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<< Text Pages >> Ffynnon Elian - Holy Well or Sacred Spring in Wales in Conwy

Submitted by coldrum on Wednesday, 27 January 2010  Page Views: 6188

Springs and Holy WellsSite Name: Ffynnon Elian
Country: Wales
NOTE: This site is 1.723 km away from the location you searched for.

County: Conwy Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring

Map Ref: SH86077692
Latitude: 53.276980N  Longitude: 3.710087W
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
no data Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
no data 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.
no data 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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Holy Well in Conwy (Bwrdeistref Sirol)

"Site of ancient 'cursing well', now filled in; cobbled path remains."

Source: Coflein.
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Nearby Images from Geograph Britain and Ireland:
SH8676 : Capel Meifod / Meifod Chapel by Ceri Thomas
by Ceri Thomas
©2010(licence)
SH8677 : Stile and pasture by Jonathan Wilkins
by Jonathan Wilkins
©2011(licence)
SH8677 : Cefn-y-ffynon trig and pasture by Jonathan Wilkins
by Jonathan Wilkins
©2011(licence)
SH8677 : Cefn-y-ffynnon Trig by Jonathan Wilkins
by Jonathan Wilkins
©2011(licence)
SH8576 : Farm buildings at Meifod by Jonathan Wilkins
by Jonathan Wilkins
©2013(licence)

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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 4.1km NW 314° Bryn Euryn* Hillfort (SH832798)
 4.6km NNW 334° St Trillo's Holy Well & Chapel* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SH84138113)
 5.3km E 93° Pen-y-Corddyn-Mawr* Hillfort (SH914765)
 6.6km WNW 288° Bodysgallen* Hillfort (SH798791)
 7.0km NW 310° Ogof Pant-Y-Wennol Cave Cave or Rock Shelter (SH80818161)
 7.1km WSW 251° Hendre Waelod* Burial Chamber or Dolmen (SH79297474)
 7.2km WNW 302° Coed Gaer Hut Circle* Ancient Village or Settlement (SH80028092)
 7.3km NW 320° Ogof Rhiwleden Cave or Rock Shelter (SH81538269)
 7.5km WNW 295° Llanrhos church Inscribed Stone Early Christian Sculptured Stone (SH79338032)
 7.6km E 90° Castel Cawr* Hillfort (SH937768)
 7.6km WNW 295° Ffynnon Santes Fair Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SH792803)
 7.7km NW 306° Ogof Tan-Y-Bryn Cave or Rock Shelter (SH79948160)
 8.2km WNW 287° Deganwy Castle* Ancient Village or Settlement (SH7822579455)
 8.5km ENE 76° Abergele Submerged Forest Not Known (by us) (SH9442278805)
 8.7km S 172° Ffynnon Digain* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SH87146833)
 9.6km S 170° St Digain (Llangernyw)* Ancient Cross (SH8749567455)
 9.7km WNW 303° Llandudno Museum* Museum (SH78008240)
 10.0km NW 305° Lower Kendrick's Cave Cave or Rock Shelter (SH780828)
 10.0km NW 306° Llandudno Eisteddfod Circle* Modern Stone Circle etc (SH7816883048)
 10.0km NW 305° Upper Kendrick's Cave* Cave or Rock Shelter (SH7798182821)
 10.1km W 274° Conway Mountain* Hillfort (SH760778)
 10.1km NW 305° St Tudno's Cradle* Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature (SH779829)
 10.2km NW 305° Pen-y-Dinas (Conwy)* Hillfort (SH779830)
 10.4km NW 306° Great Orme Lost Chamber* Burial Chamber or Dolmen (SH778833)
 10.6km SW 231° St Mary's Church (Caerhun) Early Christian Sculptured Stone (SH77697040)
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"Ffynnon Elian" | Login/Create an Account | 1 comment
  
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Re: Ffynnon Elian by Runemage on Saturday, 05 March 2011
(User Info | Send a Message)
Seems it has quite a story told here http://heritageofwalesnews.blogspot.com/2011/02/traditions-of-healing-wells.html

Ffynon Elian Cursing Well
Wales is full of wells associated with healing, many of medieval origin. The tradition of healing wells was reinvigorated in the 18th century partly because of the interest in spas and partly because of parish patriotism, as each parish claimed to have a well with special powers. None more so than Ffynnon Elian which was associated with hurting as well as healing.

Ffynnon Elian is sited on the Denbighshire/Caernarfonshire border, in the parish of Llandrillo-yn-Rhos and was part of a farm called Cefnyffynnon. Up to about 1775 the well was known only for its healing properties, and the parishioners even tried to promote it as a bathing place, no doubt influenced by the popularity of Holywell. In the later 18th century however, the well acquired an ambiguous reputation as a place where wrongs could be righted, and by the early 19th century it was well-known as a cursing well with numerous stories circulated of the tragedies connected with it.

The keeper of the well lived at Cefnyffynnon Farm, apparently rebuilt from the profits of the well as the keeper was paid a substantial fee to impose or retract a curse. The intended victim’s name or initials were written on a piece of slate which was then placed in the well to an accompaniment of curses and imprecations directed against the person, their property or cattle. The well worked by power of suggestion - people were understandably anxious, if not terrified, if they heard they had been cursed there and could apply to the keeper to be taken out of the well. Those who enquired if they had been cursed were usually replied to in the affirmative, and it seems that slates with every possible permutation of initials were kept at the farmhouse. Curses were invariably found and cancelled – at considerably more than the initial cost of imposing a curse.

The well resulted in a law and order problem as hundreds, if not thousands, cursed their neighbours. The magistrates seemed powerless as the well was on private property and no obvious crime had been committed. In 1828 however, the congregation of the adjacent Rehobeth Methodist Chapel took matters into their own hands and destroyed the well, planting potatoes on the spot. An enterprising villager, John Evans (alias Jac Ffynnon Elian), diverted the spring water to his own garden, opened a well and continued in business for another 30 years. Tried for fraud in 1831, he was imprisoned for six months, but continued after his release. Towards the end of his life, in the 1850s, he confessed to a minister that the well had been a hoax and became a Baptist. Jac wrote his confessions but died before they were published and is buried in the graveyard of Ebenezer Baptist Chapel. Remarkably, the spring at Ffynnon Elian has proved irrepressible, and supplies salubrious water to the nearby farmhouse. The full story of the well is available in A History of Witchcraft and Magic in Wales by Richard Suggett (2008).
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