Mother Shipton is England's most famous Prophetess. She was born 1488, in a cave next to the river Nidd. As she grew older, her prophetic visions became known and feared throughout England. She foretold the invasion and defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588; and Samuel Pepys' diary grimly records that Mother Shipton gave forewarning of the Great Fire of London in 1666. Besides the cave is the famous Petrifying Well, a unique geological phenomenon. Curiosity has drawn millions of visitors over hundreds of years , to see cascading water turn everyday objects to stone - as if by magic.
