Recent changes:
19.06.2013 – St Beuno’s Well, Holywell added
31.05.2013 – Ffynnon Dudno, Llandudno added
29.05.2013 – Ffynnon Sadwrn, Llandudno added
08.05.2013 – All Saints and St Catherine’s Wells Gresford updated
24.04.2013 – Ffynnon Fair, Cefn Meiriadog updated
Posted in Uncategorized
There are days when you begin to imagine that St Beuno was in the franchise business. His wells seem to have branches everywhere, from Gwyddelwern to Clynnog, from Bala to Aberffraw, he almost had the North Walian market sewn up back in the day. Interestingly, although he is now remembered by so many solely for his role in the story of Winefride, Baring Gould and Fisher in their Lives of the British Saints suggest that traces of the presence of Beuno himself in Flintshire are much slighter than elsewhere.
His well at Holywell has, in recent years, been overshadowed by its more famous neighbour that of St Winefride. When I first tried to track it down I soon found myself waist deep in nettles and brambles and was forced to retreat in failure. Now, however, Beuno’s well seems to be making a comeback, making a bid to regain its place on the tourist trail and on the pilgrim trail. It is set to become a landmark on a new St Beuno’s Heritage Trail linking Holywell and Basingwerk. A new path has been constructed. It begins with a few steps leading out of the corner of the St Winefrides’s Well car park, follows a short woodland path and then leads up a vertiginous, exhausting flight of 75 steps climbing the hill. This is where, they say, Beuno’s chapel stood, where, they say, Winefride fled when pursued by Caradog, and from this spot here then severed head bounced and rolled until it came to rest at the point from which her well still issues forth.
Over the last hundred years, Beuno’s well has received rather disparaging comments. The Royal Commission in 1910 reported
A pool of water which at present can hardly be considered a well. It is situated beneath a tree in a meadow below Pen Dre House west of castle Hill. The pool is of irregular shape, and a bank projects into it. Two of its sides are about 8 and 5 yards respectively. It has recently been cleaned out. There is a slight spring
The HER records
A pool of water, rather muddy, 2m by 3m, partially enclosed by a stone wall, with a slight spring evident.
The site now resembles a small crater, CPAT suggest it looks more like a mine shaft than a well. The hollow on the hill top is some 10 by 15 yards, with steep sides and at its maximum depth the bottom is some six or seven feet below the surface level.
When I first saw it last autumn – see below – it was completely enveloped in trees. Hawthorn trees grew all around the well and up the slopes of the edge of the pit, and larger tress grew in the bottom of the well.
These have now largely been removed so that the outline can be seen more clearly. Although nature has replaced them with tall grasses, flowers and weeds, so that the shape of the bottom of the bit still cannot be seen clearly.
A 1:500 scale map from the 1870s shows the feature as with a very distinctive shape. A spring appears to rise towards the north, which flows in a short dog-legged stream to a pool some feet away. It is, with faith, possible to trace this pattern. There appears to be evidence that the water rises at the very northern end of the pit and flows down through it. It forms a small muddy pool towards the centre of the pit, with evidence of the remainder of the pit southwards being considerably waterlogged. It maybe that the cleaning out reported in 1910 may have changed the shape of, or even eradicated, the dog-legged stream; however evidence of a slight spring and water remain.
A number of accounts make reference to a tree above the well. It was, apparently a custom for pilgrims to hammer coins into the tree by way of an offering. It seems that this practice led eventually to the death of the tree and I believe it was finally removed by the council at some point in the 1950s. Baring Gould and Fisher record that “All trees growing on land belonging to Beuno were deemed sacred and no one dared to cut any of them down lest the Saint should kill them or do them some grevous harm”. I’m not sure whether those responsible for removing the trees here have felt the effect of this.
There is no obvious evidence of the stone wall mentioned in the HER file, although recent excavations, carried out in connection with the restoration report having found evidence of a stone pathway, dated to the eighteenth century, around the top of the well at some points.
The recovery of St Beuno’s well is clearly a work in progress, and may well repay further visits. If and when any changes occur I shall update this report.
Posted in Flintshire, Uncategorized
Tagged coins in well, Holywell, Lost wells, open spring, St Beuno, St Winefride
St Tudno’s Well
The Great Orme, Y Gogarth, that iconic limestone outcrop that defines Llandudno has been a centre of population and industry for thousands of years. Copper mining was been carried out here during the Bronze Age, It was later occupied by the Romans, and it was here in the seventh century that Tudno founded his church. In the medieval period it was home to a farming community and later the mines were reopened and once again Llandudno became a source of copper.
