<< Our Photo Pages >> Virtuous Well - Holy Well or Sacred Spring in Wales in Monmouthshire
Submitted by KiwiBetsy on Sunday, 06 June 2004 Page Views: 22193
Springs and Holy WellsSite Name: Virtuous Well Alternative Name: St Anne's Well; Red Pool (Trelleck)Country: Wales County: Monmouthshire Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring
Nearest Town: Monmouth Nearest Village: Trellech
Map Ref: SO50300509 Landranger Map Number: 162
Latitude: 51.742296N Longitude: 2.721214W
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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This well is also known as St Anne’s Well. The stone surround offers places for visitors to leave offerings and the stone seats would also have been welcomed by travellers.
In the 18th and 19th centuries the water was considered especially beneficial in the treatment of eye ailments and for treating ‘complaints peculiar to women’. It was also used as a wishing well. Girls wanting to know how long they would have to wait for marriage would drop in a pebble and every bubble that rose counted as one month …. a much shorter time scale than at Alsia Well in Cornwall where each bubble counted as a year! Fairies were believed to dance at the well and one day a local farmer dug up a fairy ring around it and from then on, whenever he (and only he) tried to draw water, the well was dry, but as soon as he replaced the missing turf he was able to get water again. On midsummer’s eve, the fairies were said to drink it’s water from harebells which were found strewn around on midsummer’s morning. There was also a legend that nuns from Tintern Abbey had used a three mile long tunnel so that they could use the water unobserved .... historically however, there were only monks at Tintern.
For more information see Coflein NPRN 32405, which includes photographs of the well. The Journal of Antiquities also mentions the well in their entry for Harold’s Stones, Trellech, Monmouthshire; the well is also depicted on the sundial in St. Nicholas's church in the village.
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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
372m W 277° Harolds Stones* Stone Row / Alignment (SO49930514)
453m NW 325° Trelleck Churchyard Cross* Ancient Cross (SO5004605466)
1.6km SW 217° Gaer (Trellech)* Hillfort (SO493038)
3.8km S 185° Trellech United Standing Stone (Menhir) (SO499013)
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6.7km NE 48° Newland Crosses* Ancient Cross (SO5530809511)
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7.7km S 188° Chepstow Park Wood Cairn Cairn (ST491975)
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