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<< Our Photo Pages >> St Augustine's Well (Cerne Abbas) - Holy Well or Sacred Spring in England in Dorset

Submitted by KiwiBetsy on Monday, 29 March 2004  Page Views: 21804

Springs and Holy WellsSite Name: St Augustine's Well (Cerne Abbas)
Country: England County: Dorset Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring
 Nearest Village: Cerne Abbas
Map Ref: ST6664001369  Landranger Map Number: 194
Latitude: 50.810904N  Longitude: 2.474852W
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
4
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TimPrevett visited on 28th Dec 2016 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 4 Visited in June 2009 first of all on a warm summer's evening and again on 28th December with late afternoon golden sunshine. A very mellow spot - shame we couldn't stop for longer to soak the ambience in.

DaveRenshaw visited on 8th Mar 2012 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 4

hevveh JimChampion ermine have visited here

Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 4 Ambience: 4 Access: 4

St Augustine's Well (Cerne Abbas)
St Augustine's Well (Cerne Abbas) submitted by ermine : St Augustine's well in Cerne Abbas is a tranquil place. Walk up Abbey Street and turn into the graveyard - the well is a couple of hundred yards alond the track. The flow is good and was the village's source of drinking water in the last century. The Abbey nearby is also worth a visit, as well as the nearby Giant hillfigure. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Holy Well / Spring in Dorset

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St Augustine's Well (Cerne Abbas)
St Augustine's Well (Cerne Abbas) submitted by JimChampion : Looking down into the wellhead from the burial ground. Behind the buttressed wall to the left of the picture is the Cerne Abbas burial ground (cemetery) which surrounds the spring on the north and east sides. Would villagers still have used this spring for drinking water after they started burying bodies above it? (Vote or comment on this photo)

St Augustine's Well (Cerne Abbas)
St Augustine's Well (Cerne Abbas) submitted by TimPrevett : Lovely warm ambience for a late December in late afternoon with a westering sun. 28/12/16. (Vote or comment on this photo)

St Augustine's Well (Cerne Abbas)
St Augustine's Well (Cerne Abbas) submitted by Antonine : 2008 (Vote or comment on this photo)

St Augustine's Well (Cerne Abbas)
St Augustine's Well (Cerne Abbas) submitted by Antonine (Vote or comment on this photo)

St Augustine's Well (Cerne Abbas)
St Augustine's Well (Cerne Abbas) submitted by Antonine (Vote or comment on this photo)

St Augustine's Well (Cerne Abbas)
St Augustine's Well (Cerne Abbas) submitted by Antonine

St Augustine's Well (Cerne Abbas)
St Augustine's Well (Cerne Abbas) submitted by Antonine

St Augustine's Well (Cerne Abbas)
St Augustine's Well (Cerne Abbas) submitted by Antonine

St Augustine's Well (Cerne Abbas)
St Augustine's Well (Cerne Abbas) submitted by Antonine

St Augustine's Well (Cerne Abbas)
St Augustine's Well (Cerne Abbas) submitted by Antonine

St Augustine's Well (Cerne Abbas)
St Augustine's Well (Cerne Abbas) submitted by Antonine

St Augustine's Well (Cerne Abbas)
St Augustine's Well (Cerne Abbas) submitted by Antonine

St Augustine's Well (Cerne Abbas)
St Augustine's Well (Cerne Abbas) submitted by Antonine

St Augustine's Well (Cerne Abbas)
St Augustine's Well (Cerne Abbas) submitted by AngieLake : The pilgrim cat at the holy well, Sept 2003. (Photo from friend's camera.)

St Augustine's Well (Cerne Abbas)
St Augustine's Well (Cerne Abbas) submitted by AngieLake : The black cat seemed like the 'guardian' of the holy well when I visited with a friend in Sept 2003. This was taken on her camera.

St Augustine's Well (Cerne Abbas)
St Augustine's Well (Cerne Abbas) submitted by TimPrevett : Leading down to the well pool, 28/12/16. Notice the clouties on the trees.

St Augustine's Well (Cerne Abbas)
St Augustine's Well (Cerne Abbas) submitted by JimChampion : Springwater leaves the upper rectangular pool over a stone block with a semicircular channel cut into it, the fast flow produces some interesting ripple patterns. (2 comments)

St Augustine's Well (Cerne Abbas)
St Augustine's Well (Cerne Abbas) submitted by KiwiBetsy : Catherine wheel carving on the edge of the well ….. it is thought that this stone was taken from the nearby abbey when it fell into disuse after the Dissolution. After visiting the well, there’s a wonderful grotesque on the left of the porch door of the nearby Church of St Mary the Virgin ….. he (or she) is actually a chimney from when churches had fires and well worth the short walk to vis...

St Augustine's Well (Cerne Abbas)
St Augustine's Well (Cerne Abbas) submitted by KiwiBetsy : There was once a chapel dedicated to St Catherine on the hill above this well. Girls used to visit the well and pray to St Catherine for a husband, turning around three times as they did so. The water was also believed to be good for eye problems and also helpful in cases of infertility. It was recommended that those drinking the iron rich water in the hope of a cure do so from a laurel leaf an...