A small cave, little more than seven feet square, but with its own spring of fresh water, looking out to sea on the north coast of the Orme is reputed to have been Tudno’s cell; and his church remains, high above this point still isolated from any present day habitation.
Tudno was a Welshman, supposed to have been son of a King of Maes Gwyddino, lands that were flooded and lost in the sixth century and now lie under the sea in Cardigan Bay. On losing their lands he and his brothers took refuge and became monks at the great monastery at Bangor on Dee, and when that was destroyed by the Saxons Tudno, who survived the massacre, fled to form his cell at what has now become known as Llandudno.
The Great Orme was attractive for settlement throughout history as it has a number of strong fresh water springs scattered across it. These would have been invaluable in the mining process as well as providing water to early residents on the hillside. Close to Tudno’s church is Ffynnon Rufeining which can be translated as the Roman’s Well and close to which Roman coins have been found. Another well, some hundred yards from Tudno’s church became known and visited as St Tudno’s Well.
Llandudno, as it is known today, sprang up, with rapid development, in the mid Victorian period in the age when the advent of rail travel led to an explosion in the development of seaside resorts. The town became fashionable and grew rapidly, linking the former isolated settlements that existed around both the Great and Little Ormes. As the town developed the springs on the Orme were looked to for a ready source of fresh water. In around 1860 a reservoir was dug, the remains of which though now dry can still be seen to the east of St Tudno’s church. A number of springs were diverted to feed this, whilst water from others were piped directly down to the town.
A parliamentary Bill was introduced in 1875 to dissolve the existing Llandudno Gas and Water Company and pass its assets to a new Company. This Bill specifically mentions Tudno’s Well. The assets of the old company included
A line of pipe commencing at the Gogarth Springs and terminating at the junction of streets called or known as Church Walls and Abbey Road in Llandudno.
Whilst the new Company were given the rights to
Take, collect, divert and use all or some of the waters called or known as the Gogarth Springs Ffynnon Powell, Ffynnon Tudno, Ffynnon Llety’r Fadon and of the streams and waters which directly or derivatively flow or proceed into or out of the same respectively.
As a result the flow from St Tudno’s Well would have been significantly reduced, leaving us with the small trickle that we see today.
This was described by the Royal Commission on Historical and Ancient Monuments in the 1930s, who observed it
… at the foot of steep ground formed by a small level platform in a hillside falling to the east. The water stands in a square basin, three feet each way, in a cleft cut into the steep slope. The basin has a slightly curved back and is walled on all sides except the east with drystone masonry, 3 ft 6 in high forming a revetment to the slope and capped by a massive limestone slab 3 ft 6 in long and 2 ft wide from to back and 6 in thick. The open side of the pool on the east is approached by a stone flagged passage 3 ft long. Some 9 ft in front of the well on level ground is another small pool 4ft by 2ft contained in a modern brick surround.
This is much how the spring appears today. The brick lined trough in front of the well still full of water from the spring and used as a drinking trough for the animals grazing on the land. The current farmer in the 1990s told visitors from the Cymdeithas Ffynhonnau Cymru (Welsh Wells Society) that his cattle preferred the water from St Tudno’s Well to any other. [1]
Despite its long history, and obvious use as a water source, I have found no description of it being used as a healing well, although undoubtedly it was. It is referred to seldom in the topographical and tourist books of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries – clearly by that time Llandudno had new excitements to offer.
St Tudno’s feast day is celebrated on 5th June.
Note that Ffynnon Dudno lies on private land and there is no public access to the site. We were fortunate to have the opportunity to visit the well on a very grey, wet and windy day as a part of a group visit organised by the local churches with the permission of the land owner.
[1] website
St Sadwrn’s Well
Ffynnon Sadwrn lies on a grass verge within a small housing estate in Craigside, below the Little Orme at the eastern extremity of Llandudno. The road leading to it shares its name.
Virtually nothing seems to be known concerning this well, and I have come across no accounts of any uses of the well. It appears in none of the records of ancient or historic monuments, and was missed by Francis Jones in his 1950s survey of Welsh wells. The sole reference appears in Baring Gould and Fisher’s “Lives of the British Saints” in which, at the turn of the twentieth century, they note that:
There is a Ffynnon Sadwrn in a neglected condition, in the parish of Llandudno, situated near Little Orme’s Head. A lane there takes its name from it.
All this is a little curious since Ffynnon Sadwrn appears, with its name, on all the Ordnance Survey maps back to at least 1889, something that many now more well known wells can’t claim.
An account from 1880, reproduced by the Great Orme Exploration Society, notes in passing that:
There is a good spring of water near Bodafon called “Ffynnon Sadwrn”, Saturn’s Well.
Apparently the flow from the spring has been much stronger in the past; it was reduced as a result of drainage work carried out on the Mostyn Estates lands around Bodafon.
