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<< Our Photo Pages >> St Ninian's Well (Stirling) - Holy Well or Sacred Spring in Scotland in Stirling

Submitted by KiwiBetsy on Monday, 16 October 2006  Page Views: 21668

Springs and Holy WellsSite Name: St Ninian's Well (Stirling) Alternative Name: St Ringan's Well (Stlrling)
Country: Scotland County: Stirling Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring
Nearest Town: Stirling
Map Ref: NS7969093012
Latitude: 56.114653N  Longitude: 3.936438W
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
2 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.
5 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 30th Oct 2018 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 2 Access: 5 St Ninian's Well, Stirling: This was just over the road from the Wellgreen Carpark, but we had difficulty in finding this well, because of its rather hidden location. Despite the GPS telling us we were only 20m away, we were unable to find it until we saw the footpath leading to Wellgreen Place at the southern side of the A811 Wellgreen Road. Shame the area is used by smokers, as the rubbish is horrible. Opposite the well, nearer to the office block is a small set of steps leading upwards to a now very much overgrown garden area. The steps are virtually hidden under shrubbery, and although Andrew had a try at climbing up, it was very difficult and we gave up and went onto our next destination.

St Ninian's Well (Stirling)
St Ninian's Well (Stirling) submitted by KiwiBetsy : It is said that a chapel stood near the well and was still in existence in 1497 but that none of it now remains and the structure now covering the well is a wash house. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Holy Well or Sacred Spring in Stirling

St Ninian’s Well is located in Wellgreen Place in Stirling.
An old statistical account of Stirling states that “…. it has been calculated, that, were all the water proceeding from this spring forced into the pipes that supply the town, it would afford every individual not less than 14.03 gallons per twenty-four hours ….” unfortunately I can’t find a date for this statement.

The adjoining site, now home to a huge carpark, was better known as “Well Green” as it was for a long time used as the public washing green for Stirling. The name is still used locally. The very cold water from the well has been found to contain muriate of lime and sulphate of lime (or plaster of Paris) which made it unsuitable for domestic purposes but it was in demand for brewing.

For more information see Canmore ID 46225 which tells us that an old chapel (St. Ringan's (Ninian's)) stood near the well, where all those who died in the plaque of 1645 were buried. The add:"there is no reason to believe that the building covering the well contains parts of the chapel or that it is anything other than a wash-house."

The Northern Antiquarian (TNA) also features a page for this site - see their entry for St. Ninian’s Well, Stirling, Stirlingshire, which gives directions for finding this site, together with a recently photograph, old drawings of the well building and the waters of the well, an image of the 1832 OS map showing the location of the well, descriptions taken from 19th and 20th century reference material and local folklore.
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St Ninian's Well (Stirling)
St Ninian's Well (Stirling) submitted by Anne T : The top of the well building is underneath the 'diamond' of box hedging towards the centre/centre left of the photograph. This photo tries to show its proximity and relationship to the car park, to make it easier for other visitors to find (even with our GPS we struggled, until we realised we had to be on the southern side of the A811 Wellgreen Road). (Vote or comment on this photo)

St Ninian's Well (Stirling)
St Ninian's Well (Stirling) submitted by Anne T : Standing on the slip road down to the small car park by the office buildings, almost level with the top of the set of steps leading up from the small courtyard below to a small garden area which is partly on top of the well - very overgrown but I imagine this would have been a very nice spot in the not too distant past. (Vote or comment on this photo)

St Ninian's Well (Stirling)
St Ninian's Well (Stirling) submitted by Anne T : Standing just south of the well, amongst all the smokers' rubbish. Looking through the grille in the window to the left hand side of the well building, there is machinery still within, although the door was firmly bolted and padlocked. (Vote or comment on this photo)

St Ninian's Well (Stirling)
St Ninian's Well (Stirling) submitted by Anne T : First view of the well approaching it from the road into the small car park in Wellgreen Place. To reach the well you need to walk down the slip road into the car park and turn west (left). (Vote or comment on this photo)

St Ninian's Well (Stirling)
St Ninian's Well (Stirling) submitted by rogerkread : Not especially cared for perhaps, but certainly not abandoned.

St Ninian's Well (Stirling)
St Ninian's Well (Stirling) submitted by rogerkread : The well is in a relatively small part of the car park complex, just below the level of Wellgreen Road on the right hand side coming down from St Ninian's Road (helpful names for well searchers!).

St Ninian's Well (Stirling)
St Ninian's Well (Stirling) submitted by rogerkread : The information board beside the well.

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"St Ninian's Well (Stirling)" | Login/Create an Account | 2 News and Comments
  
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Re: St Ninian's Well (Stirling) by Anne T on Saturday, 10 November 2018
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The information board by the well reads, in part:
St Ninian’s Well
St Ninian was one of the Celtic saints who brought Christianity to Scotland. His missionary work is associated with the south west of Scotland and also with the village at the crossroads south of Sterling, to which he gave his name. St Ninian, among other things, is the patron saint of prisoners. In medieval manuscripts he was sometimes depicted holding a chain or handcuffs.
A large part of Stirling itself, the Wellgreen, also bears his name. The Wellgreen was common ground, often used for washing and bleaching and at the centre of it is St Ninian’s Well. A wash house by built by Stirling Burgh for the use of the inhabitants in 1737, and the ground floor of this survives, with St Ninian’s Well still bubbling clear and pure.
In the 19th century, the water was used by St Ninian’s Brewery, but before the Scottish Reformation, the well was used for its healing properties. In the 17th century, the Kirk Session of Stirling forbade the practice of restoring to wells for spiritual and curative purposes on the grounds that it was superstitious.
Stirling Burgh put forward plans for the development of Wellgreen as early as 1829, but there was public opposition to this.
In July 1870, the first Stirlingshire Highland Games were held on Wellgreen, with crowd of 4,000 in attendance.
In the 1880s, the area was being built upon and industrialised. In 1882, a representative from the society of Antiquaries of Scotland visited, to measure and record St Ninian’s Well, as there were dangers of the site being redeveloped. Noxious trades such as tanning had been sited in the nearby Craigs area sine the 18th century, and all spare land was subject to development.

The board also includes a poem to/about the well:
Resurgam, let me arise
For St Ninian’s Well, Stirling

Poor old well, once the town’s main water supply
But boarded up, it still bubbles pure and clear
In the cellar of the wash-house. Try the key,
Some WD40 oil, a screwdriver, to open up
The long draw-bolts and padlock. The metal door
Swings back, a fleet sound greets the torch.
Here’s the flow that reared the cottagers’ children
Like young trout fly,
Speckles playing with the stream.
Under the new car park, it sounds below the
Road-roar,
A trickling lade breathes and chafes against blackness.
Shackles are on air and water, transparency is trapped
And song shut up. St Ninian set prisoners of war free,
Burst lock and chain. Let these fetters fall away,
Release the well into the day for all to see.
Valerie Gillies
[ Reply to This ]
    Re: St Ninian''s Well (Stirling) by Anonymous on Sunday, 23 October 2022
    Thank you for this sensitive and insightful posting. I was searching for an accessible sacred well in order to find a source of water for a healing ceremony. I have been in this building once some years ago when it was opened for a day.

    [ Reply to This ]

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