Resa in Europa, en astronom, industriespion och teaterhabitue genom Denmark, Tyskland, Holland, England och Italien - 1758-1762

Name of traveller

*Bengt Ferrner (1724 - 1802) and Jean Lefebure

Reason for travel

  • travelling as cultural tourist, self-improvement
  • industrial espionage

Date of travel

May 1760

[W]e visited the Holy Virgin Winifrid's [sic] spring, which the Catholics still hold in great reverence and have given as its origin, that the virgin was raped and murdered in a battle this healing water sprang up from the rock as a proof of her virginity and holy life. (Ferrner 147)

Content

  • customs: visits St Winifred's well in Holywell, mentions Catholic worship of the saint and describes healing properties attributed to the well and the properties of its water
  • industry:
    • sees houses for lead-melting on the way from Chester to Flint
    • visits lead and calmine mines in the area around Flint and Holywell, such as the Rhyd-y-mwyn mine
    • inspects spelter works in Holywell and describes their annual volume of production and profits
    • Mr Smedley credits Reinhold Rücker Angerstein with the discrovery of a particular spelter ore during his visit of Holywell
    • inspects a waterwheel and pump in opperation at the Rhyd-y-mwyn mine
  • language: finds Welsh placenames difficult to pronounce
  • people:
  • recreation: many houses in Holywell available for rent by seasonal visitors who make use of the medicinal properties of St Winifred's well
  • transport: reference to winning land, creation of a modern canal system for navigation and shipping on the Dee
  • terrain:
    • conflates Wales and England
    • flat land west of the river Dee
    • finds Holywell a pleasant town
    • sees traces of a former Roman encampment from a hill outside Holywell
  • English translation: Linnard, William. "A Swedish visitor to Flintshire in 1760." Cylchgrawn Cymdeithas Hanes Sir y Fflint / Flintshire Historical Society journal 30 (1981-1982): 145-9. Print.
  • click here to read the English translation

Nationality of traveller

Swedish

Language of publication

Swedish; English translation

Gender of traveller

Male

Type of publication

diary; travelogue

Citation

*Ferrner, Bengt. Resa in Europa, en astronom, industriespion och teaterhabitue genom Denmark, Tyskland, Holland, England och Italien - 1758-1762. ed. Sten G. Lindberg. Uppsala: Swedish Society for the History of Science, 1956. 258-260. Print.

Entry created: 29 November 2016
Entry last updated: 9 June 2017