Coast to Coast

Clink Pool, Richmond, Coast to Coast

Clink Pool, River Swale, Richmond

Clink Pool at the foot of Clink Bank Cottage. Clink Bank Wood on opposite side of River Swale

Clink Pool, River Swale, Richmond, Coast to Coast

The Clink Pool lies within a great meander of the River Swale as it curves away from Richmond, North Yorkshire. Around 200 yards east of Mercury Bridge, just below Clink Bank Wood and the garden of Clink Bank Cottage, this pool forms an unusually deep stretch of the river — long known locally as the place where suspected witches were once ducked.

St Mary’s Church stands above the north bank of the Swale on the south side of Frenchgate, its churchyard descending toward Lombard’s Wynd, only a hundred yards northwest of the pool. The setting joins natural drama with local legend, linking Richmond’s riverside landscape to centuries of folklore and faith.

Clink Pool - River Swale Bend

Clink Pool lies in the northern arc of a great meander of the River Swale, just east of Mercury Bridge. At this bend, the wooded slopes of Clink Bank Wood plunge steeply toward the river, the gradient continuing unseen beneath the dark surface. Tradition holds this as the very spot where witches were once ducked in the deepest reach of the pool.

Shingle Bank Opposite Clink Pool

Across from the Clink Pool, a wide shingle bank lies at the northern tip of the opposite shore, where the River Swale bends sharply beneath Clink Bank Wood. In centuries past, it may have offered a grim vantage for onlookers during the witch duckings once held in the deep pool opposite — a quiet riverside now marked only by snow and silence.

Clink Bank Pool River Swale

At the bend east of Clink Bank Cottage, the River Swale plunges suddenly into depth — here lies Clink Bank Pool, the historic site where suspected witches were once ducked. The steep meander beneath Clink Bank Wood conceals the deep trough in which this grim ritual was said to take place.

Leominster Ducking Stool

The ducking stool displayed at Leominster Priory is one of the few surviving examples of this punitive device. While not originally from Richmond’s Clink Pool, it resembles the kind used in the 16th–17th centuries — symbolic of the practice of ducking alleged witches.

Hiking the Coast to Coast trail guide

Hiking the Coast to Coast is a digitally enhanced eBook designed to accompany you on your journey along the Coast to Coast path. Available on Apple Books for iPhone, iPad and Mac, the guide includes:
 • Mapping with interactive features
• Step-by-step route directions
• Hundreds of colour photographs
• Route conditions in different weather
• Historical and cultural points of interest

Whether you’re planning your trip or already on the trail, it’s a practical and beautifully illustrated resource to carry with you.

Coast to Coast Trail Guide
Clink Pool in the northern arc of a River Swale meander east of Mercury Bridge, where the wooded slopes of Clink Bank Wood drop steeply toward a deep, dark channel long linked with witch duckings. Wide shingle bank opposite Clink Pool on the River Swale, a likely historic vantage for onlookers during the duckings once reputedly held in the deep pool below Clink Bank Wood. Clink Bank Pool at the sharp bend below Clink Bank Wood, where the River Swale plunges suddenly to depth; local tradition places witch duckings here in past centuries. Leominster Priory’s ducking stool, one of the few surviving examples of the device once used to duck alleged witches — similar to those reputed at Richmond’s Clink Pool.