Holy Well (destroyed): OS Grid Reference – NS 4631 7307
Also Known as:
-
Trees’ Well
Archaeology & History
Sadly there are no longer any remains of this holy well which was found, “beside the church dedicated to St Patrick — which was said to be built on soil brought from Ireland in honor of its patron,” wrote John Bruce in 1893. He told that its waters had “been used until lately from time immemorial by the villagers, but now has been found unfit for use and consequently ordered to be closed up.” Although its waters were used for baptisms, he made no mention of any medicinal repute, which it surely would have possessed.
The original position of the well, according to Mr Bruce, was “adjoining the church” but, according to the Ordnance Survey lads, when they came here in 1963 they located a drinking fountain on the other side of the road about 80 yards to the west and designated that as being St Patrick’s Well. The place had earlier been given a wooden sign saying “St Partrick’s Well.” Local tradition attributes St. Patrick as originally coming from this village, whose saint’s day is March 17.
The place was also known as Trees’ Well, suggestive, perhaps, of a local person, although I can find no reference as to who or what that might have been.
References:
- Bruce, John, The History of the Parish of West or Old Kilpatrick, John Smith: Glasgow 1893.
Acknowledgements: Huge thanks for use of the Ordnance Survey map in this site profile, reproduced with the kind permission of the National Library of Scotland.
© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian
My Grandfather had a shop in Old Kilpatrick. I have lived in Australia since 1965. In his memoirs he mentions St Patrick’s well – refer to excerpt below.
I am keen to incorporate a photo of the well and if possible a photo of the area today when I publish his memoirs. Would you be able to assist with either of these by directing me to suitable images which you own or which are free from copyright, that I could include in his memoirs?
The council action he refers to probably took place around 1950.
“On the ground where my shop was built was an underground well, there was circular steps leading down to the water it was called, St Patricks well, according
St Patrick roamed above the village and came down to the well to christen heathens One day he was captured by slave traders and taken to Ireland, there he preached the word of God and banished the snakes from Ireland. After years of neglect the local council decided it would be a good tourist attraction, they sent men to clean it up, and build a wall around it with railings on top, the put fish in the water to see if it was clean and if the fish would survive in it. The also decided that the ground where my shop was built would be ideal for a car park. The council had no jurisdiction over the ground as it belonged to a trust called the Lennoxlove estates, they knew I could refuse to move, they offered me a piece of ground in a housing scheme at the other end of the village that is where I made another mistake, the site was away from the main road and I had to build it at my own expense…..”
Would you be in a position to assist with further information or more particularly a photo or two. The intention is just to add a little detail to his memoirs – not a detailed history of the well.
Regards
Moira
Hi Moira – Please feel freee to use the photo in the site profile. If you could simply put a reference to “The Northern Antiquarian” website – https://www.thenorthernantiquarian.org that would be great. Many thanks.