St. Nicholass Well

Marked only on the 1941 ed. of the OS 6-inch map where it is described as St. Nicholas’ Well. St. Nicholas of Myra, whose feastday falls on the 6th December, was a 4th century bishop in Turkey and a renowned gift-giver, on whom much of the character of Santa Claus is based (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Nicholas), but there is no record of a pattern. The well is situated at the bottom of a steep S-facing slope and 5m N of a SW-NE stream. The well (dims 1.35m E-W; 1.1m N-S) is excavated into the slope (D 1.7m at N, upslope) and it is lined with stones which have collapsed into the well, but water still runs from it to the stream. There is no evidence of veneration, although it was visited for health cures inthe 1940s (OSFM). The church site of Chapel Carron (WX037-011001-) is c. 280m downstream to the NE. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 13 December, 2012

St. Nicholas’ Well is associated with St. Nicholas of Myra, a 4th-century bishop known for his generosity and venerated as the patron saint of children and gift-giving. The well may have been a site of pilgrimage or healing rituals, particularly around his feast day on 6th December, though specific local traditions or cures linked to the site are not well documented.