| Top Ten Wells My 'best' ten wells of the very many I've stumbled across - not necessarily the most spectacular or historic, just the ones that mean the most to me. Hopefully they give you some idea of the amazing variety of these ancient sites. |
St Trillo's Well, Rhos-on-Sea, Denbighshire
This was the very first holy well I visited, on holiday in Wales in
1984. It sits in a tiny chapel on a scrap of grass just below the
seafront, which has been identified as 6th-century but which could
be of any date between then and about 1500. When we first saw it,
the weather was dark and rain was whipping along the beach. There
were other visitors, but the chapel, with its well beneath the stone
altar, seemed forgotten and deserted. Over the following years it
became a minor pilgrimage site, with people leaving flowers,
prayers, and other offerings - rather fun! I and Dr Bones came here
in 2005. There was a good flow of folk coming and going.
This was the very first holy well I visited, on holiday in Wales in
1984. It sits in a tiny chapel on a scrap of grass just below the
seafront, which has been identified as 6th-century but which could
be of any date between then and about 1500. When we first saw it,
the weather was dark and rain was whipping along the beach. There
were other visitors, but the chapel, with its well beneath the stone
altar, seemed forgotten and deserted. Over the following years it
became a minor pilgrimage site, with people leaving flowers,
prayers, and other offerings - rather fun! I and Dr Bones came here
in 2005. There was a good flow of folk coming and going.
Holy Well, Cubert,
Cornwall
I first came here in 1985,
once again in the rain! You
have to traverse a caravan
park, or you did then, and a
couple of fields before
reaching a tiny valley with
the well-house beyond a
restored stone arch. You
can sit inside and watch the
water should you be able to
wedge yourself in. I found
it a lonely, atmospheric
place. Also known as St
Cuthbert's Well.
Cornwall
I first came here in 1985,
once again in the rain! You
have to traverse a caravan
park, or you did then, and a
couple of fields before
reaching a tiny valley with
the well-house beyond a
restored stone arch. You
can sit inside and watch the
water should you be able to
wedge yourself in. I found
it a lonely, atmospheric
place. Also known as St
Cuthbert's Well.
St Augustine's Well, Cerne
Abbas, Dorset
This has become a favourite
since our first visit in 1985. You
walk down a path at the corner
of the graveyard between a
group of old lime trees known as
the Twelve Apostles, and this
lovely stone tank is at the
bottom, slowly pouring water out
through a stone channel and
through the town. It used to be
very atmospheric, but in
Millennium year a new stone seat
was put in alongside the well,
and much of the undergrowth
cleared away, so it no longer
feels as isolated and lonely as it
did. Sadly on a visit in 2011 I
found the well almost dry.
Abbas, Dorset
This has become a favourite
since our first visit in 1985. You
walk down a path at the corner
of the graveyard between a
group of old lime trees known as
the Twelve Apostles, and this
lovely stone tank is at the
bottom, slowly pouring water out
through a stone channel and
through the town. It used to be
very atmospheric, but in
Millennium year a new stone seat
was put in alongside the well,
and much of the undergrowth
cleared away, so it no longer
feels as isolated and lonely as it
did. Sadly on a visit in 2011 I
found the well almost dry.
The Wishing Well, Upwey, Dorset
Not many wells can boast their own restaurant and tea room!
The Wishing Well was probably a 'proper' holy well once as
it rises beside the church (see here for some Upwey
graveyard pictures). Now it's a big round stone tank of
beautiful clear water, flowing very strongly, with a mossy
stone surround. They don't encourage you to drink from it
now, but that doesn't stop us! The well sits in ornamental
gardens that are always getting more elaborate. It's been a
delightful place for us since 1986.
Not many wells can boast their own restaurant and tea room!