Baring Gould and Fisher identify two Sadwrns. One lived at Henllan near |Denbigh, the church there is dedicated to him, although a well carrying his name at Henllan has now been filled in. This Sadwrn appears in legends of St Winefride and her journey to Gwytherin.
A second Sadwrn lived for at least a part of his life on Anglesey. The parish of Llansadwrn there is his foundation, and where he is supposed to have been buried. There is a carved figure in Beaumaris, believed to have been removed from Penmon Priory at its dissolution, thought to represent Sadwrn. He is portrayed as a knight, in a suit of armour, with a sword by his side, a shield on one arm and a pilgrim’s staff in the other. This Sadwrn is referred to as Sadwrn Farchog, the knight, and some legends link him with stories of King Arthur.
Baring Gould and Fisher distance this Sadwrn from the one at Henllan solely on the basis of the association with Winefride. If we discount this story as later invention, then there is no longer a need to define two Sadwrns, in fact they share the same festival of November 29th. This they have in common with Saturninus, the martyr bishop of Toulouse, suggesting a further scope for confusion. It soon becomes clear that there is no clear identity of the origin of Sadwrn or the reason for a well carrying his dedication here in Llandudno.
The well, formerly standing out in open fields, has now been incorporated within the landscaping of the housing estate and appears well maintained. Stone steps lead down to it from the roadside, and cotoneaster has been planted around and over it. The well chamber itself, built into the earth bank, is semi circular, stone around the outside but lined with brick, with a stone roof, giving the appearance of twentieth century reconstruction. There is still water within the well basin, but it no longer represents a strong spring today. A name board identifying the well usually stands beside it, but this was missing on our visit.
We saw how St Marcella’s Well at Denbigh suffered the indignity of being buried beneath a traffic roundabout, in a neighbouring parish her brother’s well has fared little better. Once a celebrated healing well, Ffynnon Ddeier has been drained, infilled and diverted so that today its outlet, if indeed any water still flows is within a small nondescript brick and stone built chamber, clogged with leaves, just off the main A541 between Mold and Denbigh.
For a well with so few physical remains however, its documentary remains are substantial, and for the bulk of this article we are indebted to the far ranging paper written in the early 2000s by Tristran Gray Hulse [1]. This piece not only explores the history of Ffynnon Ddeier, but considers the well cult across Wales in general, knocking more than a few myths on their heads as it goes.
Deier, the saint after whom the well is named, is alternatively given as Deifr or possibly most accurately as Diheufyr. For the purpose of this article we shall refer to him as Diheufyr, although retain the accepted spelling of Deier in naming the well.
As previously indicated, he is considered by the histories to be a brother of Marchell and Tyrnog. Little is known of their lives, though it is probable, given the proximity of their foundations, that they were part of a local Clwyd family. Baring Gould and Fisher record that they were originally at the monastery at Bangor On Dee and later ended up at the monastery on Bardsey Island
Diheufyr’s well grew to be known as a prominent healing well in the area, and customs similar to those practiced at nearby Ffynnon Degla grew up, involving walking around the well a certain number of times carrying various types of domestic fowl. The well gained a reputation for curing illnesses in children. Gray Hulse notes that in the earliest accounts of the well these customs are not related, countering the notion that they may be remnants of a pre-Christian practice, suggesting rather that they became associated with the well only in the later medieval period.
He further surmises that the account in the some versions of the life of Winefride, which suggests that after leaving Holywell she visited first Diheufyr at Bodfari and then Sadwrn at Henllan on her journey to Gwytherin may be evidence that the well was then a significant stopping off point on an important pilgrimage route, since given the timescales of their births Winefride would never have actually encountered Diheufyr.
Ffynnon Ddeier was originally situated in a field some 100 yards to the north of its present location, around 300 yards from the church which is dedicated to St Stephen rather than Diheufyr. It was filled in and piped to its present location in the late 19th century to provide a water supply for the area. Gray Hulse quotes from an unpublished note from 1885 which states:
St Deifar’s (sic) well has been drained and no longer exists. It was surrounded by masonry with steps to go down into it. The walls were high and a platform ran completely round the well so as to enable people to walk around it. Its water was bright and clear and being several yards square it was broad and deep enough to bathe in.
A Clwyd Powys Archaeological Trust (CPAT) Report [2] says that it shows signs of having been restored during the past 20 years. They also quote correspondence reporting that “locally it retains its reputation as a holy well.”
At present it can be seen as a brick and stone built square chamber, a piece of slate, carved with graffiti, set into the back wall partly protects the chamber. Gray Hulse and CPAT both refer to an inactive tap, which we couldn’t see, probably concealed below the slate and buried under the leaves and mud that fill the well.
