Featured: Hare and Tabor T Shirts for discerning antiquarians

Hare and Tabor T Shirts for discerning antiquarians

Circles of Stone - Max Milligan

Circles of Stone - Max Milligan

Who's Online

There are currently, 568 guests and 4 members online.

You are a guest. To join in, please register for free by clicking here

Sponsors

<< Our Photo Pages >> Tobar Bharra - Holy Well or Sacred Spring in Scotland in Barra and Vatersay

Submitted by pab on Sunday, 25 September 2011  Page Views: 4221

Springs and Holy WellsSite Name: Tobar Bharra
Country: Scotland
NOTE: This site is 2.956 km away from the location you searched for.

County: Barra and Vatersay Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring
 Nearest Village: Eoligarry
Map Ref: NF7061607538
Latitude: 57.040813N  Longitude: 7.432889W
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
1 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
2 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.
1 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

Internal Links:
External Links:

Tobar Bharra
Tobar Bharra submitted by pab : Supposedly one of the most important & famous wells in the Western Isles, but virtually obliterated. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Holy Well or Sacred Spring in Barra and Vatersay

"..one of the most famous wells in the Western Isles". Perhaps that was once true, but now almost certain to be irretrievably lost for future generations.

Access could easily be made into 4 = 'a short walk on a footpath', but only if something changes quickly.
You may be viewing yesterday's version of this page. To see the most up to date information please register for a free account.


Tobar Bharra
Tobar Bharra submitted by pab : Looking across the location of the well - towards the ancient church and burial ground of Cille Bharra (where, incidentally, the author Compton MacKenzie is buried). The rotted state of the remaining fence posts can be seen. I assume that the cattle which can be seen in the field will eventually rub/trample these, leaving no trace of this 'one of the most famous wells in the Western Isles' ... (Vote or comment on this photo)

Tobar Bharra
Tobar Bharra submitted by pab : This is the same view as in the black & white picture taken from 'The Healing Wells of the Western Isles' booklet, with the houses on the horizon still being the same. The line of the track can also still be traced leading in a North-Easterly direction. The rotting fence posts mark where the well presumable lies under the reeds etc. Date of visit: May 2011 (Vote or comment on this photo)

Do not use the above information on other web sites or publications without permission of the contributor.

Nearby Images from Geograph Britain and Ireland:
NF7007 : Kilbar Stone replica by Hugh Venables
by Hugh Venables
©2011(licence)
NF7007 : Cille Bharra by Euan Nelson
by Euan Nelson
©2012(licence)
NF7007 : Cille Bharra by Euan Nelson
by Euan Nelson
©2012(licence)
NF7007 : Cille-bharra Cemetery, Eoligarry, Barra by Becky Williamson
by Becky Williamson
©2012(licence)
NF7007 : Chapels at Cille-bharra by Sandy Gerrard
by Sandy Gerrard
©2022(licence)

The above images may not be of the site on this page, they are loaded from Geograph.
Please Submit an Image of this site or go out and take one for us!


Click here to see more info for this site

Nearby sites

Click here to view sites on an interactive OS map

Key: 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
 321m W 277° Kilbar (Isle of Barra)* Ancient Cross (NF703076)
 5.9km SW 221° Dun Cuier Broch or Nuraghe (NF6642003406)
 6.6km SSW 207° Dun Bharpa* Chambered Cairn (NF6719001910)
 6.8km SW 222° Allasdale Dunes Cairn (NF65610283)
 7.0km SSW 201° Balnacraig Cairn Barra * Chambered Cairn (NF67620120)
 7.9km NNE 25° Pollachar* Standing Stone (Menhir) (NF745144)
 8.1km SW 217° Borve Standing Stones* Standing Stones (NF65270144)
 8.7km S 187° Brevig* Standing Stones (NL689990)
 8.7km SSW 202° Tigh Clach Ancient Village or Settlement (NL667997)
 9.7km SSW 211° Tobar Chaluim Chille (Barra)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (NL6492099654)
 11.7km SSW 208° Alt Christal, Tangaval Peninsula* Ancient Village or Settlement (NL64259773)
 11.9km NNE 13° Dun An Duichal Stone Fort or Dun (NF74311885)
 12.2km NNE 15° Dun Na Killie Stone Fort or Dun (NF74611905)
 12.5km SSW 195° Cille Bhrianain* Misc. Earthwork (NL6644995702)
 13.0km N 7° Kilpheder Wheelhouse* Ancient Village or Settlement (NF733203)
 14.6km N 5° Cladh Hallan* Ancient Village or Settlement (NF7313821977)
 15.1km SSW 207° Ben Rulibreck Turf Maze (NL6275394560)
 15.7km SSW 205° Cuithe Heillanish* Standing Stone (Menhir) (NL62779389)
 17.5km SSW 198° Dun Sandray Broch or Nuraghe (NL638914)
 18.0km SSW 197° Aird Pabbach Ancient Village or Settlement (NL64099066)
 18.2km NNE 31° Carra Bhroin (Lochboisdale) Standing Stone (Menhir) (NF81172248)
 19.0km N 10° Barp Reineval* Chambered Cairn (NF7549425972)
 20.0km N 6° Dun in Loch na Muilne* Stone Fort or Dun (NF7445327237)
 20.2km N 9° Bornais Ancient Village or Settlement (NF7551527184)
 21.1km N 1° Ru Ardvule* Stone Row / Alignment (NF72732860)
View more nearby sites and additional images

