Well Hopper

Recent changes:

15.5.2012 – Ffynnon Sarah, Nannerch added
9.5.2012 – Ffynnon Gynfran, Llysfaen added
27.4.2012 – Llanddwyn Island added
16.4.2012 – Ffynnon Cerrigceinwen, Cerrigceinwen added
11.4.2012 – Ffynnon Gwynwy, Llangelynin added

Ffynnon Sarah, Nannerch

I’m afraid that whilst this post may be  heavy in pictures it will be necessarily exceedlingly light in text.

 Ffynnon Sarah has appeared on all the maps of Nannerch, at least back into the Victorian era, but remarkably little appears to have been written about itThe only reference I have come across comes from Lewis’s Topographical Dictionary of Wales from 1849. His entry on Nannerch states:

The surrounding country is boldly varied, displaying good mountain scenery. In the parish are some fine springs; one of them, called “Fynnon Sarah,” near the new turnpike-road, is considered to be the source of the river Whieler, which, pursuing a western course, falls into the Clwyd near Pontrufydd.

The well has survived the construction of the new turnpike road, the building of a railway soon afterwards, and it’s eventual replacement by the A541 on which you can now rush past Ffynnon Sarah from Mold to Denbigh, scarcely noticing the high stone wall behind which Sarah still flows.

Located in a secluded woodland behind the wall, the water bubbles up from the ground in a small stone lined recess into a bank. It is fast flowing and soon merges with other water sources to form a wide stream which represents the start of the River Wheeler.

There is no evidence that Ffynnon Sarah was ever regarded as a holy well or attributed any healing powers, it is probably just noted for the strength and volume of its output.

One other feature we noted was a small stone lined chamber, up against the roadside wall also containing water. This is clearly man made, however we have no knowledge of its purpose.

Given the lack of documentation, any comments on or stories about  Ffynnon Sarah would be most welcome.

Ffynnon Gynfran, Llysfaen

We appear recently to be following around the offspring of Brychan, although with a reputed sixty five children, their influence must spread far and wide.

 Following on from recent visits to the wells of his daughters Dwynwen and Ceinwen on Anglesey, our latest expedition was to find Ffynnon Gynfran at Llysfaen, close to Colwyn Bay. St Cynfran is given by some authorities as being one of Brychan’s sons, although other sources do not make the connection. However local histories suggest that the first church was erected on the site at some time in the eighth century, the year 777 is rather accurately suggested; which would make it too late to have been founded by a son of Brychan.

 Cynfran’s well is stated to lie around 100 yards to the north of the church. The well I found is marked on recent OS maps as Ffynnon Gynfran, however this is a relatively recent revision, earlier maps before around 1960 marked the site as a well only, without indicating its dedication to Cynfran. It is interesting to note that a report on the website of Cymdeithas Ffynhonnau Cymru suggest that their members had been looking for a site for the well in the late 1990s and identified a possible site within the grounds of the church. Whether this was a different location or whether the boundaries of the churchyard have changed in the meantime is difficult to say, although it seems unlikely that the well I saw had ever been inside the boundaries of the church yard.  For the purpose of this post I shall go with the OS and assume that the well visible at the site is St Cynfran’s well. Presumably  this is the site referred to by Cymdeithas Ffynhonnau Cymru as being rediscovered and cleaned in 2002 since it fits the description given on the Royal Commission website, which notes that it was “filled with sludge to ground level” in the 1980s. On this visit the well contained clear water.

 

The site is well protected today, on one site by a sharp hawthorn hedge and on the other by deep nettles. However, on getting past these obstacles the well was found to be in a much better state of preservation than I expected. The well lies in the field immediately to the north of the church yard, with a stile across to it from the cemetary. It lies on the edge of a bank along the top of which runs the thorn hedge. There is a well basin, taking the form of a semicircular dry stone wall set into the bank on the hedged side, but which is either less complete or unnecessary on the lower side of the well by the nettle beds.

 

Traditionally the well was resorted to by local residents to petition for the well being of their cattle with the prayer “the blessing of God and the Holy Cynfran be upon these cattle.” This blessing taking place annually on the 11^th night of November and again on the Sunday afterwards; the feast day of St Cynfran being celebrated on November 12^th.

 

The present incarnation of Cynfran’s church appears to have little of interest, there was a service being held at the time of my visit so I could not go inside. It was largely reconstructed in the late nineteenth century.

