There are actually three wells at Carn Euny although only two have a real claim to being ‘holy’ – ie ancient. These are within a few metres of each other in a grove of trees on the edge of Bartinney Nature Reserve.

Curiously, they are around 250m from the Iron Age village which seems quite a way to lug your daily supply of water in the days before plastic buckets.

The larger of the two wells has some lovely steps down to the water level , much like those at nearby Sancreed. The smaller which is slightly uphill of this lies on the surface, surrounded by large moss-covered boulders.

Mercifully few clouties hang from the surrounding trees.

The third well is much close to the village – a matter of metres – and may be related to the C19 buildings at the site. Sited at the foot of an enormous boulder, it was elegantly covered with a metal hurdle when we last saw it.

One of the joys of Carn Euny is the sense of continuity at the site. When the Iron Age people left, one suspects that someone continued living here, or raided the site for good building stone, for there is a cottage close to the village and evidence of C19 structures within the site itself.

You can find the holy wells here and the more modern one roughly here.