St Augustine's Well (Cerne Abbas)
St Augustine's Well (Cerne Abbas) submitted by Moonwatcher : Visited in September '04, also known as The Silver Well - Legend says that St.Augustine once visited Dorset. He met some shepherds grazing their flocks and asked them whether they would prefer beer or water to drink. The temperate sherpherds replied 'Water' whereupon St.Augustine struck the ground with his staff, crying "Cerne El" as the water rushed out. The words were supposedly, a pun on Cerd... (1 comment)

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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 312m N 3° Cerne Abbas Giant* Hill Figure or Geoglyph (ST66660168)
 314m NNE 16° The Trendle* Misc. Earthwork (ST66730167)
 435m N 8° Giant Hill Cross Ridge Dyke Misc. Earthwork (ST667018)
 515m NNE 13° Giant Hill Bowl Barrow Round Barrow(s) (ST66760187)
 934m NNE 19° Giant Hill Settlement Ancient Village or Settlement (ST66950225)
 1000m NNE 23° Bowl Barrow (Dorset) Round Barrow(s) (ST67030229)
 1.0km SSE 147° Black Hill Farm Enclosure Ancient Village or Settlement (ST672005)
 1.1km E 88° Alton Lane Field System Misc. Earthwork (ST677014)
 1.3km W 280° Weam Commen Hill Field System Misc. Earthwork (ST654016)
 1.4km SSE 148° Oxencombe Bottom Bowl Barrow Round Barrow(s) (ST67380018)
 1.5km SW 222° Dickley Hill Settlement Ancient Village or Settlement (ST65650027)
 1.5km SW 223° Dickley Hill Bowl Barrows Round Barrow(s) (ST65600026)
 1.8km WNW 302° Seldon Hill Settlement Ancient Village or Settlement (ST65100235)
 1.9km WNW 289° Wancombe Hill Field System Misc. Earthwork (ST64790200)
 2.0km SSE 167° Green Hill Barrows Barrow Cemetery (SY67069943)
 2.0km NNW 333° High Cank Henge Henge (ST65720319)
 2.1km SSW 202° Smacam Down Bowl Barrow Round Barrow(s) (SY65859946)
 2.1km WSW 253° Up Cerne/Sydling St Nicholas Boundary Stone Marker Stone (ST64610078)
 2.1km NNW 339° Farm Hill Bowl Barrow Round Barrow(s) (ST65880334)
 2.1km SSE 165° Green Hill Field System Misc. Earthwork (SY672993)
 2.2km SSW 204° Smacam Down Long Barrow Long Barrow (SY6572599389)
 2.2km SSW 205° Smacam Down Settlement Ancient Village or Settlement (SY657994)
 3.0km NNW 332° East Hill field System* Misc. Earthwork (ST65250405)
 3.5km SSW 194° Nether Cerne Field System Misc. Earthwork (SY658980)
 3.7km NNW 335° St Mary's Well (Hermitage)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (ST651047)
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"St Augustine's Well (Cerne Abbas)" | Login/Create an Account | 6 News and Comments
  
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Re: St Augustine's Well by ESgt on Friday, 10 August 2012
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Think the location is 80m further up towards Cerne Abbey at 50.8109, -2.47485 [Updated]
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Re: St Augustine's Well (Cerne Abbas) by Anonymous on Friday, 14 October 2011
14-10-2011.why is the holy well dry
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Re: St Augustine's Well (Cerne Abbas) by jamesrattue on Thursday, 25 August 2011
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I visited the well on 23rd August 2011 and found it very sadly dry - both the well and the stream that used to run through the town.
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Re: Silver Well (St Augustine's Well) by Sunny100 on Tuesday, 17 August 2010
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St Augustine's Well at Cerne is mentioned twice in the book 'Sacred Waters' by Janet & Colin Bord (Paladin Books) 1986. They say and i quote "Traditionally the well was formed where St Augustine struck the ground with his staff". An interesting book, worth reading.
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Re: Silver Well (St Augustine's Well) by megalith6 on Tuesday, 17 August 2010
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There's a lot weird here - this is the Silver Well, it was probably a St Catherine Well before the Augustine legend did the rounds. The village is named after the river Cerne, that should be a hard 'c' if the etymologists have got it right because 'cerne' is Celtic for modern 'cairn'. IOW 'Kerne Abbas'. The giant looks a bit dubious (from the records) if intended to be prehistoric, which it probably wasn't - the real magic is the well and the hill, and all it conceals, plus the enigmatic earthwork on its top. Cerne is a great location and there is much magic here, not to mention lost, hidden or suppressed history i feel. Does anybody else think the abbey is haunted?

lol
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Re: St Augustine's Well by Anonymous on Friday, 04 May 2007
This is very beautiful spring. Thanks.
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