Llanddwyn Island

Llanddwyn Island lies on the south west corner of Anglesey, close to the village of Newborough. It is only an island at the highest tides, for the rest of the time it is possible to walk across to the island from Newborough beach. In summer months there is a constant stream of visitors to the island which seems to be leading to ever increasing measures to create paths and fences to direct walkers, and reduce erosion.

 

The island is the site of a church established by St Dwyn, more commonly known as Dwynwen (holy or blessed Dwyn). She was a sister to Ceinwen, commemorated nearby at Cerrigceinwen and Llangeinwen; and one of twenty four daughters of Brychan, king in Brecon. Her first church here was supposedly founded in the late fifth century.. St Dwynwen’s church was already virtually ruined by the seventeenth century, however small portions still remain, along with the traces of the monastery buildings. It is said that hoping to cash in on the benefits of the shrine a a Benedictine monastery was established on the island in the Middle Ages. No visible evidence of the monastery remains, and some authors have questioned whether it ever actually existed.

St Dwynwen is known throughout Wales as the patron saint of lovers, effectively a Welsh saint Valentine, and her wells and shrine have been visited constantly, even after the ruin of the church. The Monastery at Llanddwyn was at one time amongst the wealthiest in North Wales due largely to the offerings left by visitors to Dwynwen’s shrine, and by the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries it was considered the richest prebend in the principality. Wax candles were kept constantly burning at Dwynwen’s shrine, possibly a golden image of St Dwynwen was displayed and here “A thousand broken hearts her power invoked”

I

n the late eighteenth up until the early twentieth centuries, the island was inhabited again, as beacons were built and pilots housed to guide ships into St Georges Channel. The rocks off shore had historically been the cause of numerous wrecks on a then busy shipping route. At present the beacon, lighthouse and old lifeboat station remain, although unused. The pilot’s cottages have been converted into a small museum which reflects the life of Dwynwen and recreates that of the more recent inhabitants of the island.

Traditionally lovers would visit her well or shrine to divine the identity of future partners or to test whether existing love would last. According to accounts of her life, Dwynwen was loved by Maelon Dafrodill, whom she loved in return. However, he was said to have made inappropriate advances, which she rejected; and as a result he stormed off, spreading rumours and gossip to besmirch her reputation as he went. Heartbroken, Dwynwen swore that she would never love again and prayed to God to cure her of her love. God granted that in future she should never wish to be married, and also her wish that all other true hearted lovers should either obtain their desires or be cured of their passions. He also finally released Maelon at her request, whom he had temporarily frozen into a block of ice. Dwynwen then took the veil and founded her church on Llanddwyn Island.

Not only lovers restored to the shrine, Dwynwen’s well also gained the reputation for curing aches, stitches and pleurisy. Her church also developed a reputation for the cure of farmer’s beasts. The following story is widely reported.

Around the year 1650 the ploughing oxen at Bodeon took fright when at work, ran over a steep cliff and perished in the sea. This occurred on St Mark’s Day and the farmer concluded that it was due punishment for working on the saint’s feast day. To prevent future accidents he decreed that this day should henceforward be kept as a holiday and that two wax candles should be burned on that day in the porch of Dwynwen’s church. This practice was maintained well into the eighteenth century, the owner of the farm and other local farmers paying to maintain the church porch for this purpose at a time when the remainder of the church was in ruins.

 There are three wells of note in the immediate area, Crochan Llanddwyn on the mainland and,on the island itself, are found both Dwynwen’s own well and also Ffynnon y Sais.

 Crochan Llanddwyn

Crochan Llanddwyn, Llanddwyn’s Cauldron, is a pool on the mainland, hidden in the Newborough forest a little way off the road that runs from the toll gate to the beach car park. It was to this pool that the youth of the area would come to predict the course of their love. Perhaps as her island shrine fell into ruin, devotions paid at the shrine were transferred to this well. Another widely reproduced account; this by William Williams of Llandegai who recorded many local customs in the early 1800s records that

There was a spring of clear water, now choked up by sand, at which an old woman from Newborough always attended and prognosticated the lovers’ success from the movements of some small eels which waved out of the sides of the well, on spreading the lovers’ handkerchief on the surface of the water. I remember an old woman saying that when she was a girl she consulted the woman at this well about her desting with respect to a husband, on spreading her handkerchief out popped an eel from the north side of the well and soon after another crawled out from the south side. Then the woman told her that her husband would be a stranger from the south part of Caernarvonshire. Soon after, it happened, that three brothers came from that part and settled in the area, one of whom made his addresses to her and in a little time married her. So much of the prophecy I remember. This couple was my father and mother. [1]

 

The pool is not currently clear, rather it was choked with pond weed on our visit and no eels were to be seen.