Gray Hulse also comments on another well, found inside a local pub, the Dinorben Arms beside the church, which in the late 20th century was widely and inaccurately advertised as being the lost holy well of St Diheufyrr. Unfortunately the inn closed down in around 2007 and remains empty, so this imposter could not be seen.
Baring Gould and Fisher note another well, Ffynnon Dyfr at Abergele, named possibly after the same saint. St Diheufyr’s festival is given as either the 7th or 8th March.
[1] Gray Hulse, Tristan (2002) The Documentation of Ffynnon Ddeier: Some Problems Reconsidered. Living Spring Journal.
[2] Silvester, Bob and Richard Hankinson (2004) Early Medieval Ecclesiastical and Burial sites in Mid and NE Wales. Field Assessment in CPAT Report 612.
Posted in Flintshire
Ffynnon Wen lies in the shadow of Gop Cairn, a massive hilltop prehistoric mound between the villages of Gwaenysgor and Trelawnyd a little to the east of Prestatyn.
The mound, and the discoveries of bones from pleistocene animals including bison,reindeer, Irish elk, hyena, woolly rhinoceros and arctic lemming in nearby caves point to evidence of human occupation of the area for thousands of years, sustained possibly by the water source at Ffynnon Wen. Legends linking the location with Boudicca’s last battle against the Romans add to the mystery of the place.
In keeping with its links with unwritten prehistory, there is very little recorded evidence of the uses and development of Ffynnon Wen. My only source is the 1912 record of the Royal Commission on Ancient Monuments in Wales. This speculates that
Though no traditions exist respecting the cult associated with the spring, or its popularity, there can be no doubt that the name signifies the Holy Well (‘gwyn’ mutated by the feminine ‘ffynnon’ into ‘wen’=blessed) and denotes its primarily religious character.
In a footnote they add that the well Ffynnon Gwaynysgor mentioned in 1698 by Edward Lhuyd is “unquestionably” Ffynnon Wen. One may speculate that, given the name is not recorded by Lhuyd, it may have been added at the time the well was being built up by the local landowner to give it some sense of spurious historical importance. Another Ffynnon Wen at nearby Henllan was given a similar treatment at a similar period.
The present structure, such as it is, represents the remains of a probably eighteenth century bath house built possibly for the family of nearby Cop’rieni Hall, now Gop Farm. There was a stone enclosed and roofed well house about five feet square with steps down into the water and an adjacent dressing room.
These buildings, already ruinous when recorded in 1910, were virtually demolished soon afterwards by the tenant farmer, tired of a constant stream of visitors to the well.
The square stone lined well basin remains, surrounded by stone work from the demolished buildings. The overflow from the well now creates a rectangular pool, bound by a stone and earth bank, probably a remnant of an earlier hedge or wall.
The Clwyd Powys Archaeological Trust record for the site on the Archwilio database states that the well chamber was covered over by a late slab when seen in the 1980s. This slab is now removed, and possibly lies broken in pieces by the well. A large tree beside the well is further affecting the stonework.
During the winter, what remains could be seen clearly, however in summer the site is hidden by nettles and brambles as Ffynnon Wen is slowly drawn back into the unrecorded prehistory of the surrounding countryside.
Ff Wen is on private land not open to the public, although a public footpath runs close to it. All photos were taken from outside the fenced off area.
St Marcella’s Well
There are some wells high up in snow covered mountains, others lie in sun dappled, tree lined valleys. Some wells are so long forgotten that their location will never again be known, whilst other wells lie buried deep beneath roundabouts on the Denbigh bypass. Ffynnon Farchell, the holy well of St Marchell or Marcella, the Latinised form by which she is usually referred to, falls firmly into this final category.
Marchell was a daughter of Hawystl Gloff and Tywanwedd. She and two of her brothers, Deifyr and Tyrnog arrived in the area in the early 7th century; reputedly following the destruction of the great monastery at Bangor is y Coed by Ethelfrith in 613. They each set up neighbouring cells. Deifyr’s eventually became the parish of Bodfari and Tyrnog’s the parish of Llandyrnog. Marchell’s own parish was known as Llanfarchell up until the fourteenth century at which time Denbigh began to develop where it is now. Other of her brothers travelled further afield establishing churches on Anglesey.
The image of Marchell above is from a recently restored fifteenth century stained glass window in the church at Llandyrnog.
