History of Labarthe
Our Well with its unusual stone cover is known to as a Plague Well. In 1348 when the plague, commonly called the Black Death more correctly called the ‘Bubonic Plague’ swept through Europe people did not realise it was transmitted by fleas carried by the black rat , which arrived with the cargo onboard ships arriving from the Far east, they believed it was transmitted by breath/vapour. Therefore, to protect their water source they built stone domes to stop infected ‘strangers’ potentially contaminating their water supply. It is probably fairly safe to assume that our Well is over a 1000 years old and what secrets and tales it would tell if it could but speak.