 Ffynnon Dwynwen, Ffynnon Fair, Ffynnon Dafaden

Dwynwen’s Well is considered a little problematical. There are records of a well dedicated to St Dwynwen, also often called Ffynnon Fair on the island although its precise location has been open to dispute. Although Dwynwen’s well was certainly resorted to for its curative powers there remains some confusion over whether the lovers’ ceremonies were performed at Crochan Llanddwyn as described above or at St Dwynwen’s Well on the island. Some sources state that the well on the island it is now lost.

There is a well on the island clearly marked on most maps as Ffynnon Dafaden, the wart well. It is recorded that at some period this was resorted to for the cure of warts, and numbers of corks with pins stuck into them, a part of the wart cure ritual, were to be found in the well.

Most reliable sources now identify this well as that originally dedicated to St Dwynwen. It lies high on a cliff above the sea on the north side of the island, little more than about 50 yards from the church. The water cascades from the well over the rocks into the sea. On our most recent visit the pool was swarming with little tadpoles.

Dwynwen, who is remembered for the maxim “There is none so loveable as the cheerful”, has been the subject of numerous celebratory songs and poems over the centuries.

Dafydd ab Gwilyn (ca 1315-1350) commences:

 Dwynwen, your beauty like the hoar-fros’s tears:
from your chancel with its blazing waxen candles
well does your golden image know
how to assuage the griefs of wretched men.
What a man so ever would keep vigil in your choir
(a holy, shining pilgrimage), (you with) Inded’s radiance,
there is no sickness nor heart’s sorrow
which he would carry with him thence from Llanddwyn. [2]

 

St Dwynwen’s Day is celebrated on January 25^th.

Ffynnon y Sais

On the same side of the island, a little closer to the mainland is Ffynnon y Sais. This is a small fresh water spring that emerges from the shingle at the top of the beach and runs in a small stream across the beach towards the sea. I am unaware of any traditions or stories relating to the spring, it is relatively small, and probably just noted as a source of fresh water; however the bay in which it is located is called Trwyn  Ffynnon y Sais

A final notable feature on the island, close to the path that leads onto the island is actually marked on the visitor’s display boards as an old well. This is the feature generally known as Merddin Cil. It is a narrow stone lined chamber that goes down to a depth of some ten feet. Its purpose is unknown, however there is no evidence of it ever having held water or having been a well

 

[1] William Williams Manuscripts, quoted by Baring-Gould and Fisher in Lives of the British Saints

[2] Selected Poems of Dafyyd Ap Gwilym. Translated by Rachel Bromwich Penguin Books 1985   Quoted at http://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/prayer-to-st-dwynwen-daffyd-ap-gwilym.html

Ffynnon Cerrigceinwen

For sale!  St Ceinwen’s church and holy well are currently on the market. Unfortunately the sale conditions specify that the name of the building must be changed by the purchaser and that no reference to St Ceinwen or a church can be made. There goes my chance of a lucrative business selling cures at the well then.

The well is actually known as Ffynnon Cerrigceinwen, taking on the name of the village rather than that of the saint herself. Cerrigceinwen being translated as “the stones of St Ceinwen”,   which refers to a rocky outcrop close to the church (editted). Cerrigceinwen is in the centre of Anglesey, a couple of miles south west of Llangefni.

St Ceinwen was one of the many daughters of Brychan, a fifth century king of Brecknockshire (Breconshire). Brychan is variously reported as having had up to three wives and up to sixty children. It was  written that of these children twelve males and twelve females became known as saints. Ceinwen’s name was actually Cein, with the alternative spellings Cain and Keyne. Ceinwen is formed from “Cein” and “gwen” meaning the holy or blessed Cein. Cein has, in some accounts, been credited with skills in dragon slaying and turning lizards to stone.

Brychan was based in South Wales, and Cein has a number of churches dedicated to her there. However, in common with many of Brychan’s children, her main ministry was in across the Severn in south west England, particularly Somerset and Cornwall; and she is reputed to have died in Cornwall. It is here that her most well known well is found at St Keyne near Liskeard. [1]

Commemorated in poems by Richard Carew (1602) and nineteenth century poet laureate Robert Southey, the belief was that whichever partner drank first from the well following a wedding would have the upper hand in the marriage.

I hasten’d as soon as the wedding was done
And left my wife in the porch
But i’faith, she had been wiser than me
For she took a bottle to church
 Southey – The Well of St Keyne.

