Virtuous Well

Finished off processing the last few photos from Caldey this morning and sent them off to the magazine editor for selection. Next stop several hundred shots from Casablanca etc from our cruise in April....

This afternoon we wandered off to Trellech, to visit the Virtuous Well and pay our respects. Also known as St Anne’s Well, it's a Holy Well/Spring at the historical village of Trellech in Monmouthshire. There's a stone surround offering places for visitors to leave votive offerings - although there were several colourful ribbons tied to the overhanging branches - and the stone seats would also have been welcomed by travellers in the 18th and 19th centuries, when the water was considered especially beneficial in the treatment of eye ailments and for treating ‘complaints peculiar to women’.

A lovely, warm, sunny day for the visit and we took our time at the well. The flagstones sort of "float", so more than once my foot slipped into the waters around the edge.

We also visited the standing stones nearby, Harolds Stones, after which the settlement seems to have been named [Tre - three Llech - Stone slabs, flagstones]. Reading about the local folklore there was a reference to an underwater course connecting the stones to the Well. As we walked the fields leading to the well there was certainly a sunken area emblazoned with creeping buttercups, which seemed to be flowing between the stones and the nearby car park in a sunken course of damp land.

A brief excursion around the old motte and bailey fort led to St Nicholas church, with the most impressive crucifix I have ever seen. It looks like it was made from beached flotsam and jetsam, and I thought it beautiful. A meditation in the church completed our sightseeing and our visit was completed with a quick visit to the Lion Inn for a drink before heading home.