Ritual site - holy well

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated on a level, low-lying landscape with the E-W Bridgetown river c. 130m to the N. It is marked only on the 1940 ed. of the OS 6-inch map where it is described in gothic lettering as the site of St. David’s Well. It is not visible at ground level in rough pasture. The well is known locally, but while it was regarded as a holy well in 1940 (OSFM) although it had been closed up even then, it is not regarded as a holy well now. St. David was a 6th-century bishop of Menevia in south Wales and is renowned for his preaching against the Pelagian heresy. He presided over Church councils at Brefi and Caerleon and is the patron saint of Wales (Butler 1883, 41). While his feast day is on 1 March, the date of a pattern, if any was ever held at this site, is not known. The site of Bridgetown castle (WX047-026----) is c. 25m to the NW. Archaeological testing (06E0014) in the vicinity failed to produce any related material (McLoughlin 2009).

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of upload: 14 October, 2013

References

McLoughlin, C. 2009 Bridgetown, Medieval. In I. Bennett (ed.), Excavations 2006: summary accounts of archaeological excavations in Ireland, 552, No. 2091. Dublin. