation of the Mineral Springs known as 'Woodford Wells' "
is shown as a hollow place (whence, we are told, clay has been
dug for brick-making) in the sloping meadow to the north of the
"Horse and Well" and behind Nottingham Villas. The spot
in question is about one hundred yards to the east of the road,
76 Hist. of Essex, p. 74 (1814).
77 In 1875, the ecclesiastical parish of Woodford Wells was formed out of the civil parish.
78 The Epping Hunt, p. 26 (1829).
79 Hist. of Essex. iv„ p. 39 (1768).
80 Environs, iv., p. 287 (1796).