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The Significance of Monuments

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<< Our Photo Pages >> Balm Well - Holy Well or Sacred Spring in Scotland in Midlothian

Submitted by KiwiBetsy on Friday, 08 September 2006  Page Views: 15692

Springs and Holy WellsSite Name: Balm Well Alternative Name: Oily Well, St Catherine’s Well, St Katherine’s Well, Balm Well of St Catherine
Country: Scotland County: Midlothian Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring
Nearest Town: Edinburgh
Map Ref: NT2732268363
Latitude: 55.902870N  Longitude: 3.163969W
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.
 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.
 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
 3

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Balm Well
Balm Well submitted by KiwiBetsy : The well is also known as the Oily Well because of the oily film which floated on it’s water. This was caused by the water flowing through a layer of oil shale and it’s waters had a reputation for curing eczema and other skin diseases. The well is thought to date from the 15th century and in 1617 James IV ordered that a stone wellhouse with steps for easy access be built. This was almos... (Vote or comment on this photo)
Holy Well or Sacred Spring in Midlothian.

The Balm Well sits in the grounds of the Balmwell Hotel in Howdenhall Road, Edinburgh. Further information can be found at Canmore 152718 which tells us the well takes its name from St. Catherine of Alexandria: "On the surface of the water floats a black tarry substance because of which the well was famous for hundreds of years as a place of cure. This substance is derived from a minute spring exuding from the oil shale below ..... In 1861, the structure was dilapidated, but it was carefully protected in 1889. It is housed within a tiny, modern vaulted structure, which contains a probably unconnected door lintel dated 1563. The inside of the chamber is coated with bituminous matter from the well. Even in 1910, its waters were thought curative for eczema. It is alleged that leprosy was one of the diseases treated at this well. This claim should be discounted. It is based on the erroneous belief that the name of Liberton is a conversion of 'leper-town' and that a leper hospital was situated in the immediate neighbourhood."
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Balm Well
Balm Well submitted by KiwiBetsy : The lintel stone of the wellhouse bears the date 1563 but clearly the existing wellhouse does not date from then. Perhaps it is a case of ‘recycling’ or maybe it records the date of the original well? (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:
NT2768 : St Catherine's Well, Liberton, Edinburgh by Mike Pennington
by Mike Pennington
©2011(licence)
NT2768 : Oily Well by Anne Burgess
by Anne Burgess
©2017(licence)
NT2768 : Car park, Balmwell by Richard Webb
by Richard Webb
©2021(licence)
NT2768 : Balmwell House by Richard Webb
by Richard Webb
©2021(licence)
NT2768 : Balmwell House by Anne Burgess
by Anne Burgess
©2017(licence)

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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
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"Balm Well" | Login/Create an Account | 4 News and Comments
  
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Re: Balm Well by Anonymous on Sunday, 13 July 2008
when the balm well was sold by the council we were informed that you had to have
funds to renovate the well back to its original state because of the selling conditions and the amount of funds which the council said the buyer had to have in the bank we were unable to purchase it as a home , i certainly don't think the council should allow the planning application for flats considering the conditions they ask for when selling the property in the first place.
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Re: Balm Well by feorag on Tuesday, 27 May 2008
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There is a planning application to build flats on the site of this well. I am trying to find out how the well will be affected.
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Re: Balm Well by Anonymous on Monday, 26 May 2008
I would like to inform you that The BalmWell has never been a hotel. If you require confermation please feel free to ring the manger at the pub number, 0131 672 1408
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Re: Balm Well by feorag on Saturday, 16 September 2006
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My notes on the Balm Well read:

The well is located about three-quarters of a mile south of the village of Liberton, near the site of a chapel erected by St. Margaret in honour of St. Catherine (Walker 1883, 172). The well is now in the grounds of a public house — the Balm Well — and easily accessed. Walker (1883, 172-3) quotes Boece’s Latin description of the well, and also a translation by Bellenden:

“Nocht two miles fra Edinburgh is ane fontane dedicat to Sanct Katrine, quhair sternis of oulie springs ithandlie with sic abundance that howbeit the samin be gaderit away, it springis incontinent with gret abundance. This fontane rais throw ane drop of Sanct Katrine’s oulie, quhilk was brocht out of Monte Sinai, fra her sepulture, to Sanct Margaret, the blissit Quene of Scotland. Als sone as Sanct Margaret saw the oulie spring ithandlie, by divine miracle, in the said place, sche gart big ane chapell thair in the hounour of Sanct Katrine. This oulie has anr singulare virteu agains all maner of kankir and skawis.” (Bellenden 1821, cited by Walker 1883, 174).


James IV visited the well on July 8th 1504, according to Walker. He also mentions a pilgrimage by James VI in 1617, also referred to by Mackaile (1664). James VI ordered the well to be enclosed in a building and a flight of steps provided. Cromwell's soldiers subsequently demolished it — Mackaile shows obvious disgust at this — and it was repaired again at the Restoration. By 1861, Muir recorded it was in a state of dilapidation (Walker 1883, 174). Walker observed that it was still being visited for cures (particularly of skin diseases) at the time he was writing (Walker 1883, 174) and that it was ‘now carefully protected and looked after’ (Walker 1883, 175).

Other noted pilgrims were the nuns of St. Catherine’s of Sienna, who made an annual trip to the well in honour of the saint.

“At St. Catherine’s is a well which contains a quantity of mineral oil or petroleum, obtained most probably from the spring flowing over some portion of the coal beds. This bitumous matter floats copiously on the surface of the water, and is also partially dissolved in it. The spring is reckoned medicinal by the country people, and may have some slight efficacy in cutaneous eruptions...

“At St Catherine’s, there is the famous well, before alluded to, anciently called the Balm Well. Black oily substances constantly float on the surface of the water. However many you remove they still appear to reside in this well, and it was much frequented by persons afflicted with cutaneous complaints. The nuns of the Sheens made an annual procession to it in honour of St Catharine. King James VI visited it in 1617, and ordered it to be properly enclosed and provided with a door and staircase, but it was destroyed and filled up by the soldiers of Cromwell in 1650. It has again been opened and repaired, and is now in a good state of preservation.” (Gordon 1845, 3-5)


The most notable thing about this well is the water, which contains an oily substance, and it is this oil which provides its efficacy. Walker quotes an analysis by Dr. George Wilson:

“The water from St Katherine’s Well contains after filtration, in each imperial gallon, grs. 28.11 of solid matter, of which grs. 8.45 consist of soluble sulphates and chlorides of the earths and alkalies, and grs. 19.66 of insoluble calccareaous carbonates.” (Walker 1883, 175).


It is thought the oil may be related to the nearby coalfields, though the legend telling of the origin of the well is much more romantic:

It owes its origin, it is said, to a miracle in this manner: St. Katherine had a commission from St. Margaret, consort of Malcolm Canmore, to bring a quantity of oil from Mount Sinai. In this very place, she happened, by some accident or other, to lose a few drops of it, and, on h

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