So her associations further north and in particular with this area of Anglesey are unclear. However, there must be definite reasons for it, since apart from this church there is another in the nearby village of Llangeinwen supposedly founded by her, and her sister Dwyn’s own church and well are found on Llanddwyn island also close by. Baring  Gould’s Lives of the British Saints suggests that both sisters settled in Anglesey as neighbours.

Ffynnon Cerrigceinwen lies in the churchyard opposite the main door of the church. It is a simple well consisting of a deep pool backed by a natural rock wall set in a grassy hillside. It had a reputation as a healing well, although details of its efficacy for any specific ailmenst have been lost.

St Ceinwen’s festival is celebrated at Cerrigceinwen on October 7^th, although other authorities suggest that it should be either October 8^th or the second Sunday after Michaelmas.

[1] Janet Bord (2008) Holy Wells in Britain: A Guide

Ffynnon Gwynwy, Llangelynin

Llangelynin Church lies high in the hills overlooking Conwy and Penmaenmawr. The church, used now for three services a year sits in glorious isolation. However, this has not always been the case. In the past it was at the heart of a thriving agricultural community, and a stopping off point on a drovers route approaching the crossing of the River Conwy.

The remains of houses appear on the slopes of the surrounding hills, the remains of an in have been found abutting the church wall, whilst less than a hundred yards away is the site of an old cock baiting ring. The remains of older settlements, hut circles and pre Roman camps are all close by,

We had previously visited Llangelynin’s most well known well, that of St Celynin to which sick children were brought from all over the area. We returned on this occasion to hunt out another local well.

Ffynnon Gwynwy is supposedly located about 200 yards along the drovers road in the direction of The River Conwy from the church. The well is marked, although not named, on most of the ordnance survey maps from the past hundred years.

Its prime use was for the removal of warts, which it seems to have in common with quite a number of wells. Clearly time was when warts were a significant problem.  A visitor to the well would be expected to drop a bent pin into the well before bathing to effect a cure. Unusually however the well appeared to have had a double action. If for any reason the visitor failed to follow the ceremony correctly then rather than having their warts removed they would additionally receive the warts of the previous visitor. For the same reason, people were unwilling to touch the pins already in the well, and apparently early in the nineteenth century large quantities of pins were found in the well basin.

Early maps show the well distinctly as a square on the edge of the road. On the day we visited the road was very wet, with water from recent rain and melted snow running down it. The fields to the north of the road, on which the well lies, are above road level. They were also wet with water running off them. Consequently I am really not sure whether we found the well.

The most likely feature and that shown in the photographs was a small foot square tank at the roadside. It was formed at the back by the hillside into which the road is cut, to the sides by stone from the stone wall that runs along the roadside cut into the bank, and at the front by a large flat piece of  stone placed to retain the water. Rather than being a well, this tank was more of a collection point for water flowing from the field above.

It appears that pipes had been laid to carry the water under the road to flow away in a channel. However, whether this is just a trap for the stream above or also  a spring in its own right was very difficult to tell.

Looking along the roadside nearby failed to reveal any other candidates for the well, and so for the present I shall retain these photographs and description.

Francis Jones [1]  includes Ffynnon Gwynwy in his category A group of wells, namely those devoted to a particular saint, or religious designation. I have been unable to identify a St Gwynwy, and the other literature does not provide a derivation for the name, so it is uncertain how this classification derives.

All in all, this was a visit that left many questions unanswered; however, Llangelynin remains a fantastic spot for a walk, and with the church, two wells, and the remains of this ancient community a fascinating historical visit too.

[1] Jones F (1954) Holy Wells of Wales. University of Wales Press.
 See references page for further details

St Mary Magdalene’s Well, Cerrigydrudion

St Mary Magdalene’s well, Ffynnon Fair Fagdalen,  at Cerrigydrudion could be a beautiful little well with a little care and attention. As it is, it seems an almost forgotten treasure. There was apparently an attempt some 10 years ago by members of the Dry Stone Walling association to restore the well, so the structure appears relatively and surprisingly intact. However, at the same time it seems to be a convenient local dumping ground, we found several buckets and tin cans in it, together with a number of rotting plastic sacks.

However, at the bottom of it all, under all the litter, there was still water, albeit stagnant and smelling, in the well.

The well basin measures about 6 feet by four feet, on three sides it is constructed of dry stone walling, the fourth side made up with a couple of massive stones stuck upright into the ground. Apparently at one time there were steps leading down into the basin. There is other stone scattered around on the surface around the well, presumably the remains of the recent attempts to restore it. The well is covered over in part by fallen iron fencing.

