<< Our Photo Pages >> St Matthew's Well (Roslin) - Holy Well or Sacred Spring in Scotland in Midlothian
Submitted by KiwiBetsy on Friday, 06 October 2006 Page Views: 10159
Springs and Holy WellsSite Name: St Matthew's Well (Roslin)Country: Scotland County: Midlothian Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring
Nearest Town: Edinburgh Nearest Village: Roslin
Map Ref: NT27326298
Latitude: 55.854515N Longitude: 3.162554W
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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Anne T visited on 15th Jul 2018 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 3 Access: 4 St. Matthew's Well, Roslin: Getting to this well was interesting! Parking in Roslyn Chapel car park at NT 27405 63109, we took the gate from the south east of the car park through the cemetery, then out of the cemetery down a very overgrown lane, with very tall nettles on either side. About 50m from the grid reference for the well, we needed to head off south west into the wood. There were some tracks through here, but obviously not regularly used. We could see a green, mossy mounds/structure through the trees, but couldn’t find a way of getting down to them. In the end, I realised the track had been covered by a heavy, large dead tree branch, which Andrew and I managed to haul away from the path with a little difficulty. Having cleared the track, we used the tree roots as stepping stones at first, then slide the 20m or so down the slope to the well (I told myself it was always easier going up!).
At first we thought there was only one dome here, but looking harder, there was a second one, a few metres up the slope. The front face of the second dome (nearest the river Esk) had a hole in the front, which I poked the camera through to take a photograph. The was a large iron pipe which gushed water into the well chamber. A continuation of this pipe could be seen in a small gully which headed towards the river from the well chambers, although the gloom and all the detitus made it difficult to capture the location.
Heading back to look at the ruins of St. Michael’s church, we looked over the western end of the graveyard, looking south west, and realised we could not only see the well houses, but it also looked as if there were the remains of a wall and steps, as there were cut blocks of stone lying around.
I went back to photograph the 'Spooky Angel' I'd seen when I visited with my friend two years ago (hidden under a bush by the small outbuildings) - she much reminded me of an episode of Dr. Who, where the angels only moved when you didn't look at them.
St Matthew’s Well lies to the southwest of Roslin Chapel and near to a graveyard in which are the scanty remains of a chapel, probably dedicated to St Matthew and predating the existing Roslin Chapel. The well is situated over the southwest wall of the graveyard. To reach it climb over the wall and enter a muddy, slippery, midgy and nettle filled world. The well is located about 10 yards downhill from the graveyard fence and fairly much in line with the chapel ruins.
For more information see Canmore ID 51813 which adds: "St Matthew's Well lies outside the W wall of the burial ground. It is fed by a copious spring which forms the main water supply for Roslin ... At the spot indicated are two concrete domes, 1.2m x 1.0m x 0.6m high, 0.6m apart, each having a small wooden door."
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