The Ashwell Springs

The water which rises here feeds the River Rhee, one of the principal sources of the Cam.  At Ely the Cam joins the Ouse and flows out to sea at the Wash, a total distance from Ashwell of about 65 miles.  The water is cold and never more then 52 degrees F. The springs, called a “well” in Anglo-Saxon times, with the predecessors of their surrounding trees, gave their name to the village, recorded as Aescewellan in about 990 AD.