Cerrigydrudion, like its well, has seen better days. Its name descends from a large heap of stones that were once to be seen there, but which have long since been removed for building. The name has been interpreted variously as the Stones of the Druids, or possibly more accurately as the Stones of the Beloved or the Daring Ones, which relates the site to the graves of some long lost knights or heroes, maybe making a link with another nearby village Bryn Saith Marchog, or the Hill of the Seven Knights. Cerrigydrudion was once a thriving small market town its decline appears to have been gradual and lengthy. The following in Lewis’s [2]  description from 1849

The village is situated on a gentle eminence, and was formerly a thoroughfare on the great Irish road, which, by an improvement in the route, was afterwards diverted to a short distance from it, but still passes for several miles through the parish. The traffic on this line of road has much diminished since the opening of the Chester and Holyhead railway, in 1848. A post office has been established here. A market was at one time held on Friday, but it has fallen into disuse: fairs take place on March 14th, April 27th, August 24th, October 20th, and December 7th.

Much of the surrounding land was let off to farmers from further north and west who used it as a stopping off point for drovers heading to the English markets.

When we visited it in March 2012 it retained this sense of closure, typical of so many villages these days, the one remaining village centre pub, The White Lion,closed its doors last year, and a number of shops around the central square, a general dealer and a butcher seemed to be no longer trading.

St Mary Magdalene’s church lies at the centre of the village, its notice board welcomes visitors to come inside with the promise of useful leaflets on things to do in the area; it was firmly locked this Sunday afternoon. Maybe this is a necessary precaution, a local legend recalls the time when the devil himself took up residence inside the church and it took a team of oxen to drag him out again, one can’t be too careful I suppose.

The church was reputedly founded by Ieuen Gwas Padrig; a true Welsh saint who hailed from Llahrhaiadr, he was a disciple of St Patrick, hence the nickname Gwas Padrig – the servant of Patrick. His life history records him as a miracle worker from a young age, reported to have banished adders from the neighbourhood and driving crows from his father’s barn. His father was so impressed that he sent him to study pest control with St Patrick, whom he eventually followed to Ireland. Patrick soon recognised Ieuan’s miracle working skills, and reluctant to deprive Wales of such a saint sent him back. With a lack of forethought it is told that there was no ship available to carry him home, but, nothing daunted, Ieuan prayed and soon saw a blue slab floating on the water towards him, he boarded it and was carried safely to Anglesey.

 He returned home to be instructed by an angel to walk southwards until he spied a roebuck, at that point he was to establish his cell, This instruction led him to Cerrigydrudion where he established the church that he himself was said to have dedicated to St Mary Magdalene. This is supposed to have been around the year 400. The church may at one time have been dedicated to both Mary and himself and according to Lhuyd, prior to the Reformation St Ieuan Gwas Padrig was depicted in medieval stained glass at the church.

There are a number of named wells cited by Francis Jones[3] in the area. The St Mary Magdalene’s well described above lies close to the church, it is situated at the base of a large tree and is accessed by accessed by a very short walk on a public footpath close to a new road suggestively called Maes-y-Ffynnon.

However an earlier well, dedicated to the same saint, was said to be at Caeu Tudur. Lhuyd [4] also mentions Ieuan’s own Holy Well, which was said to possess very cold water which cured swelling in the knees, and yet another well Ffynnon y Brawd – the Friars’s Well – which was resorted to for the removal of warts. Both these are also mentioned in Jones. Although it has been suggested that the well currently referred to as St Mary Magdalene’s was originally St Ieuan Gwas Padrig’s well [1], however information I have recently received identifies Ieuan’s well at some distance from Cerrigydrudion and this well will be the subject of a new post in the near future.

St Mary Magdalene’s day is celebrated on July 22^nd.

[1] Jane Cartwright (2008) Feminine Sanctity and Spirituality in Medieval Wales. University of Wales Press
[2] Samuel Lewis(1849)  Topographical Dictionary of Wales – see references page for more details
[3] Francis Jones(1954)  The Holy Wells of Wales – see references page for more details
[4] Edward Lhuyd (1698) Parochial Queries – see references page for more details

 The photos from this visit are quite disappointing and don’t show much detail of the well basin. I shall try to get some better ones next time I’m passing, if I can remove the fence that covers it for a while.

Ffynnon Ddeuno, Broughton

Ffynnon Ddeuno stood on the Gatewen Estate near Broughton until it vanished from view under the spoil heap from a nearby coalmine.

