Holy well

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Holy well at Coole in County Cork, Ireland
rosary beads
deliberately left at the well by pilgrims.

A holy well or sacred spring is a

spring or small pool of water revered either in a Christian or pagan context, sometimes both. The water of holy wells is often thought to have healing qualities, through the numinous presence of its guardian spirit or Christian saint. They often have local legends associated with them; for example in Christian legends, the water is often said to have been made to flow by the action of a saint. Holy wells are often also places of ritual and pilgrimage, where people pray and leave votive offerings. In Celtic regions, strips of cloth are often tied to trees at holy wells, known as clootie wells
.

Names

The term haeligewielle is in origin an

antiquarians, and other writers generalising from those actual 'Holy Wells', which survived into the modern era. The term 'holy-hole' is sometimes employed.[2]

Culture and representation

Holy wells in different forms occur in such a wide variety of cultures, religious environments, and historical periods that it seems to be a universal human instinct to revere water sources.[3] However, the fragmentary nature of the evidence, and the historical differences among cultures and nations, make it very hard to generalize. While there are a few national studies of holy well lore and history, mainly concentrating on Ireland and the British Isles, there is a need for more work examining other regions.

The earliest work specifically devoted to holy wells is

saints
, or otherwise considered sacred. By the later 19th century, the term had acquired its current usage: Robert Charles Hope's The Legendary Lore of the Holy Wells of England (1893), the first general survey of its kind, included a number of named wells which were not dedicated to saints (as well as some rivers and lakes with associated folklore, as Hope mentioned in his subtitle).

Origin and development

Saint Bernard's well at Stockbridge near Edinburgh in 1800.[4]

In

springs
.

In England, examples of reverence for wells and springs occur at a variety of historical periods. The medieval traveller

Palaeolithic era and the source of a river which had been the site of ritual activity.[2] The proximity of named springs to Neolithic or Iron Age monuments, such as the Swallowhead Springs, close to Silbury Hill (Wiltshire) or the Holy Well near Tadmarton Hill (Oxfordshire), suggests that reverence for such sites continued without a break. There is abundant evidence for the importance of wells and springs in the Roman and sub-Roman period, not just at temple complexes such as Bath (Somerset), Chedworth (Gloucestershire),[5] and Blunsdon Ridge (Wiltshire)[6] which have medicinal springs at their centre, but a variety of smaller sites, and at wells and ritual shafts used for superstitious and sub-religious rituals.[7]

Christianity strongly affected the development of holy wells in

antiquarians (from the 17th century) and folklorists (from the 19th) began to take notice of holy wells and record their surviving traditions.[9]

More than a hundred holy wells exist in Cornwall, each associated with a particular saint, though not always the same one as the dedication of the church.[10][11]

Several holy wells also survive in

Church of St. Mary of Blachernae, both located in Istanbul
.

Historiographical controversies

Dupath Well in 1912.[12]

The

pagan religious practices and thought of holy wells in that way.[13]
This affected the outlook of those who came to study holy well traditions later. The pioneers of folklore study took the view that the customs and legends they were recording were debased versions of pagan rites and myths. Thus it became standard to begin any account of holy wells with the statement that the Christian church had adopted them from the pagans and replaced the heathen gods with Christian saints, in order to win people over to the new religion more smoothly.

Among the earliest enthusiasts for holy wells in modern times was the

Benedictine monk Tristan Gray-Hulse. A number of articles in the journal challenged long-standing myths about holy well history, and the editors published an exchange between the authors and Cheryl Straffon, editor of Cornish earth mysteries magazine Meyn Mamvro, about the evidence for a particular Cornish well's supposed association with the Irish goddess Brigid.[16] The eco-pagan movement has largely accepted the new historiographical approach,[citation needed
] but occasionally rather more old-fashioned accounts of holy wells are published, for instance, Gary Varner's Sacred Springs (2002).

A related argument was over the nature of the influence of the

Celts on the well cult. The late Francine Nicholson, an independent student of Celtica, argued forcefully and controversially that the Celts had a unique sensitivity to sacred wells, but never elaborated this in any published work.[17]

More recently, radically minded scholars have begun questioning the unity of concepts imposed by the term 'holy well'. In a paper in the Living Spring Journal, Jeremy Harte distinguishes between early Anglo-Saxon 'holy wells' and those Christianised in the Late Middle Ages, and argues 'apart from being venerated and being wet, they have little in common'; Harte has also stressed that limited evidence may mean scholars are considerably overestimating the number of holy wells which were active at any one time.[18]

Modern revival

St Peter's Well at Houstin in Scotland. A rare Scottish covered well.

