Welcome to Holy Wells
In 2000 Guy and Catharine moved to Cornwall on the latest of a series of adventures together. Guy’s retirement meant they were able to enjoy long walks in the Cornish countryside. Occasionally they came across a holy well. Learning about them from past authors was interesting, started them searching for others. Finding one not in any book intrigued, and led to dedicated search over several years. Their book updates the record, with current pictures, positions, maps, and a table of references to most earlier books.
Normally dedicated to a local saint, holy wells were once widespread in Britain and were important features in the medieval sacred landscape. Over centuries, pilgrims sought the healing powers of their waters and many visitors left symbolic offerings in the form of jewellery, coins and ribbons tied in the trees. They shine a light on Cornish culture, from pre-Christian times through the Celtic Christianity and the mediaeval period, till today.
Some have been lost; some “lost” ones have been restored. The process continues.
This book is also a memorial to Catharine, who wrote the accounts of our visits, but sadly did not live to see the completion.
Guy and Catharine’s interest became an obsession and it wasn’t long before they would be touring odd nooks of Cornwall in a specific bid to find holy wells that had been all but lost in the mists of time — especially those which had escaped the attention of earlier authors on the subject.
When Catharine died in 2020, Guy vowed to finish the quest they had begun together. Visiting the final wells of which they knew and tying the whole adventure together in a book.