The name of the well, or at least its spelling, varies to some degree. The RCAHMW database records it as Ddeuno as does Francis Jones, other records spell the name as Deuno.  In 1699 Lhuyd reported it as Ffynnon Dheyno, suggesting that at one time a small chapel was said to have stood over it.  Jones cites the Deeds of Gatewen 1738-1823 in which the farm is named Ffynnon Beuno, alias Capel Beuno; suggesting that the name Deuno may have been derived from Beuno through the Welsh habit of switching aspirants in relation to grammar. If the well was indeed to have been a Saint’s well then Baring-Gould’s Lives of British Saints does not record a St Ddeuno.

The well originally stood on the Gatewen Farm lands which were incorporated into the Gatewen Hall estate in the early 19^th century by Thomas Hayes, who substantially enlarged the Hall and estate on the back of income received from the slave trade. the Hayes family having occupied Gatewen Hall since the 18^th century. [1] The well was “rediscovered” in the 1870s by the Misses Hayes, daughters of then Hayes family owners. They restored it by constructing a new building over it, forming an arched roof with bench seats along either side of the well. Ivy and other trailing plants where grown over it.

Unfortunately, around the same time further coal seas were discovered in the area and the Gatewen colliery opened in 1877. The mine grew such that by 1908 the mine employed 800 men and by the 1920s over 1000 men. The pit eventually closed in 1932. However, the spoil heap from the colliery gradually encroached upon the area where the well lay. Local historian A N Palmer [2] saw the well in the early twentieth century, reporting that the building “though modern and unpretentious is very picturesque, still stood, although the well had by that time run dry, and eventually, at some point soon after both the well and the Misses Hayes structure vanished under earth extracted from the mine.

Photo – looking across the brook towards spoil heaps covering the old well site

The best records of memories of the well are included on the very informative website of the Broughton Local History Society [3] , which has been drawn upon for the preparation of this entry. They quote from the notes of Thomas Morgan (1878-1965), who lived all his life in the area.

“I have just written about the yew trees. They stood between the brook and the path, and looking from them across the meadow to the woods, you saw on the edge of the wood, a stone building about six feet wide and about four foot six inches wide, and this was Ffynnon Deuno. I often wondered what it was. There were few children who could speak Welsh and they always called the place ‘Farina Dina’”

 “…the water of it was very soft, cold and sparkling and much resorted to by persons “with bad legs, and sore arms, or who were hurt in the coal mines.”

 “The well was never or rarely dry in summer, but always in autumn and then for about two months, generally throughout September and October.”

A single yew tree remains today, between the brook and the path; but looking across towards where the well must have stood all one sees now is the steeply rising, now tree lined slopes of the last remnants of Gatewen colliery. The top of the heap is levelled off, and new housing estates are spreading across the old Gatewen farm lands.

[1]  http://www.chris-myers.co.uk/gatewen-hall-and-moss-valley.html

[2] A N Palmer (1903) A History of the Thirteen Country Townships of the Old Parish of Wrexham

[3] Broughton District  History Group website

All Saints Well, Gresford

All Saints Well at Gresford appears almost forgotten now, All Saints Church is justifiably a major attraction; its bells are cited as one of the seven wonders of Wales, and the sculpted gargoyles, animals and faces that run around the outside, and the wealth of medieval carving inside make it well worth a visit.

The well lies a couple of hundred yards to the north of the church, on a little wooded buffer between the railway and the A483 dual carriageway, surrounded by the upended roots of fallen trees. It is accessed from Springfield Lane, the name maybe recording the one time importance of the well. But even though the entrance to the well is almost on the roadside it is very easy to miss unless you are actually looking for it. The well is called All Saints Well by Lhuyd, a name retained by the Ordnance Survey and Francis Jones, however some local accounts appear to refer to it by the alternative name of St Catherine’s Well, there is a St Catherine’s Chapel in Gresford church.

For many years it was  apparently the main water source for the village.

“…up until this time (the 19th century) the main water supply came from St Catherine’s Well on Springfield Lane and was taken to the village using water carts or barrels and donkeys” [2]

However, any aspects of its role in religious or medicinal uses seem to have been lost, although  in its time, judging by the construction, it must have been viewed with importance to the community. It does not merit a reference in any of the Victorian gazetteers, so it must be presumed that by that time any significance that it may have once had was lost.

The well basin lies about five feet below the current ground level. It is reached by around fifteen stone steps which lead down into a narrow stone lined corridor which curves slightly round for about five yards between the foot of the steps and the well.

Apparently at one time the corridor was roofed; the well area itself is still covered by two large slabs of stone. Palmer [1] states that at the beginning of the twentieth century water was pumped from the well. There is no evidence of any pump now, although the well is certainly dry with no signs of water having been present in recent times.