In a sense, the restoration of holy wells began almost as soon as they were in decline, as a number became the subject of antiquarian interest and some were turned into garden features and put to other decorative uses. However, in more modern times wells have been restored as an expression of interest in the past, sometimes from romantic or religious motives, but mostly as a statement of continuity with the history of a particular community. A good example is St Osyth's Well at Bierton (Buckinghamshire), 'restored' (and in the process rebuilt completely) by the Parish Council as part of a project marking Millennium Year in 2000.[19]

The most active holy wells in Britain are those linked to Christian

Minster-in-Sheppey (Kent).[20] In 2001 Channel 4's archaeological television programme Time Team was responsible for exposing the infamous archaeological fraud of Llygadwy, a site which included an alleged holy well.[21]

Historiographically, the publication of Janet and Colin Bord's Sacred Waters (1985) was influential in reviving interest in the history and folklore of holy wells in Britain. The same year saw the foundation of the journal Source by Mark Valentine. Attempts to maintain a regular journal for the study of holy wells have been erratic (Source enjoyed two runs from 1985 to 1989 and 1994 to 1998, and the web-based Living Spring has had only two issues to date).

Preservation

Often unmarked on maps and undistinguished by archaeological features, holy wells are a uniquely vulnerable category of ancient site. They continue to be lost to

farming
, drainage work, development or neglect. Recent instances include:

  • the desecration of St Bridget's Well at Rosepark, Balrothery (County Dublin, Ireland), destroyed by building work in 2003 despite being a protected monument[22]
  • the destruction of a well at
    Tara-Skryne Valley
    in Ireland.

Gallery

See also

References

  1. ^ J. Harte, 'Holey Wells and other Holey Places', Living Spring Journal, 1, 2000.
  2. ^ a b A. Ross, Pagan Celtic Britain (London: RKP), 1967, 107; Willy Worcestre, Itinerary, ed. J. Harvey (Oxford: Clarendon), 1981, pp. 290–291.
  3. ^ e.g. J. & C. Bord, Sacred Waters (London: Granada), 1985, pp. 1–3.
  4. ^ Stoddart, John (1800), Remarks on Local Scenery and Manners in Scotland. London: William Miller. Vol. 1, facing p. 1.
  5. ^ Living Spring Journal 2, 2002.
  6. ^ Wells and Spas Archives, UK: Jiscmail, May 1999, archived from the original on 2007-09-27.
  7. ^ Merrifield, R. (1987) The Archaeology of Ritual and Magic. London: Batsford; pp. 23–50.
  8. ^ Barnes, Philip (2017). Streams of Healing Grace. Walsingham Review. pp. 12–13.
  9. ^ Rattue, J. (1995) The Living Stream Woodbridge: Boydell, chapters 7, 8, and 9.
  10. ^ Jenner, Henry (1925) "The Holy Wells of Cornwall". In: Cornish Church Guide. Truro: Blackford; pp. 249-257.
  11. ^ Quiller-Couch, Mabel & Lilian (1894) Ancient and Holy Wells of Cornwall. London: Chas. J. Clark.
  12. ^ Wall, J. Charles (1912), Porches & Fonts. London: Wells Gardner & Darton; p. 180.
  13. .
  14. ^ J. Rattue, The Living Stream (Woodbridge: Boydell), 1995, Chapter 9.
  15. . Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  16. ^ "The Search for Bride's Well". people.bath.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 2017-01-24.
  17. ^ WELLS-AND-SPAS Archives – January 2003 (#23) Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine.
  18. ^ Harte, op.cit. Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine.
  19. ^ J. Rattue, Holy Wells of Buckinghamshire (High Wycombe: Umbra), 2003, pp. 31-32.
  20. ^ Sacred waters Archived 2007-06-07 at the Wayback Machine.
  21. ^ Channel 4 – Time Team Archived 2011-02-27 at the Wayback Machine.
  22. ^ Skyvova, P. Fingallian Holy Wells. Swords, Dublin: Fingal County Libraries, 2005, pp. 62-63.

Further reading

  • Bord, J. & C. 1985. Sacred Waters. London: Granada.
  • Dumézil, Georges. 1970. Archaic Roman Religion, I. Transl. by Krapp P. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
  • Harte, J. 2000. Holey Wells and other Holey Places. Living Spring Journal 1.
  • Lefèvre, Eckard. 1988. Plinius-Studien : IV : Die Naturauffassung in den Beschreibungen der Quelle am Lacus Larius (4,30), des Clitumnus (8,8) und des Lacus Vadimo (8,20). Gymnasium 95: 236–269.
  • Ninck, M. 1960. Die Bedeutung des Wassers im Kult und Leben der Alten. Eine symbolgeschichtliche Untersuchung. Darmstadt : Wiss. Buchgesellschaft.
  • Stoddart, John. 1800. Remarks on Local Scenery and Manners in Scotland. London: William Miller.
  • Varner, Gary R. 2009. Sacred Wells: A Study in the History, Meaning, and Mythology of Holy Wells and Waters. 2nd ed. New York: Algora Publishing. .
  • Wall, J. Charles. 1912. Porches & Fonts. London: Wells Gardner & Darton.

External links