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

Submitted by vicky on Monday, 29 March 2004  Page Views: 14626

Springs and Holy WellsSite Name: St Margaret's Well (Edinburgh)
Country: Scotland County: Midlothian Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring
Nearest Town: Edinburgh
Map Ref: NT2713373712  Landranger Map Number: 66
Latitude: 55.950891N  Longitude: 3.168436W
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
4 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
4 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.
4 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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I have visited· I would like to visit

TimPrevett visited on 23rd Jun 2021 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 5 Nicely presented well, be sure to take a peep through the grill and look at the interior, especially the ceiling

Anne T visited on 20th Feb 2017 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 3 Access: 5 St Margaret's Well, Holyrood, Edinburgh: Located just off Queen’s Drive in Holyrood, near Dynamic Earth, and 400 metres from St. Anthony’s Well, this well house can be seen from the road.

I had to photo-shop out the pile of rubbish that had gathered at the base of the well (disgusting!). There was a good flow of water out of the pipe inside the well house, although it was impossible to get a photograph of this there was a black heavy metal grill covering it.

I came across a reference on Pixyledpublications telling me “the spring itself is a holy well, called The Well of the Holy Rood or St. David’s Well and dates from 1198, the well head was re-erected from St. Margaret’s Well at Restalrig ….. legend has it that King David after mass decided to go hunting in the area and was thrown from his horse by a giant stag which then carried the king, stopping at the spring. In thanks for his deliverance, he built the Abbey of Holyrood there …. (the well house) has an internal width of six feet by five feet in height with a central pier with a carved head which is provided with a spout.”

The well house bears a plaque which reads: “This unique Well House dates from the late 15th Century. It originally stood at Restalrig, close to the Church, and its design is a miniature copy of St. Triduana’s Aisle there. In 1860 it was removed from its first site, which was then encroached upon by a railway depot, and was reconstructed in its present position near a natural spring.”

feorag have visited here

Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 3.5 Ambience: 3.5 Access: 5

St Margaret's Well (Edinburgh)
St Margaret's Well (Edinburgh) submitted by feorag : St. Margaret's Well in Holyrood Park, Edinburgh. Photographed 12th August 2006. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Holy Well in Midlothian

This holy well is recorded as Canmore ID 52167, extracts from which read: "Queen's Park was the site of a temporary smallpox hospital in 1894 ... In 1852, St Margaret's Well, a holy well (Walker 1883) is described as a spring well, enclosed by an ancient vault over which part of the railway workshops had been built. In 1860, this well-house was rebuilt in its present position. It is a miniature Gothic cell of the 15th century, evidently based on, and therefore later than, St Triduana's Well at Restalrig ... St Margaret's well-house is set into the natural hillslope immediately below the modern track that provides vehicular access to Hunter's Bog. It is is fronted by a curvilinear stone facade surmounted by iron railings."
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St Margaret's Well (Edinburgh)
St Margaret's Well (Edinburgh) submitted by KiwiBetsy : Another view of the interior of St Margaret’s Well. The octagonal shape, the low ledge, central column and the vaulted roof (seen in another image) is modelled on St Triduana’s Wellhouse. (Vote or comment on this photo)

St Margaret's Well (Edinburgh)
St Margaret's Well (Edinburgh) submitted by Anne T : St Margaret's Well can be seen from Queen's Drive. It is some 400 metres from St. Anthony's Well, which is further up the hill in Holyrood Park. (Vote or comment on this photo)

St Margaret's Well (Edinburgh)
St Margaret's Well (Edinburgh) submitted by Anne T : The well house hasn't changed since the other submissions from feorag in 2006. (Vote or comment on this photo)

St Margaret's Well (Edinburgh)
St Margaret's Well (Edinburgh) submitted by feorag : Stone marking the original location of St. Margaret's Well by Meadowbank Stadium. The plaque reads "This stone marks the site of St. Margaret's Well. The dressed stonework of the fifteenth- century wellhouse built over the ancient medicinal well and centre of pilgrimage was removed in 1859 and used to build a replica of it over St. David's Well in the Queen's Park: and the other remains of the me... (2 comments - Vote or comment on this photo)

St Margaret's Well (Edinburgh)
St Margaret's Well (Edinburgh) submitted by feorag : The spout inside St. Margaret's Well, Holyrood Park, Edinburgh. I remember the head from which the water issues being a lot less worn than it is now within my memory. Photographed 12th August 2006. (Vote or comment on this photo)