The church at Gresford dates from the 15th century when the existing parish church was demolished and replaced with the magnificent building which stands there now. At the time the church was massively out of scale with the small village in which it stood, and there is some debate as to how exactly the funds were raised for a building of such size, and the necessity for such a church. Whether it was financed as a special location on a pilgrimage route, or whether financed by a rich benefactor, such as Thomas Stanley who endowed other churches at Wrexham and Mold is discussed on the church website.

[1] AN Palmer (1905) History of the Old Parish of Gresford. Archaeologia Cambrensis
[2] Wrexham BC (2009) Gresford Conservation Area and Management Plan

Goblins’ Well, Mold

Goblins Well, which was once found about a mile to the west of Mold, is another well with a long history that is sadly now lost to us, finally having fallen victim to a road widening scheme. Goblins Well lay in a field near Maes Garmon farm, the same field where the obelisk stands commemorating the supposed site of the famous Alleluia Victory of St Garmon’s Christian army over the massed ranks of Picts and Scots in around 430.

The obelisk was erected, rather fancifully in 1736 by the landowner Nehemiah Griffiths of Rhual. There is certainly no evidence that the battle, recorded by Bede amongst others took place at this spot.

The well last appears on the 1899 Ordnance Survey maps and was visited and described by the Royal Commission on Ancient Monuments in 1910, they write

Within the field (Maes Garmon) is a stone enclosure, 8 feet by 4 feet, containing a spring called the Goblins’ Well; the stones are mostly displaced, and the bed of the well is trampled by cattle; the overflow is fairly copious. – Visited 21^st September 1910.

It must have been fading fast even then, for it is no longer recorded when the updated OS Map is produced in 1912, and it doesn’t appear on subsequent maps, although it isn’t until around the 1970s that the road passing by was widened and any last traces of the well obliterated.

The name Goblins’ Well presumably links it to the nearby Goblins’ Hill, Bryn-yr-Ellyllon. This was the site of a burial cairn, dated to around 1900 to 1600 BC, close to the River Alun, which was opened in 1833. Its contents included the magnificent  golden cape, this was badly damaged when found and much of the gold was shared out amongst the workmen finding it. Since then most of it has been recovered and the remains of it are now in the British Museum, with a facsimile copy on display in Mold. There were also a large number of amber beads, most of which became collector’s items for the local finders and are largely now lost.

There is a long history of the association of ancient burial mounds and supernatural folk such as goblins or fairies. A number of mounds around both Wales and other parts of Britain are similarly named.

Richard Holland [1] records a ghost story linked to the well. It was supposed to have “an eerie reputation”, and that the local population would avoid passing close to the well during hours of darkness.  Those who did find themselves at the well at night would be liable to meet up with a hooded headless lady in white

Francis Jones provides a section on the ghost lore of wells. Women in white (he refers to Ladi Wen) were a common sight, known to haunt not only wells, but crossroads, churches, abandoned houses, fords, hedges and bridges.

Ghostly women in white are not unique to Welsh wells. A brief search of the internet shows wells across Britain and Ireland haunted by these figures. Many commentators seek to draw a link between early Celtic goddesses, particularly Brid or Brigid, who is often traced through to St Brigid, after whom many wells across Britain have been named. It is suggested, by those who support the theory of the incorporation of pagan well related customs into Christianity that often Brigid has been transformed into the Virgin Mary as a dedicatee of wells.

Marie Trevelyan [2] wrote that “Wales, in common with England, has innumerable white ladies, and every county of the Principality has several of these apparitions”.

However, many suggest that the specific Welsh Ladi Wen is a relatively recent, certainly a post-Tudor, phenomenon, and may be a very different entity to the white lady that haunts the wells The Ladi Wen is often labelled as a specific Welsh bogey-woman, more common in South Wales than North Wales. She is often headless like Holland’s White Lady at Goblins’ Well, and she would be used to threaten naughty children, and would be a commonly expected visitor at Hallowe’en.

Clearly the White Lady at Goblins Well is part of a nationwide team of White Lady apparitions.

However the well’s white lady isn’t the only ghost in the area. Goblins’ Hill itself has its own spectre. A giant warrior, clad in the gold cape of the burial, was seen a little before the discovery, trying to lead treasure seekers to his hoard. The story, recorded by local vicar Mr Clough, was in widespread circulation very soon after the discovery, and others were soon willing to state that they, or their predecessors had also seen the warrior.

