Feet in the Wishing Well ?

I've always been attracted to water. The sea, rivers , wells, pools have fascinated me and drawn me to them

                                    Brigit's Well Carrog.Image Copyright Chris Jones


Water is life . For example the city of Bath exists  due to the merging of three natural springs in the heart of the city which now deliver over one million litres of water a day. The importance of the site scans 10,000 years from the Mesolithic period to the present day .
What makes a spring or watery place special? Why are some places associated with a goddess or spirit and others ignored? Some areas are devoid of sacred well and water worship whilst others seem to have been a focus for ritual activity from at least the Neolithic period around six thousand years ago.
An  example of an early site for ritual activity around a natural spring has been discovered in Wales .
Hindwell discussed here at the Clwyd Powis Archaeological Trust  website                         http://www.cpat.org.uk/projects/longer/walton/walton12-14.htm 

It is thought that the original activity at this site may have focused on a natural spring 

The site grew to eventually cover over 85 acres - thirty times the size of Stonehenge . The implications are that the site had a ritual function though the exact meaning of this over it's life time has eluded archaeological investigation.

It's hard to say with any certainty if Holywells and Healing Wells  such as Ffynnon Sara near Derwen in Denbighshire have early origins in prehistory as there is no firm on the ground archaeological evidence to support this theory .

Wales has more than it's fair share of sacred watery places which are still a magnet for pilgrimage, worship, offerings and connection to deities, ancestors and the distant past . This is an area I will explore and develop further .

Some examples of springs and wells  I have looked at are shown below. Not all have a rich collection of folklore attached to them and need further research to answer the question 'why' people travel great distances to venerate the site and to seek cures at them , such a place is Brockweir in the Wye Valley. 

Local residents seemed to know nothing about the folklore or origins of the worship at or pilgrimage of the site although they did state that many people from far away knew of the spring and travelled there to seek cures or leave offerings presumably to their own deities or spirit of the spring 

So why do we and how do we venerate water ? Why do we want to have our feet in the Wishing Well and how far into the mists of time do rituals and traditions surrounding watery places extend back ?  

There are many questions to be asked about how the thin veil between Christian and Pagan overlaps and why so many of us of all beliefs and religions still seek something at these very thin and liminal places where we still throw coins, leave personal objects , perform rituals and  send up wishes to the saint or deity of our choice .

                                             St Seiriols Well Penmon Anglesey 

On Garway Church and the thin veil

Garway is one of my favourite churches . I have rarely entered a church with such a beautiful feeling of peace and 'oneness' with the spirit of the place.A place of contemplation where time stands still and the outside world seems very far away .
The ceiling in the nave is decorated with twenty four, six pointed stars.

Garway is one of six churches built in England by the Knights Templar . Little remains now of the circular church, the remains of  which are  buried beneath the present church . A local  resident told me that some years ago there was strong feeling amongst people in the community that the ruins of the Templar church should be covered up and forgotten. I asked her why ? She said she didn't know . Was it because for some reason the work involved in keeping this small area was considered too much trouble ? This seems very unlikely given the area exposed is so small. I wonder if for some reasons best known to themselves certain people didn't want an acknowledgement or memory of the Templar presence . This , if so is to deny history, to cover important archaeological remains and project personal prejudices into altering the history and memory of this beautiful place .

Even earlier than the Templar church there is said to have been a religious presence on the site from the end of the  sixth century although nothing remains of any earlier structures and presumably this first 'church' would have been a wooden structure.
The tower dates to 1180 and is thought to have been a defensive structure separate from the main body of the church at that date

 I approached the church and walked around the exterior , taking in the landscape and the spirit of the place including the now dried up well , from which local lore says that Templars once took water .

The well is still visited as a place of contemplation although whether or not any memory  of it now as a Holy or Healing well remains is something I need to look into further .
As I walked around the church yard the sense of beauty and peace was overwhelming. I came across a small bunch of flowers left beside the path , a small offering to all who were buried there ? If so it was a lovely gesture

 On entering the church I wasn't prepared for the simple beauty  in the architecture , the play on the senses both visual and emotional . The atmosphere was simply beautiful .

To me this felt like a place were the distant past was still very much present . Pagan, pre-Christian call it what you will mingles with a Christian past and present and all souls are welcome there . I believe many souls are present in this place happily welcoming us to join them in their peaceful place .
This is a place where the veil between worlds is so thin there is no real division to stand within these walls is to take that journey from present to past in the most lovely way.
A place to go and wander, connect, stand,  contemplate and come away with a sense of great peace
This is somewhere I will be visiting again and researching in much more depth from a perspective of  folklore and pilgrimage . I also hope to collect local stores and learn more about the hidden histories of Garway Church .
If we do not seek we do not find - open the door to the past and enter.....

Through the Thin Veil