The Folklore of Wells and Healing Springs

Sacred Waters Beneath Our Feet

Long before churches were built, the British landscape was already thick with holy places, and the most persistent of these were wells and springs. A well that never ran dry, that bubbled up clear and cold from beneath the earth, was always going to attract attention. Our ancestors read meaning into it: water that came from below was water that came from elsewhere, and elsewhere was usually where the spirits lived. So wells were given names, saints, feast days and rituals, and a surprising number of them still hold water, and stories, today. If you know where to look, you can find them at the edge of a churchyard, at the bottom of a farm track, or beneath a stone slab in a village square, quietly doing what they have always done.

Clootie Wells and the Rags of Petition

The most familiar tradition is the clootie well, also called a rag well — the "cloot" being a strip of cloth. The practice is simple and remarkably consistent across Britain and Ireland: you walk to the well, often in silence, dip your cloth in the water, and tie it to a branch of the tree beside it. As the rag decays, so the ailment or trouble is said to fade away. It is a sympathetic magic of slow release, and it explains why so many clootie trees look as though they are dressed for a strange festival.

Well-known examples include Munlochy on the Black Isle and the wells at Culloden, but the custom appears wherever a spring has a reputation. A few practical notes, if you are minded to take part: traditionally the cloth should be something natural, such as wool, cotton or linen, and you should not remove anyone else's rag. Nor should you tie a synthetic fabric that will simply shed plastic into the ground for a decade.

Patron Saints and Feast Day Waters

Christianity did not abolish the wells so much as adopt them. Springs were re-dedicated to saints, and their feast days became the proper time to visit. St Winifred's Well at Holywell in Flintshire is the great survivor of this tradition, a shrine of continuous pilgrimage since the medieval period, its water still flowing. St Anne's Well at Buxton, St Non's in Pembrokeshire and the wells of Walsingham all gathered their own legends about healing and restoration. In Derbyshire and Staffordshire, the custom of well dressing survives in a different form entirely: each summer, boards of clay are pressed with petals, seeds, leaves and berries and erected over the well, a thank-offering that is now as much art as devotion. If you want to see it, Tissington traditionally dresses for Ascension Day, with other villages following through the summer months.

Wishing Wells and the Coins We Throw

The wishing well we still recognise is a descendant of all this. Coins were thrown into water as offerings to whatever lived there, and the practice of dropping a pin or a coin while making a wish is a softened version of a much older bargain. In some places, particularly in Wales and the West Country, pins were bent before being thrown, and a pin well might be consulted for divination: the number of bubbles rising, or whether the pin floated, could answer a question about love, luck or the identity of a thief. Some wells were said to be able to curse as readily as to cure, and were treated with corresponding caution.

What the Waters Could Cure

Well cults were once highly specialised, and people travelled considerable distances for the right spring. Common reputations included:

• Eyes — many wells were dedicated to eye complaints, often dedicated to St Bridget or the Virgin Mary, with the ritual of bathing the eyes and leaving a small offering.
• Rheumatism and joints — cold mineral springs were recommended for stiffness, and some wells were visited by walking through the water rather than drinking it.
• Warts — usually treated by transfer magic: rub the wart with a stone or a rag, then leave the object at the well for someone else, or for the water, to take away.
• Wounds and skin — often connected to a saint's own injury, with the well said to have sprung up where a head or a hand fell.
• Mental distress — a handful of wells earned a reputation for "madness", with visitors kept in the water or dosed with it under the supervision of a local keeper, a practice as uncomfortable as it sounds.

Visiting a Well Today

Most holy wells in Britain are on private land, in churchyards, or hidden under undergrowth, so a little courtesy goes a long way. Ask permission where the well sits on a farm or in a garden, and close gates behind you. Take your litter home — many clootie wells have suffered badly from visitors leaving plastic, tea lights and the occasional shoe. Do not drink from a spring unless you know it is tested and safe; even beautiful clear water can carry agricultural run-off. If you want to leave an offering, a coin, a small stone or a natural cloth tied lightly to a branch are all in keeping with the old customs, and there is no requirement to tell anyone you did it. The wells have been listening for a very long time, and they are patient.