The guidebook to St Marcella’s church paints the fanciful picture of her arrival:
“Here on this very spot we can picture her raising her little shelter of twigs and osiers, her food such as she could gather from herbs, roots and berries and her drink, water of the spring which henceforth bore the name of Marcella’s Well or Ffynnon Farchell.” [1]
The present church dates from the fourteenth century, although the thirteenth century tower remains from an earlier building. Over time, with the movement of the population further west it has at times fallen into disuse and disrepair. During the Civil War it was used for stabling, and in the mid 1800s Lewis commented:
The ancient parochial church, dedicated to St. Marcellus, and now in a very dilapidated condition, is situated at Whitchurch, about a mile from the town, from which place the rectory was transferred by act of parliament to Denbigh, which was made the head of the parish. [2]
The church was restored in 1908 and is now in regular use. Its characteristic colour, being covered in white plaster, stands out in the landscape, and gives the area its name of Whitchurch (White church) or Eglwys Wen.
The well was located some 400 yards to the west of the church. It was recorded by Edward Lhuyd in his inventory of 1699.
“Ffynnon Fachell, near Whitchurch which is thought to be the Saint’s Well”
The uncertainty, even at this time, suggests that any traditions associated with the well were starting to become lost.
Eighteenth and nineteenth century writers, such as Pennant and Lewis, fail to mention it at all, suggesting again that most local tradition concerning healing traditions at the well had faded. However some memories of the significance of the well must have survived even at this period. Its use, maybe for bringing luck or as a wishing well are recorded by the Royal Commission on Ancient Monuments description in 1914.
The son of the old man who told me of the well informed me that as a boy he used to visit the well early in the morning after the great Denbigh fairs; and always found a number of coins which had been thrown into the well by passers-by. Once he discovered a half crown. [3]
The well finally dried up when the spring that fed it was cut during the construction of the Denbigh and Ruthin railway line in the late 1850s, so that by the time of the Royal Commission vsit in 1912 they reported that
There is no trace of it at present, except the channel which took the water away. [3]
The site of the well did continue to be recorded on Ordnance Survey maps up until the 1960s. This would suggest that it thus survived the building of the Myddleton Park housing estate, before it eventually vanished under the line of the bypass.
In visiting the well now the location identified below was based on these OS mapping records.
Let us assume that this represents Ffynnon Farchell, St Marcella’s Well.
Then our best estimate of where it was is as shown in the photographs below, just beside the roundabout on the bypass where you turn off towards Whitchurch
Yes, it is still there below see, just by the roadside
The image below is the church of St Marcella as viewed from the location of her holy well.
St Marcella’s feast day is celebrated on September 5th.
[1] R M (Bobi ) Owen (2010) St Marcella’s Church Denbigh – Guidebook
[2] Samuel Lewis(fourth edition, 1849) A Topographical Dictionary of Wales
[3] Royal Commission on Ancient and Historic Monuments (1914) An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Wales and Monmouth – Vol 4 County of Denbigh.
St Peris’s Well
Nant Peris lies in the Llanberis Pass on the slopes of Snowdon. This is the original settlement of St Peris, before the lure of slate mining drew the population down the hill to the village of Llanberis on the shore of Llyn Padarn.
St Peris remains an enigma. Legend has it that he was a Cardinal in Rome, but his name is as little known there as it is in Wales. Baring-Gould and Fisher, struggling to find a genealogy for him suggest that he may have been one of the sons of Hedig ab Glannog who, having lost their lands by the Lavan Sands to flood took up sainthood as an alternative career, first at Bangor on Dee and later at Bardsey Island. This would make him a brother of Celynin whose church and well are found further east at Llangelynin. Peris’s name is remembered only in this area, where the church at Nant Peris and another at Llangian is named after him.
His well is a couple of hundred yards to the north east of the church, lying at the base of a small rocky outcrop in the garden of Tynyffynnon, the house that was the traditional home of the well guardian.
It remains well kept, the present construction dating probably from the seventeenth century. A small stone lined basin, about four feet square, with stone benches all around it, and a dry stone wall surrounding, built up to ground level behind the well. On the back wall three niches are formed within the stone work to hold offerings.
Water flows out under the wall towards the south of the well, forming a small stream across the garden, large stones are tumbled over the point where the water flows out, possibly evidence of former building, although it is said that the well itself was never roofed.
The well was traditionally resorted to for healing and was said to be effective for rickety children and scrofulous and rheumatic people who drank the water or bathed in the well. Two fish were kept in the well. If they emerged during bathing then the cure would be successful, if they remained hidden in the stone work then the visit would be in vain. Needless to say, those seeking a cure learned to try to tempt the fish out with pieces of bread sprinkled on the water before bathing.
