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The Sinful are Sunk
Hell Kettles are three small ponds at Oxen-le-Fields just outside of Croft-on Tees, and can be found a few yards north of the Darlington road. They are situated in boggy ground and are equally saturated in myth and legend.
Long reputed to be bottomless, they were said to harbour the tortured souls of the sinful dead. Charles Hope, writing in his 1896 book The legendary lore of the holy wells of England: including rivers, lakes, fountains and springs quotes an old story from the Denham Tracts:
"Many centuries ago the owner, or occupier, of the fields where the Hell-Kettles are situate, was going to lead his hay on the feast day of St. Barnabas (June 11), and being remonstrated with on the impiety of the act by some more pious neighbour, he used the rhymes :
'Barnaby yea! Barnaby nay!
A cartload of hay, whether God will or nay'
when instantly he, his carts and horses, were all swallowed up in the pools; where they may still be seen, on a fine day and clear water, many fathoms deep."
The Denham Tracts were collated between 1846 and 1859, so it is difficult to say how old this tale really is. Are there any earlier records we can turn to for an explanation?
1179 AD: The earth is shaken, the pits of hell are opened
A very early account of the origin of Hell’s Kettles can be found in Brompton’s Chronicle, written in or after 1328, and which attributes their creation to the year 1179:
"Ann. 1179. Infra vero idem natale Domin i contigit apud Oxenhale quoddam mirabile a seculo inauditum, exilicet, quod in ipsa Domini Hugonis Episcopi Dunelmensis cultura, terra se in altum ita vehementer elavit quod summit montiumcucuminibus abæquaretur, et quod super alta templorum pinnacula, emineret, et illa altitude ab hora diei nona usque adoccasum solis permansit. Sole vero occidente, eum tam horribili strepitu cecidit, quod omnes cumulum illum videntes, et strepitum casus illi us audientes perterruit; unde multi timore illo obierunt; nam tellus eum absorbuit, et puteum profundissimum ibidem fecit".
Translated into English this reads:
"1179. About Christmas, a wonderful and unheard of event fell out at Oxenhale, viz., that in the very domain of Lord Hugh, Bishop of Durham, the ground rose up on high with such vehemence that it was equal to the highest tops of the mountains, and towered above the lofty pinnacles of the churches; and at that height remained from the ninth hour of the day even to sunset. But at sunset it fell with so horrible a crash, that it terrified all who saw that heap, and heard the noise of its fall, whence many died from that fear; for the earth swallowed it up, and caused in the same place a very deep pit."
More prosaic explanations were to follow, including the suggestion that they were nothing more than collapsed coal pits. In the 16th century, as the superstitious age began to give way to a more secular cynicism, both supernatural and rational theories were advanced simultaneously. This is from Raphael Holinshed's Second Booke, of the hystoricall description of Britaine, section 2 chapter 18 headed Of the Marueyles of Englande, published in 1577:
"Ther are certeine pittes or rather thrée litle poles, a myle from Darlington, and a quarter of a myle diſtant from the Theſe bankes, which ye people call the Kettes of hell, or the deuils Ketteles, as if he ſhoulde ſée the ſoules of ſinfull men and women in them: they adde alſo that the ſpirites haue oft béene harde to crye and yell about them, wyth other like talke ſauouring altogether of pagane infidelitye. The truth is (& of this opinion alſo was Cuthbert Tunſtall Byſhop of Durham) that the Colemines, in thoſe places are kindled or if there be no coles, there may a mine of ſome other vnctuous matter be ſet on fire, which beyng here and there conſumed, the earth falleth in, and ſo doth leaue a pitte. In déede the water is nowe and then warme as they ſaye, and beſide that it is not cléere, the people ſuppoſe them to be an hundred faddame déepe, the byggeſt of them alſo hath an iſſue into the Theſe. But ynough of theſe woonders leaſt I doe ſéeme to be touched in thys deſcription, & thus much of the hel Kettles."
In modern spelling this can be rendered as:
"There are certain pits or rather three little pools, a mile from Darlington, and a quarter of a mile distant from the Tees banks, which the people call the Kettles of Hell, or the Devil's Kettles, as if he should see the souls of sinful men and women in them: they add also that the spirits have oft been heard to cry and yell about them, with other like talk favouring altogether of pagan infidelity. The truth is (and of this opinion also was Cuthbert Tunstall Bishop of Durham) that the coal mines, in those places are kindled or if there be no coals, there may a mine of some other unctuous matter be set on fire, which being here and there consumed, the earth fallen in, and so doth leave a pit. Indeed the water is now and then warm as they say, and beside that it is not clear, the people suppose them to be an hundred fathoms deep, the biggest of them also hath an issue into the Tees. But enough of these wonders lest I do seem to be touched in this description, and thus much of the Hell Kettles."
