St Michael’s Well

They call me Arnie in holy well circles … 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YEG9DgRHhA

Under instructions from freespiral that May Day is traditionally a day for visiting a holy well I returned to my hunt for St Michael’s Well … https://www.blipfoto.com/entry/3082406645368620755 after a quick visit to the garden centre.

An interesting area … as I descended into the gorge it was like slipping through into the liminal zone. The orange tip butterflies lured me on and raised my hopes. After some time of searching though I was starting to lose hope when I suddenly stumbled on a structure but  it didn’t fit the bill. It was dry and not what I been led to expect from descriptions. I stumbled in deep cattle hooved and rutted boggy bits, scrambled up loose crumbly rock, became entangled in the briar minefield, drifted through profusions of orchids, wood anemones and primroses, slid on the slippiest rocks I’ve ever encountered, twisted a knee, got a soaking in the beck and then came to a clearing and there it was …
https://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=57054
There is some uncertainty and I must have passed the other well on the other side on my previous attempt.
Not much known about it that I can find but the area was used by the Romans to quarry stone for the wall just north of here. The nearest church at Cumdivock is St.John’s,19th century, and seems to be unrelated.
However, nearby cottages are called Holywell Cottages and, although no one seems to have noted it, there is a farm nearby called Kirkstead.
Absolutely knackered now …and I thought I’d gone via the easy access route this time! It’s been said before, but the way of the well hunter rarely runs smooth.