The well was clearly popular and widely resorted to before the mid eighteenth century. Offerings from visitors were placed in a box inside the church, and at the end of each year the amount collected was sufficient to pay the Parish Clerk’s salary. However, towards the end of the eighteenth century its use for healing had significantly declined although the traditions of the well were remembered in a more adulterated fashion. In 1778 Pennant wrote on his visit to Nant Peris
“Here is to be seen the well of the saint, inclosed with a wall. The Sybil of the place attends, and divines your fortune by the appearance or non-appearance of a little fish, which lurks in some of its holes” [1]
In 1851 Catherall wrote
“A poor woman who lives in a cottage near the spring has a few pence given to her by strangers for showing one or two large trout which she feeds in the well.” [2]
A terrier of 1814 also notes the decline
There is also an alms box in the church, the key of which is kept by the wardens and into which the 6d and 4d pieces were formerly put very frequently by persons who either bathed their children or came themselves for the purpose in St Peris’s Well. These small offerings to the Saint amounted at the end of the year to a considerable sum, but at present they are very trifling.” [3]
The tradition of the fish was, however, maintained into the twentieth century. The practice was that two fish should be maintained in the well, a tradition said to date back to the time of Peris himself. When one fish died, the remaining fish lived alone in the well until it in turn died, whereupon two new fish were introduced.
Baring Gould and Fisher state that the fish might be expected to live for up to 50 years and that two new fish were added to the well in 1896
“The last of the two fish put into the well about fifty years previously died in August 1896. It had been blind for some time. It measured 17 inches and was buried in the garden adjoining the well.” [4]
The fish were passionately guarded by the villagers, when once a fish was stolen from the well the perpetrator was hounded and forced to return it.
I don’t believe that there are any fish there today. I haven’t seen any reference made to them and certainly, perhaps unluckily, none were seen during our visit.
We were unable to visit the church, it was locked and there was no information on where to find a key. The only signs of life being the sheep retained to keep the church yard neat and tidy.
St Peris’s Day is celebrated on December 11th.
We would like to thank the present occupant of Tynyfynnon, no longer a Sybil collecting pieces of silver, who gave us permission to visit the well.
[1] Thomas Pennant (1778) Tours in Wales
[2] Catherall (1851) Wanderings in North Wales
[3] quoted in Baring Gould and Fisher(1908) Lives of the British Saints
[4] Baring Gould and Fisher(1908) Lives of the British Saints
Well of Arthur’s Kitchen
Ffynnon Cegin Arthur is a noted chalybeate spring in forestry land to the south of Llanddeiniolen. Found by going to the very end of the lane from Penisarwaun through Waun, crossing the stile on the left hand side and then following the track lined on either side by tall trees through forestry land for around two hundred yards. The well is ten or twenty yards off the track on the left a little before a stream.
Chalybeate springs are noted for their high mineral content, in particular iron, and were resorted to for health cures. First identified and named in the late fifteenth century, from the Latin chalybs, steel, the popularity of chalybeate wells spread, reaching its peak in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Tunbridge Wells chalybeate spring was identified around 1606, and the spas at Cheltenham, Buxton and Harrogate are all noted chalybeate springs. During the nineteenth century the popularity of such wells began to decline, as other cures took their place. It is recorded however that the young Princess Victoria regularly drank chalybeate spring water during a visit to Tunbridge.
The existence of chalybeate water at Ffynnon Cegin Arthur was known from the sixteenth century, although when Thomas Pennant visited in the late eighteenth century its use had clearly declined.
“To the east (of Dinas Dinorwig) is a strong chalybeate water, formerly in much repute. It is called Ffynnon Cegin Arthur or The Water of Arthur’s Kitchen and is the source of Aber Cegin which falls into the sea between Bangor and Penrhyn [1]
The well is mentioned only in passing as the source of the River Cegin in Lewis’s 1849 Topographical Dictionary of Wales [2] but it found new fame with the publication of the booklet Ffynnon Cegin Arthur in 1858 by Arthur Wynn Williams, a local doctor practicing in London who had used the water to treat a number of his patients. A normal dose would be to drink about half a pint, several times a day. The not so pleasant taste of the water meant that patients would have to suffer for their cure. The waters, high in iron, lime, magnesium, sodium and nitrogen were claimed efficacious in treating blood weaknesses, joint pains and haemorrhoids.[4]
The booklet, written in Welsh, not only provided an analysis of the mineral content of the water and recommendations of its use in health cures, but also gave a history of the well and of ancient remains in the immediately surrounding area, part factual and part built upon the mythology connecting it with druidical history and with King Arthur, invoking a mystical past to add to the public attractiveness of the spring. He noted too that a sick pig had been cured after receiving the waters further demonstrating its curative powers.