This unassuming area on the outskirts of Mold boasts it all, ghosts, wells, golden hoards and historic battles. We knew that the well was no longer there to be seen before we set off, but the thrill of tramping across fields in driving rain, the chance to visit the fabled battleground (or at least to see the monument) and always the outside chance of meeting a ghostly white lady or gold clad knight was probably too good to miss out on. The lack of photos indicates that the spectres, on this occasion, failed to materialise.

[1] Richard Holland (2011) Haunted Wales. The History Press
[2]Marie Trevelyan (1909) Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales

Ffynnon Beuno, Gwyddelwern

Beuno seems to have been one of Wales’ most peripatetic of saints, travelling the length and breadth of the country practising his particular speciality of replacing severed heads and restoring the dead to life.

Born somewhat as an afterthought into the royal family of Gwent he was packed off at an early age to Caerwent to study for the priesthood. He established his first church in Powys following the death of his father there. Beside his father’s grave he planted a magical oak tree. It grew such that on of the branches dipped down into the ground forming an archway. It was said that any Englishman who walked through the arch would quickly die, although Welshmen could walk through it with impunity.

The king of Powys then granted him land at Berriew where he established his next church. Fearing attack from England however he soon moved north to Meifod where he teamed up with St Tyssilio.It soon proved that this town wasn’t big enough for the both of them and he travelled north again to Gwyddelwern where Cynan provided land for yet another church.

It was here at Gwyddelwern that he began his career of life restoring, supposedly bringing back to life an Irishman, Llorcan Wyddel. The name Gwyddelwern implies that it was once the home of people of Irish descent.

He didn’t remain here long though, for an altercation over the provision of hospitality to the grandsons of Cynan, in which it seems Beuno was very much in the wrong,  Baring-Gould explains:

Coming to Gwyddelwern they imperiously demanded food for themselves and their party. They induced Beuno to kill a young ox for their refection, but the meat did not cook in the pot to their liking, and the youths swore that this was due to Beuno, who was sulky at their quartering themselves upon him, and had bewitched the food. When Beuno heard this he was very wroth and cursed the young men. “What your grandfather gave to God free, do you demand of it tribute and service? May your kin never possess the land, and may you be destroyed out of this kingdom and be likewise deprived of your eternal inheritance!”

 Verily it was a risky thing to interfere with these old Celtic saints, who wielded the keys of Heaven in a very arbitrary fashion.

 The real facts seem to be that the young men claimed food and shelter as a right, such as they could demand of any lay householder in the tribe; but this was a claim from which the ecclesiastics considered themselves to be exempt.

He was, however, led to move northwards again to Flintshire. It was here that he made his greatest claim to fame in replacing the severed head of his niece Winefride and thus restoring her to life at the site which became the great St Winefride’s Well at Holywell.

Here he struck up a friendship with Cadwallan, king of Gwynedd, and he soon moved his establishment westwards to Caernarfon. He finally settled at Clynnog Fawr on the Llyn peninsula, founding churches and restoring life both there and on Anglesey. Perhaps his best known well today is that at Clynnog and we shall pick up on the later stages of his life when we cover that well.

In his travels through North East Wales he left behind five wells and several churches, including the one here at Gwyddelwern.

Both church and well here have seen better days, hopefully this isn’t still down to those sons of Cynan taking retribution. The church is currently unsafe for use and ringed around not with the traditional woven wooden fencing but with orange plastic mesh which prevented us visiting.

His baptismal well too is covered by grating, this of old iron. It lies in a field close to the side of the road, a couple of hundred yards to the north of the church. It is a deep well, lied with concrete, brick and stone, the water level being about four or five feet below ground level. There is another spring, at surface level, a few yards to the south which forms a stream running down the field boundary. Further water, possibly overflow from Beuno’s well,  is channelled away in an underground pipe, emerging down the field into an old iron bath, very like that at Ffynnon Wyryd.

The well was in the past resorted to for its powers to cure cattle, the beasts would be sprinkled with water from a yew bough that had been dipped into the well.

Beuno’s church and well at Gwyddelwern are probably not his greatest legacy to the Welsh tourist industry, but it still marks the spot of his introduction to the art of miracle cures.

St Beuno’s feast day is celebrated on April 21st.

There is a second spring, also dedicated to Beuno, to the south of the village which we did not locate on this visit.

This life of St Beuno is based on that in Baring-Gould and Fisher’s “Lives of the British Saints” which in turn is based on medieval manuscripts written long after Beuno’s death. I have seen it recently discussed that to fit in with all the timelines of other characters involved that it might be necessary to consider the possibility of  two  Beuno’s whose stories have over time been concatenated into a single history.