Cornwall abounds with springs which provide water throughout the year, even during the driest spells. Many of these have been ‘captured’ and turned into wells.

It is easy to guess at the sequence: a hole was dug near a spring to provide a basin of water; perhaps a stone was put over it and some steps were added to make access easier (Carn Euny); a small shelter was put over the top to protect the spring from the weather and rubbish (St Ruan); eventually the well houses became more elaborate and needed a door with a lock (Dupath) to restrict access by ‘undesirables’.

Not all these wells were necessarily holy, many having simply served their local communities, but they have become so through tradition. It is a good question as to why some of these were venerated more than others.

The best are set around with hawthorn or blackthorn.

The iWalk Cornwall site gives a good account of the Christian approach to holy wells:

Holy wells were created because the Christian church was unhappy with the people continuing their old Pagan ways and worshipping sacred springs. In the 10th Century, the church issued a cannon (law) to outlaw such practices. This didn’t work, so they issued another one in the 11th Century, and again in the 12th Century. Even despite the church going to the lengths of building a chapel over the top of some springs to obliterate them, the people still hung onto their sacred springs. The church finally settled on a compromise and rebranded the springs as (Christian) Holy Wells, so the old practices could continue behind a Christian facade.  

The site also points out that the water in some wells contains important minerals which may have aided healing.

We like to think that the main driver was that wells provided ‘sweet’ water, unadulterated by run-off from fields, the consequences of dead animals and the detritus that got into watercourses in an age before public sanitation.

Many wells have been ‘re-discovered’ as spiritual sites in the late 20th century and have attracted collections of votive offerings (clouties or cloughties). Madron well, for instance, was once a lonely place in a thorn grove. At times it is now like a ticker-tape reception with obscure offerings attached to the surrounding trees.

There is a map of holy wells here and we thoroughly recommend Holy Wells Cornwall – Odyssey and Memorial by Catharine and Guy English (pub 2024).