About

The Virtuous Well in Trellech was once known as St. Anne’s Well and famous for its cures. It was visited by many pilgrims as late as the Seventeenth Century. It is said to be four separate springs, three containing iron and each curing a different illness. Its niches held offerings and cups while stone seats gave rest to the weary travellers.

A Chalybeate spring bubbles up into a stone basin set into an arched recess in the rearstone wall of a horse-shoe shaped structure partly sunken into the meadow. Steps lead down into a paved area with a stone benched seat on either side, although in recent years a rise in floor level has made sitting in here difficult. There are two squared niches in the rear wall, possibly for drinking vessels or votive offerings. Today offerings are also frequently placed on the ledge around the inside of the arched recess, while the hedgerow trees behind the well are festooned with strips of white cloth and ribbons, reflecting a continuing belief in the medicinal properties of the spring water. Tradition had it that if you dipped a piece of your garment in the healing water, as the fabric rotted away, so your symptoms would disappear.

 The name 'virtuous' well does in fact refer to its medicinal qualities and not to any moral virtues supposedly endowed upon those who partake of its iron-impregnated waters. According to an ancient Welsh manuscript, the healing water of the Bards ran beneath the Caer of the Three Stones and it has been suggested that the existence of this well was associated with the choice of Trellech for mystical Druidical rites.

Many pilgrimages were made here over the centuries. An inscription on the Sundial in Latin describes Trellech as being 'greatest because of its well'. In the 18th and 19th centuries the unpleasant-tasting water was considered especially beneficial for eye ailments and 'complaints peculiar to women'.

Like many other holy wells, St Anne's well was also used as a wishing well. To make a wish one threw into the water a small metal object. Many bubbles arising from it meant a rapid granting of one's wish, few bubbles meant that a long period of time would elapse before the wish came true and no bubbles at all meant that one's wish had not been granted. The young maidens of Trellech anxious to know how long they had to wait until their wedding day, would drop a pebble into the water and every bubble that arose counted for one month.

Several local folk tales concern the Virtuous well: for instance, the fairies were believed to dance around it. One day a local farmer dug up the fairy ring around the well as he 'didn't like all them silly tales'. The following day when he attempted to draw water, he discovered that the well was dry, something that had never happened before. However, it was only dry when he tried to obtain water. A little old man seated by the well informed him that he was extremely annoyed by the destruction of the fairy ring and ordered its immediate restoration. As soon as the farmer replaced the missing turf, the water started flowing freely again.