<< Our Photo Pages >> Brow Well (Ruthwell) - Holy Well or Sacred Spring in Scotland in Dumfries and Galloway
Submitted by Anne T on Monday, 06 June 2022 Page Views: 2219
Springs and Holy WellsSite Name: Brow Well (Ruthwell)Country: Scotland
NOTE: This site is 4.4 km away from the location you searched for.
County: Dumfries and Galloway Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring
Nearest Town: Annan / Dumfries Nearest Village: Ruthwell / Clarencefield
Map Ref: NY0850567509
Latitude: 54.993725N Longitude: 3.43163W
Condition:
| 5 | Perfect |
| 4 | Almost Perfect |
| 3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
| 2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
| 1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
| 0 | No data. |
| -1 | Completely destroyed |
| 5 | Superb |
| 4 | Good |
| 3 | Ordinary |
| 2 | Not Good |
| 1 | Awful |
| 0 | No data. |
| 5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
| 4 | Short walk on a footpath |
| 3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
| 2 | A long walk |
| 1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
| 0 | No data. |
| 5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
| 4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
| 3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
| 2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
| 1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
| 0 | no data |
Internal Links:
External Links:
I have visited· I would like to visit
Anne T visited on 6th Jun 2022 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 3 Access: 5 Brow Well (Ruthwell): Having escaped the noisy builders across the road, we decided on the spur of the moment to visit the Brow Well, as it’s only about half an hour’s drive away. We bombed off up the M6, turned off onto the A75 at Gretna, turned off down a side road which turned left at NY 13732 69544 (note: HUGE mistake – too many large, enormous pot holes – continue on down to the B725!), only to find the cottage next to the well was blasting out music at huge volume. Boo hoo.
In addition, the area around the well had been turned into a building site, meaning the entrance to the small parking area was blocked off, so we pulled into a gateway a few metres from the well.
The well was almost dry, very muddy, and not very nice to visit at all. So disappointed after all the photographs I’ve seen on the internet. We found out from the couple we were speaking to at Kingholm (Lady’s Well) that the bridge by the well had recently collapsed and had just been replaced.
The information board tells us:
“Healing powers of water.
Brow Well is a chalybeate spring with natural iron-salt rich water believed to cure a multitude of ills and was popular with the residents of Dumfries at the time of Burns. From early times spring water was believed to have healing qualities and many locations in Scotland were renowned for their holy or healing wells. In the 17th century spas with mineral rich waters became fashionable locations to visit in the pursuit of health and beauty. Later sea-bathing emerged as part of a growing activity and built on popular traditions that saw seawater as having healing powers.”
That Robbie burns bathed in the well in 1796 but died 3 days later isn't a hugely great advert for the healing properties of this chalybeate well!
The Brow Well, near the Ruthwell Cross, is a chalybeate spring, containing natural iron-rich salt water. The well is sited right next to the Brow Burn, which flows southwards into the nearby Solway Firth (between Priestside Bank and Blackshaw Bank), although the coastline wasn’t visible from the well at the time of our visit.
Perhaps not the best time to visit this well (which has an association with Robbie Burns, who bathed in both the well and the sea in 1796, but died shortly after from what is thought to be rheumatic fever - perhaps not a good advert for the healing properties of the water!), as the nearby bridge had recently collapsed and had just been replaced, effectively cutting off the small parking area. However, parking is still possible in the small lane to the east of the well.
The well was also virtually dry at the time of our visit, not the usual pool with its brown, muddy water.
Recorded as Canmore ID 210551, for more information see the following sites:
British Listed Buildings 200351088;
Historic Environment Scotland LB17212;
Undiscovered Scotland: Brow Well; and
Dumfries and Galloway News: Brow Well Received an Upgrade (2016).
You may be viewing yesterday's version of this page. To see the most up to date information please register for a free account.
Do not use the above information on other web sites or publications without permission of the contributor.
Click here to see more info for this site
Nearby sites
Click here to view sites on an interactive OS mapKey: Red: member's photo, Blue: 3rd party photo, Yellow: other image, Green: no photo - please go there and take one, Grey: site destroyed
Download sites to:
KML (Google Earth)
GPX (GPS waypoints)
CSV (Garmin/Navman)
CSV (Excel)
To unlock full downloads you need to sign up as a Contributory Member. Otherwise downloads are limited to 50 sites.
Turn off the page maps and other distractions
Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
1.7km ENE 64° The Ruthwell Cross* Ancient Cross (NY1005968219)
6.1km W 261° Ward Law* Hillfort (NY0245766692)
10.6km WSW 253° Ingleston Cairn (NX983647)
11.0km NNE 29° Our Lady's Well (St Mungo's Old Church) Holy Well or Sacred Spring (NY1477)
11.1km NE 56° Hoddom Parish Church* Sculptured Stone (NY1783573516)
11.8km WSW 257° Lochhill* Chambered Cairn (NX96886507)
12.0km WSW 253° Loch Kindar Crannog (NX96896423)
12.5km E 96° Woodhead Stone Circle Stone Circle (NY210660)
13.5km NW 308° Greystone Park Stone Circle (NX980760)
13.7km SW 231° Glebe Well Holy Well or Sacred Spring (NX9759159178)
13.7km WNW 289° St Queran's Well* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (NX95597222)
13.9km WNW 288° Picts Knowe* Henge (NX95387213)
13.9km NW 305° St Allan's Wells (Dumfries) Holy Well or Sacred Spring (NX97307576)
14.1km NW 304° Dumfries Museum* Museum (NX9698975731)
14.5km WNW 301° Troqueer Cursus Cursus (NX96137517)
14.7km WNW 300° Troqueer Cursus Cursus (NX95837512)
15.0km NE 41° Burnswark Hillfort* Hillfort (NY18607870)
15.2km NE 41° Burnswark Hill Cairn* Cairn (NY18697883)
15.4km ENE 59° Birrens Roman Fort* Stone Fort or Dun (NY2190075180)
15.6km NNE 15° Chapel Well (Beckton) Holy Well or Sacred Spring (NY12948243)
16.8km WSW 248° Slewcairn NE* Cairn (NX92846143)
16.9km WSW 247° Slewcairn SW* Cairn (NX92766133)
17.1km ENE 73° Merkland Cross (Woodhouse)* Ancient Cross (NY2502072114)
17.1km WSW 248° Slewcairn* Cairn (NX924615)
17.7km WNW 290° Easthill* Stone Circle (NX91937388)
View more nearby sites and additional images
We would like to know more about this location. Please feel free to add a brief description and any relevant information in your own language.
Wir möchten mehr über diese Stätte erfahren. Bitte zögern Sie nicht, eine kurze Beschreibung und relevante Informationen in Deutsch hinzuzufügen.
Nous aimerions en savoir encore un peu sur les lieux. S'il vous plaît n'hesitez pas à ajouter une courte description et tous les renseignements pertinents dans votre propre langue.
Quisieramos informarnos un poco más de las lugares. No dude en añadir una breve descripción y otros datos relevantes en su propio idioma.