The Wishing Well was probably a 'proper' holy well once as
it rises beside the church (see here for some Upwey
graveyard pictures). Now it's a big round stone tank of
beautiful clear water, flowing very strongly, with a mossy
stone surround. They don't encourage you to drink from it
now, but that doesn't stop us! The well sits in ornamental
gardens that are always getting more elaborate. It's been a
delightful place for us since 1986.
| St Margaret's Well, Binsey, Oxfordshire When I arrived in Oxford in 1988, this was the only holy well in the area I knew about. On my first lonely weekend I traipsed out here and it raised my dejection slightly despite the pouring rain. On my way back I met a cagouled couple on the lane who asked if it was the right way to the holy well! It was supposedly St Frideswide's retreat when she wanted to get away from her abbey at Osney, and in Alice through the Looking Glass it appears as the Treacle Well. The well is next to a lovely little church and is very pleasant to spend a while next to. |
| Holy Well, Sancreed, Cornwall This is a deeply strange and mysterious place. You go down a footpath out of the churchyard, over a couple of stiles and through a field, and find the well set into a high grassy bank. Once beneath the entrance stone you're in another world. Steps lead steeply down to a small bowl of cold water barely visible in the dark, prickling with damp moss. I came here in 1989 and felt I was encountering something very archaic, very primal, and not entirely comfortable. But I'd go again. |
Holy Well, Cattistock, Dorset
I found this on a complete hunch in 1989. The
Ordnance map showed a 'spring', that's all, at the
bottom of SS Peter & Paul's churchyard. I thought I'd
better check it out, and found - this! Amazing! Nobody
had ever mentioned it, written about it, or published a
photograph of it. Outside Cattistock it was presumably
completely unknown. I suppose it was built when the
church was reconstructed in the 1870s. What a find!
I found this on a complete hunch in 1989. The
Ordnance map showed a 'spring', that's all, at the
bottom of SS Peter & Paul's churchyard. I thought I'd
better check it out, and found - this! Amazing! Nobody
had ever mentioned it, written about it, or published a
photograph of it. Outside Cattistock it was presumably
completely unknown. I suppose it was built when the
church was reconstructed in the 1870s. What a find!
| Lady Well, Lamberhurst, Kent This was another unexpected find, like Cattistock, in 1995, so that's probably why I think more fondly of it than any other Kentish well I met. I'd seen it marked on the 1841 Tithe Map, and nothing else was known about it. I trotted down the hill from the church expecting to come across nothing more than a featureless spring, or not even that. Instead, there was this entirely within a hedge separating two fields. For all I knew it had been utterly ignored from 1841 to the time I found it. |
St Seiriol's Well, Penmon, Anglesey
On a recent holiday I made a trip to see St Seiriol's Well,
next to what was supposedly the cell of the great
sixth-century evangelist and founder of Penmon Priory. The
whole arrangement sits within a small natural enclosure of
stone now walled off on one side and reached by a path. It
isn't entirely proven that this was where St Seiriol and his
companions spent their time, and certainly the upper part of
the well-house was rebuilt in the 18th century, but although
the site has something of the feel of a theme park of Dark
Age monasticism, you do have a sense of connection with
those remote times.
On a recent holiday I made a trip to see St Seiriol's Well,
next to what was supposedly the cell of the great
sixth-century evangelist and founder of Penmon Priory. The
whole arrangement sits within a small natural enclosure of
stone now walled off on one side and reached by a path. It
isn't entirely proven that this was where St Seiriol and his
companions spent their time, and certainly the upper part of
the well-house was rebuilt in the 18th century, but although
the site has something of the feel of a theme park of Dark
Age monasticism, you do have a sense of connection with
those remote times.
| St Winifred's Well, Woolston, Shropshire Quite a famous well, but still a sort of poor relation of the great pilgrims' well of St Winifred at Holywell in Wales. They seem to have both been built by Lady Beaufort in the 15th century, though, and this one still attracts pilgrims - when I and the Lady came here in 2005 there were coins and pictures of St Winifred left in the well-house. The little 'court house' on top - which may have been a chapel before it got used for legal purposes - is now owned by the Landmark Trust, so this is the only holy well in England that you can take a holiday in! In October 2007 I took the plunge (not literally) and stayed at the Well. More can be read here. |
Inside the chapel
Inside the well-house