In translating the well’s name Cegin Arthur as Arthur’s Kitchen enables a link to be drawn to King Arthur, whose memory is invoked by the names of a wide range of features across the region preserving the belief that the original of the Arthurian legend originated in Wales This tradition referred to by Williams was reiterated by Myrddin Fardd in 1908
This spring is on a farm called Hendref, in the parish of Llanddeiniolen. It is considered that it received its name from the belief that the oil which floated on its surface was venison fat, which, it was thought, was brought there by the streams which flowed through the kitchen ogf the famous Prince Arthur, one of the imaginary heroes of the Welsh of old, and from there down to today, many healing virtues are imputed to it. [3]
However, an alternative translation of “cegin” is “ridge” giving an alternative, more prosaic, geographical explanation to the origin of the name.
Following publication of Williams’s book, the popularity of the spring grew, and for a short while a new industry grew up around it. Maps from the late Victorian period show an array of buildings around the well that may have been used to accommodate visitors and bathers, and also bottling of the water for sale. The nearby Y Felinheli (Port Dinorwic) railway station on the Bangor to Caernarfon line which opened in 1852 and provided improved visitor access to the site.
A Caernarfon based company KANSCO, King Arhur’s Natural Springs Company, was set up to bottle and to distribute the water. A surviving labelled bottle is preserved at Gwynedd Museum – (follow the link for picture and more details). The water was said to be a deep red in colour, having a very oily taste. It is said that up to four baths were provided one the site in which visitors may immerse themselves in the water. [4]
The remains of these buildings, now reduced to ruins, stand to a maximum of around five to six courses high and can still be seen around the spring, as can a number of tall pieces of slate, set into the ground, which may have formed a perimeter fence around the site.
The spring itself is now a square brick lined hole about three feet square. It still contained water on our visit, although whether this was spring water or rain water was difficult to tell, it was relatively clear in colour. Other fairiy recent pictures show it covered with a number of heavy slate slabs, however when we saw it these had been removed and lay scattered about the site.
The land in the past was reported to be very marshy. This has apparently been drained to a great extent by the forestry operations that are now carried out around the well.
[1] Pennant (1778) Tours in Wales
[2] Lewis (1849) Topographical Dictionary of Wales
Full details of [1] and [2] on references page
[3] Myrddin Fardd (1908) Llen Gwerin Sir Gaernarfon.– quoted and translated in Ceridwen Lloyd-Morgan – Arthurian Literature:Celtic Arthurian Material (2004)
[4] Cymdeithas Ffynhonnau Cymru website article on Ff Cegin Arthur
St Beuno’s Well
The well dedicated to St Beuno at Clynnog Fawr is amongst the finest of a considerable number of wells dedicated to the saint across Wales. It was at Clynnog that Beuno founded his last church at the end of a journey that saw him traverse the country from south to north then east to west.
The church at Clynnog is notably much larger than a village of its size would normally require. The earlier St Beuno’s chapel adjoined to the church, is said to occupy the site of Beuno’s own chapel and a seventh century monastery which were both reputedly destroyed by fire during a Viking raid around 978. The present chapel dates from the sixteenth century, excavations inside have revealed the foundations of earlier buildings. Beuno’s remains are said to have been interred within the building.
The remainder of the church was renovated in the nineteenth century, although most of the original structure which dates from between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries remains intact. The monastery was restored by the Carmelites, white friars, before 1200 and they occupied it until the dissolution.
The well lies by the old roadside around 200 yards to the west of the church. The village, and well, now bypassed, lay on the principal pilgrims route to Bardsey and would have been an important stop on their journey, particularly with its associations with St Winefride.
It has been reported that the well has suffered from vandalism in recent years, however it appeared clean and well kept, though somewhat overgrown, on the day of our visit. The spring is enclosed in a square stone pool, with stepped seats around it on two sides, and the whole enclosed by a wall rising to some eight feet. It is approached by a short pathway and steps from the roadside, from where it is clearly visible.
The well was traditionally resorted to for the treatment of sick children, in particular those suffering from epilepsy and rickets. It was also claimed to cure impotence. After bathing the patient was carried to St Beuno’s chapel and laid on rushes overnight on Beuno’s tomb, a plain altar like structure that stood in the centre of the chapel before Beuno’s shrine.. If they slept then the cure would be effective.
The custom was still in place at least until the 18th century, since Pennant 
remarks:
“… and I myself once saw on it (the tomb) a feather bed on which a poor paralytic from Merioneddshire had lain the whole night after undergoing the same ceremony.” [1]
The tomb was finally demolished, since it had become unsafe, in 1856. One piece, indicating how grand it might once have been, is preserved in the church.