A watched kettle never boils?
The idea that the water in the kettles is heated is clearly an old one. Moreover, in the centuries following Holinshed the temperature appears to have risen from merely "warm" to boiling point.In 1854 William Longstaffe stated in the history and antiquities of the parish of Darlington that
"the idea of the spirits being boiled is most horrible!"
and regales us with the following ditty of uncertain origin:
"The kettles next morning were boiling and foaming, A groan in the deeps was full ghastily booming, A sulphureous stench was ymixt in the air, And the carles they were cowed and said many a prayer."
Yet Longstaffe implies that by his time the Kettles were cold again. He contrasts their state to a 17th century reference which he attributes to a survey
"By a captain, a lieutenant, and an ancient; all three of the Military Company in Norwich.":"...the days when the peasants could boil their pottage in the Hell-Kettles have long fleeted, and travellers by rail may not say like those by road of 1634, 'The three admired deepe pitts, called Hell Kettles, we left boyling by Darlington'".
It should be noted that the explanation most favoured by geologists today is that the pits were formed by subsidence in the twelfth century...although perhaps not in quite so dramatic a manner as the Brompton Chronicle claimed. It is very unlikely that the water was ever hot. Certainly the pits do not boil today, any more than they did in Longstaffe's time. But then like all good stories, the tale is in the telling.
Alice in Wonderland
A further twist has been provided by none other than Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice in Wonderland. Lewis Carroll's father was Rector of St. Peter's church at Croft from 1843-1868, an ancient 14th century style building situated on the banks of the Tees. Lewis was 11 years old when he came to live in the area, and concocted strange stories for the amusement of his 11 brothers and sisters. Much of Alice in Wonderland is said to have been set in and around the rectory and church.
It's been suggested that the supposedly bottomless Hell Kettles may have inspired him to write about Alice falling through the rabbit hole into Wonderland. Intriguingly, a gargoyle-like carving of a Cheshire Cat can be seen in Croft church itself!
As an interesting side note, at the time Carroll lived in Croft the town was served by a railway station called Croft Spa, which was opened in 1846 and remained in use until the 1970's. Croft was once famous for its spa waters, which were apparently first noticed in 1668. In 1890 Bulmer records in his History and Directory of North Yorkshire that Croft waters had acquired such fame by 1713 that they were sold in London, in sealed bottles, at a very high price.In 1901 Charles Harper reported in The Great North Road that he tasted the water from Hell Kettles and was able to compare it with the quality of the spa water in Croft:
"...the four pools...testify by their sulphureous taste of their water to the quality of Croft Spa".
Clearly he did not intend this as a recommendation for Croft's more famous export.
So what's in there anyhow? Any bottles?
Every bottle diver loves a mystery, especially when it involves ponds near a main road and farms. Surely there must be decent bottles to be found in a place like Hell Kettles...unless they really are bottomless. A few years ago, I set off to find out.
Access was gained by a gap in a hedge on the north side of the road, just a few yards from the Kettles themselves. The surrounding ground is marshy and untended, apart from horses which are occasionally allowed to graze there. I lifted my gear over the fence before climbing it, then donned it quickly while several ponies ambled over and gazed at me curiously. One of them nuzzled my tank and I had to walk briskly over to the ponds before I was mobbed.
The main kettle became deep very quickly and sank funnel-like to a depth (by my gauges) of about twenty feet. It certainly wasn't bottomless. As expected, a number of bottles were to be found including some particularly old finds that were hand-blown and of a wonderful blueish tinge. There was a tree trunk, probably centuries old, which was embedded in the north western side, and I wonder if at times of exceptional visibility this might have been mistaken at the surface for the cart of the impious farmer.
The main kettle was fairly clear during my dive and is apparently fed by underground springs, although I saw no obvious fissures through which water might issue. The other kettles were very turbid indeed and cannot be explored safely. Nevertheless, my trip to Hell Kettles turned out to be one of the most rewarding bottle dives I have ever done, and this site is definitely one for the bottle diving X-Files.
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