Brow Well (Ruthwell)

Trip No.177  Entry No.1  Date Added: 6th Jun 2022
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: Scotland (Dumfries and Galloway)
Visited: Yes on 6th Jun 2022. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: Brow Well (Ruthwell): Having escaped the noisy builders across the road, we decided on the spur of the moment to visit the Brow Well, as it’s only about half an hour’s drive away. We bombed off up the M6, turned off onto the A75 at Gretna, turned off down a side road which turned left at NY 13732 69544 (note: HUGE mistake – too many large, enormous pot holes – continue on down to the B725!), only to find the cottage next to the well was blasting out music at huge volume. Boo hoo.

In addition, the area around the well had been turned into a building site, meaning the entrance to the small parking area was blocked off, so we pulled into a gateway a few metres from the well.

The well was almost dry, very muddy, and not very nice to visit at all. So disappointed after all the photographs I’ve seen on the internet. We found out from the couple we were speaking to at Kingholm (Lady’s Well) that the bridge by the well had recently collapsed and had just been replaced.

The information board tells us:
“Healing powers of water.
Brow Well is a chalybeate spring with natural iron-salt rich water believed to cure a multitude of ills and was popular with the residents of Dumfries at the time of Burns. From early times spring water was believed to have healing qualities and many locations in Scotland were renowned for their holy or healing wells. In the 17th century spas with mineral rich waters became fashionable locations to visit in the pursuit of health and beauty. Later sea-bathing emerged as part of a growing activity and built on popular traditions that saw seawater as having healing powers.”
That Robbie burns bathed in the well in 1796 but died 3 days later isn't a hugely great advert for the healing properties of this chalybeate well!

Ladye Well (Terregles)

Trip No.177  Entry No.2  Date Added: 8th Jun 2022
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: Scotland (Dumfries and Galloway)
Visited: Couldn't find on 6th Jun 2022. My rating: Condition 1

Log Text: Ladye Well, Terregles: Armed with the OS map and a description from “Saints in Scottish Place-Names”, we went back (after many, many years) to Terregles. This well is on private ground, so I found myself chatting to a lady who was gardening just opposite the village hall about how we might be able to ask for access.

She was very cagey about giving us any information at all, telling us in order to see it, we’d have to walk half-way down someone’s driveway. I did explain the purpose of our visit – my ‘holy well’ project, and that we used to live in the area - which didn’t seem to convince her.

I did try and knock on the door of the house at the very end of the village, at NX 92749 77497, but no-one was at home, apart from the dogs. Just to the west of this house there was an access road into a building plot, and with no-one around to ask, we ventured down this track to the back of the "garden". All was derelict ground with weeds galore.

Finding nothing, we made our way back to the road, and I was going to walk down to Ladywell House, which was some distance down a long driveway, with the house not visible, only for a second lady who drove out of Ladywell House and parked up just down the road, to speak to the Gardening Lady (presumably waiting for us to walk up). I went up to them and told the Gardening Lady we couldn’t find the well, found myself telling them we used to live around here years ago, and my kids went to Shawhead School (only 4 miles away). The New Lady said “there’s nothing to see – it’s all weeds. Even the site of the old chapel is just a lump at the end of the field, covered in weeds. Nothing to see at all”. So that was us told!

We felt really unwelcome, which was very sad.

We went onto see a named well (not a holy well or sacred spring) at Kingholm, and our reception was completely different. Two of the residents were enormously helpful, even giving us a guided walk of the field with possible locations of the well and associated spring.