Barnet Physic Well

Water from this natural spring were long believed to have healing and therapeutic powers during the late 17th and early 18th centuries. It was believed that drinking from the well could balance the drinker’s humors and temperament by causing them to urinate.

The well became so popular that its waters were actually bottled and sold across London. Barnet was on the verge of becoming a spa town because of the water’s popularity. Samuel Pepy, a famous diarist in 17th-century England wrote about drinking multiple glasses when he visited the well. However, the well’s popularity declined toward the end of the 17th-century. In the early 1800s, that popularity resurfaced after the well was rebuilt, with an underground arched chamber, however, it failed to hold the grips of the public. 

The wellhouse that stands today was constructed during the 1930s. The interior is more modern, having been refurbished with displays about the history of the well and the surrounding area.