Cornwall - Cubert Well

Cubert Well, Cornwall

The well house through the arch in outer wall

In stark contrast to the elemental spring issuing from the rock in a sea cave at Holywell Bay a mere half mile away, Cubert well has the air of a Mediaeval sanctum. An ivy covered perimeter wall, punctuated by a high Gothic arch, defines the sacred space. Inside the wall, a series of stepping stones lead across an expanse of marshy ground to the inner well house, tucked into the rocky and overgrown bank. This inner building looks as though it is growing out of the bank, or gradually being absorbed back into it. Such is the extent to which the surrounding ivy and bramble has crept across its grey granite surface. Stone seats line the two sides of the small well house, and niches are cut into the back wall. In times past they may have housed statues or crosses or candles. The water is fed into a moss-lined alcove which overflows and runs out along channels cut into the floor creating the swamp that paves the way in. The structure is said to be fourteenth century but was lost for some time, only to be rediscovered in a ruined state by a local in 1916. Newquay Old Cornwall Society did a fine job of restoring the structure twenty years later. The Reverend A. Lane-Davies believes that it is this well which is behind the naming of Holywell Bay, rather than the well in the sea-cave which can only be seen at low tide. But, as Paul Broadhurst points out, the well in the cave would have been venerated by our ancestors for many centuries before Christianity took a hold over these lands. Whatever the truth is, this is a very special place indeed. We should consider ourselves to be extremely fortunate that this well has survived to the present day to be enjoyed by a new band of pilgrims. Take a pair of wellies, and do take the time to sit inside the cool well-house and enjoy the pleasing sound of trickling water. Let the world pass you by for a while. Give thanks to the naiads and leave it as you would hope to find it.

O.S.G.R.:	SW 773 588 (200).
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