There was another belief that water containing scrapings of stone from the pillars of the chapel was good for sore eyes; and there are records of bullocks being slaughtered and offered to Beuno in the church to ensure the wellbeing of local cattle. This custom was later replaced by monetary offerings and the sale of cattle and sheep bearing particular ear markings for the same purpose.
Offerings, stored in “Beuno’s cyff” were used to aid the poor of the community.
We left off the story of Beuno at the end of our discussion of his well at Gwyddelwern, and touched also on his story when describing St Winefride’s Well at Holywell, We conclude his story here.
Beuno followed King Cadwallon from Holywell to Caernarfon, but very quickly fell into dispute with him, and was offered land at Clynnog and on Anglesey by Gwyddaint, a cousin of Cadwallon. Here he established his churches and cells, and lived out the remainder of his life.
It was at Clynnog that once again legend recounts how he came to the rescue of a damsel in something more than a little distress. In this case it was the princess Tegiwyg, daughter of King Ynyr.
Tegiwyg had fallen in love with a young carpenter from Aberffraw who had been working on her father’s palace. To avoid further scandal her father agreed to their marriage. However, as they were travelling back to his home on Anglesey he got to thinking about the gulf between their stations in life, and maybe some of the stories he had spun to win her. “How could he go home with so elegant a wife without a place to take her to, and through the instigation of the devil, he cut off her head with his sword and pushed on his way home.” [2]
Beuno’s shepherds found the body and Beuno was soon on hand to perform another miracle. The restored Tegiwyg was given the option to return to her father but instead chose to remain with Beuno and to serve God. Just as in the case of Winefride years before, at the spot where her blood had fallen a spring of cold water burst forth. This was Ffynnon Digiwg, more commonly now known as Ffynnon Digwy, and lies a little to the south of Clynnog.
In all, Beuno is claimed to have restored six people to life, and legend has it that one day, at a time of need, he will be on hand to revive a seventh.
Hast though heard what Beuno sang?
Sing thy pater, noster and Credo
From death flight will not avail
Beuno’s feast day is celebrated on April 21st.
[1] Thomas Pennant(1788) Tours in Wales
[2] Sabine Baring Gould and John Fisher (1908) Lives of the British Saints
full details of each on the references page
Posted in Gwynedd
Tagged fortune telling, healing wells, Holy wells, St Beuno, stone built
Saints Well
From one Llanfihangel to another – because that’s how Wellhopper rolls. Today we visited Llanfihangel Glyn Myfyr in search of Ffynnon y Saint – the Well of the Saints.
Llanfihangel Glyn Myfyr lies between Corwen and Cerrigydrudion, a little off the A5. The village consists of a pub, the church and a few scattered houses. The church of St Michael which gives the village its name is a plain building, parts dating from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, but with little of note. A plaque high on the east wall marks the height reached by the water from the River Alwen that runs alongside, during a notorious flood of 1781
Ffynnon y Saint – the well of the Saints – is marked on early twentieth century maps around 300 yards to the north west of the church on the land of Tyddtyn Tudur, once home to the noted eighteenth century Welsh cultural historian and publisher Owen Jones (Owain Myfyr). Who is commemorated in the church The well was visited in 1912 by the Royal Commission for Ancient Monuments, who reported that
“The spring is now dry and the well chamber is practically empty. A depression to the east affords proof that the overflow was copious.”
The current historical record, Coflein, reports a chamber, 0.2 metres deep, dry and partly filled. and a visit by the Clywd Powys Archaeological Trust in 2003 reported that
Ffynnon y Saint was still visible as a spring within living memory, lying beside the farm access road. It has now been completely filled in and no visible sign remains, even the well chamber of an earlier report being of uncertain form. The farmer could vaguely remember it from his youth. (from Archwelio database)
The maps record the well as lying on the left hand side of the track approaching the farm beside the track and the field boundary. On our visit a small stream was flowing beside the track, although the gap between the track and the fence seemed much less than that implied by the maps, suggesting that possibly either the track or the field boundary has been adjusted in the 100 years since the maps were drawn up.
The other side of the track was marshy with tracks of streams flowing through it; a stone covered, concrete lined tank was there filled with water. The farmer said that all signs of the well had vanished, but then one kind of thought that he would, wouldn’t he?
I have found no accounts associated with the well or any customs associated with it. No evidence that it is linked with the church and with St Michael, or with some other now lost ecclesiastical foundation, there is a field across the river known as Cae’r Saint, again with no recorded history or reason attached. Clearly there is a distant memory a religious significance now long lost, preserved only in these names within the landscape Llanfihangel Glyn Myfyr.
As we returned to the car, through the drizzle and gathering gloom, I tried explaining that it is just as interesting and important to document finding nothing as it is to record finding an impressive well chamber. I have a feeling few were convinced by the argument.
