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<< Our Photo Pages >> St Matthew's Well (Roslin) - Holy Well or Sacred Spring in Scotland in Midlothian

Submitted by KiwiBetsy on Friday, 06 October 2006  Page Views: 10132

Springs and Holy WellsSite Name: St Matthew's Well (Roslin)
Country: Scotland
NOTE: This site is 0.4 km away from the location you searched for.

County: Midlothian Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring
Nearest Town: Edinburgh  Nearest Village: Roslin
Map Ref: NT27326298
Latitude: 55.854515N  Longitude: 3.162554W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
3 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
1 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
2 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
5

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Anne T visited on 15th Jul 2018 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 3 Access: 4 St. Matthew's Well, Roslin: Getting to this well was interesting! Parking in Roslyn Chapel car park at NT 27405 63109, we took the gate from the south east of the car park through the cemetery, then out of the cemetery down a very overgrown lane, with very tall nettles on either side. About 50m from the grid reference for the well, we needed to head off south west into the wood. There were some tracks through here, but obviously not regularly used. We could see a green, mossy mounds/structure through the trees, but couldn’t find a way of getting down to them. In the end, I realised the track had been covered by a heavy, large dead tree branch, which Andrew and I managed to haul away from the path with a little difficulty. Having cleared the track, we used the tree roots as stepping stones at first, then slide the 20m or so down the slope to the well (I told myself it was always easier going up!). At first we thought there was only one dome here, but looking harder, there was a second one, a few metres up the slope. The front face of the second dome (nearest the river Esk) had a hole in the front, which I poked the camera through to take a photograph. The was a large iron pipe which gushed water into the well chamber. A continuation of this pipe could be seen in a small gully which headed towards the river from the well chambers, although the gloom and all the detitus made it difficult to capture the location. Heading back to look at the ruins of St. Michael’s church, we looked over the western end of the graveyard, looking south west, and realised we could not only see the well houses, but it also looked as if there were the remains of a wall and steps, as there were cut blocks of stone lying around. I went back to photograph the 'Spooky Angel' I'd seen when I visited with my friend two years ago (hidden under a bush by the small outbuildings) - she much reminded me of an episode of Dr. Who, where the angels only moved when you didn't look at them.

St Matthew's Well (Roslin)
St Matthew's Well (Roslin) submitted by KiwiBetsy : The water flows into a white (or it probably once was) concrete dome which is brick lined and is very hard to spot in the undergrowth. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Holy Well or Sacred Spring in Midlothian

St Matthew’s Well lies to the southwest of Roslin Chapel and near to a graveyard in which are the scanty remains of a chapel, probably dedicated to St Matthew and predating the existing Roslin Chapel. The well is situated over the southwest wall of the graveyard. To reach it climb over the wall and enter a muddy, slippery, midgy and nettle filled world. The well is located about 10 yards downhill from the graveyard fence and fairly much in line with the chapel ruins.

For more information see Canmore ID 51813 which adds: "St Matthew's Well lies outside the W wall of the burial ground. It is fed by a copious spring which forms the main water supply for Roslin ... At the spot indicated are two concrete domes, 1.2m x 1.0m x 0.6m high, 0.6m apart, each having a small wooden door."
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St Matthew's Well (Roslin)
St Matthew's Well (Roslin) submitted by Anne T : The well chambers, as seen by looking over the western wall of the old St. Matthew's church graveyard, looking south west towards the River Esk. A number of cut stones around led us to think there had been a stone structure/steps leading down to the well. The sound of running water gushing from the spring could be heard some distance away. (Vote or comment on this photo)

St Matthew's Well (Roslin)
St Matthew's Well (Roslin) submitted by Anne T : This inside of the top chamber. To get a decent image, I altered the lighting (reduced the shadows) in Adobe Photoshop, and to my surprise saw two pipes coming into the chamber from the back, not the one I'd seen on the day! (Vote or comment on this photo)

St Matthew's Well (Roslin)
St Matthew's Well (Roslin) submitted by Anne T : The water from the well was carried down slope towards the River Esk by a metal pipe, also covered in moss. This pipe was largely hidden by detritus, including water tanks and bottles. A number of cut stones indicated there had been a stone structure here at some time in the past. (Vote or comment on this photo)

St Matthew's Well (Roslin)
St Matthew's Well (Roslin) submitted by Anne T : The hole in the front of the dome slightly higher up the slope. Canmore says these domes measure 1.2m x 1.0m x 0.6m high, and 0.6m apart. The wooden doors mentioned in Canmore no longer existed at the time of our visit. (Vote or comment on this photo)

St Matthew's Well (Roslin)
St Matthew's Well (Roslin) submitted by Anne T : Looking closer, there was a second, moss covered concrete dome a few metres away, just higher up the slope. This dome had a hole in the front, so I put the camera through and took some photos of the chamber (see other photo). (Vote or comment on this photo)

St Matthew's Well (Roslin)
St Matthew's Well (Roslin) submitted by Anne T : Walking (sliding!) down the slope to the well, we first saw just one, very moss-covered well-dome. The sound of water gushing out of it was clear from some distance away, indicating a strong flow from the spring.

St Matthew's Well (Roslin)
St Matthew's Well (Roslin) submitted by KiwiBetsy : Luckily, the end of the dome was broken and I was able to photograph the inside of the tank with water flowing in at the lower right.

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