Holy Well Showery Tor Bodmin Moor Cornwall

by Richard Brookes

Title

Holy Well Showery Tor Bodmin Moor Cornwall

Artist

Richard Brookes

Medium

Photograph

Description

An ancient holy well, probably medieval, possibly pre-Christian on the slopes of Bodmin Moor near to Showery Tor and Rough Tor, North Cornwall, SW England, UK. The well head, a scheduled monument, encloses a natural spring issuing from the hillside in dressed granite blocks. There is a remaining L shaped hinge to one side which would once have held a wooden door. The water then flows down a granite lined channel until disappearing onto the moor. Holy wells are water sources with early Christian associations, some date back to the 6th Century AD, although the custom of venerating springs and wells as sacred sites also characterised pre-Christian religions in Britain. The importance of holy wells continued throughout the medieval period but its condemnation at the Reformation (c1540) ended new foundations. Local reverence and folklore customs often continued, sometimes to the present day. Holy wells were used for baptism and for folklore beliefs in the healing powers of the water and its ability to affect future events. Associated rituals usually required donations of an object or coin by the person seeking its benefits. This well's proximity to nearby medieval religious monuments and extensive Bronze Age settlement, ritual and funerary sites on and around the tors illustrates the land use and significance of this upland area between the prehistoric and medieval periods.

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October 27th, 2018

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