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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 392m E 100° St Anthony's Well (Edinburgh)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (NT27527364)
 440m WNW 296° Girth Cross (Canongate)* Ancient Cross (NT2673973910)
 471m SSW 195° Salisbury Crags* Promontory Fort / Cliff Castle (NT27007326)
 666m W 278° Canongate Mercat Cross* Ancient Cross (NT2647273812)
 843m W 270° St John's Cross (Canongate)* Ancient Cross (NT2628873733)
 1.0km SSW 200° Slidey Stane (Holyrood Park)* Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature (NT2676672765)
 1.0km SSE 149° Arthur's Seat* Hillfort (NT27647282)
 1.2km ESE 117° Dunsapie Crag* Hillfort (NT28177316)
 1.3km SSE 164° Samson's Ribs* Promontory Fort / Cliff Castle (NT27457250)
 1.3km ESE 116° Holyrood Park Stone (Edinburgh) Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature (NT28267313)
 1.4km WSW 252° National Museum of Scotland (Early Christian Stones)* Ancient Cross (NT2583273324)
 1.4km SW 235° Edinburgh Runestone* Carving (NT2598972937)
 1.4km ENE 57° St Triduana's Wellhouse* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (NT2833274468)
 1.4km WSW 252° National Museum of Scotland* Museum (NT2574873290)
 1.5km WSW 253° National Museum of Scotland (Pictish Stones)* Museum (NT2572173302)
 1.5km SE 133° Delf Well* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (NT282727)
 1.8km WSW 257° Grassmarket modern menhir* Standing Stone (Menhir) (NT25337333)
 1.8km W 262° Stone of Scone* Marker Stone (NT253735)
 1.9km WSW 256° The Portsburgh Stone* Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature (NT25287327)
 2.0km W 266° St Margaret's Well (Edinburgh Castle)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (NT2508273613)
 2.1km SSW 201° Penny Well (Edinburgh)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (NT26367177)
 2.7km W 280° St Bernard's Well* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (NT2445174247)
 2.7km W 277° St George's Well (Edinburgh)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (NT2440174070)
 3.0km S 173° Cat Stane (Inch)* Standing Stone (Menhir) (NT27457068)
 3.4km SW 230° The Bore Stone* Marker Stone (NT2450871568)
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"St Margaret's Well (Edinburgh)" | Login/Create an Account | 6 News and Comments
  
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St Margaret's Well (Edinburgh) - Video by TimPrevett on Wednesday, 28 July 2021
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Short video of mine of St Margaret's Well on YouTube:

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Re: St Margaret's Well (Edinburgh) by Anonymous on Tuesday, 26 December 2017
has anyone got exact coordinates ?

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    Re: St Margaret's Well (Edinburgh) by Anonymous on Friday, 27 April 2018
    55.9509° N, 3.1684° W
    [ Reply to This ]
      Re: St Margaret's Well (Edinburgh) by Anonymous on Friday, 27 April 2018
      No you cannot enter it.
      [ Reply to This ]

Re: St Margaret's Well (Edinburgh) by TimPrevett on Monday, 20 October 2008
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Are the interior shots looking through the grill, or can the inside actually be entered?
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Re: St Margaret's Well (Edinburgh) by feorag on Saturday, 12 August 2006
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This site is the wellhouse of a holy well destroyed by railway works which was was re-erected near the site of St. David’s Well in Holyrood Park after representations by the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.

Previously, the well’s location had been a picturesque spot by a thatched cottage, overshadowed by an old alder tree. By the time the committee members inspected it, a railway station had been built over it, and it could only be approached by an “obscure and filthy entrance. This access has the appearance of a dark cellar without a door, and is not more in height than four feet eight inches, but by stooping and descending a few steps one is able to stand upright. At the extremity of this passage, which in length is about forty-six feet, and three feet two inches wide, it requires even in the brightest day, the aid of a lanthern to distinguish the form of the Well”.

The committee proposed moving the well building to one of a number of similar springs in Holyrood Park, renaming it the Rood Well, and piping the water from the original well to a fountain somewhere in the village of Restalrig, so that the water could continue to benefit the residents. There were no serious objections to the removal of the Well, the Directors of the North British Railway considering it a nuisance, and the villagers already having an alternative water supply. The site of St. Anthony’s Well was among the locations proposed for the new well, a scheme supported by the Witness newspaper, but this was considered to interfere with old associations, and other sites including “a spring which rises up at the North-East corner of Queen’s Park” near the palace of Holyrood was suggested as being more appropriate .

The original site in Restalrig is near the car park of Meadowbank sports centre (NT 281 742), towards the velodrome, and a standing stone with a plaque marking it was unveiled in 1971. This states that the remains of the original building which had not been moved were filled in in 1968.
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