<< Almodôvar Museum

Hammarby 154:1 >>

Please add your thoughts on this site

The Archaeology of Death and Burial, Parker Pearson

The Archaeology of Death and Burial, Parker Pearson

Sponsors

Auto-Translation (Google)

Translate from English into:

"Tobar Bharra" | Login/Create an Account | 4 News and Comments
  
Go back to top of page    Comments are owned by the poster. We aren't responsible for their content.
Re: Tobar Bharra by PAB on Sunday, 25 September 2011
(User Info | Send a Message)
St Finnbarr's feastday is 27th September, so it is timely to reflect on the fact that this, 'one of the most famous wells in the Western Isles', is virtually lost.

We were fortunate to meet a crofter who recalled where the well had been, and he described the way it used to be surrounded by wooden fencing. With his help, we found some residual fence posts, but even these will soon disappear. The well as described and illustrated in 'Healing Wells of the Western Isles' is no longer visible.

This is the island where the latest series of 'An Island Parish' was being filmed this summer & which still has an amazing level of church attendance - so sad that some of their ancient heritage is being allowed to slip into oblivion.

[ Reply to This ]
    Re: Tobar Bharra by Runemage on Sunday, 25 September 2011
    (User Info | Send a Message)
    Oh what an absolute shame. Usually, wells have at least one person from the local community who tends them and generally tidies up. Is there an organisation in the nearest village you could contact, parish council or similar, before this treasure is entirely lost?
    [ Reply to This ]
    Re: Tobar Bharra by PAB on Sunday, 25 September 2011
    (User Info | Send a Message)
    Rune - I picked up a couple of contact details while I was there, and hope to send them some copies of the pictures etc now that I have sorted them out. Will let you know if I have any joy!
    [ Reply to This ]

Re: Tobar Bharra by PAB on Sunday, 25 September 2011
(User Info | Send a Message)
This image and the following text come from the booklet 'The Healing Wells of the Western Isles' which I had obtained before our visit in May 2011. Both text and picture are reproduced here with written permission of the publishers:

"This is one of the most famous wells in the Western Isles. It is near Cille Bharra, on the east side of the road. It is a lovely well with a sandy bottom and an attractive appearance with the water bursting forth in three springs. The well is steeped in tradition. It was said that it was St Barr himself who opened the well; that he put his stick three times into the ground and that the three springs arose, none of them having dried up from that day forth."

© Text Finlay MacLeod
© Photograph Donald John Campbell
Published by Acair Ltd, 2000
[ Reply to This ]

Your Name: Anonymous [ Register Now ]
Subject:


Add your comment or contribution to this page. Spam or offensive posts are deleted immediately, don't even bother

<<< What is five plus one as a number? (Please type the answer to this question in the little box on the left)
You can also embed videos and other things. For Youtube please copy and paste the 'embed code'.
For Google Street View please include Street View in the text.
Create a web link like this: <a href="https://www.megalithic.co.uk">This is a link</a>  

Allowed HTML is:
<p> <b> <i> <a> <img> <em> <br> <strong> <blockquote> <tt> <li> <ol> <ul> <object> <param> <embed> <iframe>

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.