Jackyt

By Jackyt

St Cuthbert's cave and Holy well

My sister and I visited Holywell bay today, neither of us had ever seen the Holy well. We arrived about a hour before low tide and made our way along the beach.
We found the cave and were blown away by the colours and formations in the cave.
The fresh water within the cave is supposed to have healing properties, having been touched by St Cuthbert's bones.
The formations result from a rare (in Cornwall) limestone deposit in the roof of the cave. Slightly acidic rainwater percolates through this limestone, dissolving calcite and becoming enriched in calcium bicarbonate. When the water drips down the rocks, the process is reversed and calcite precipitates,
We then had a picnic lunch in the sand dunes and explored the caves on the other side of the bay before leaving.
The sun shone but there was a very brisk wind and we came away feeling sand blasted

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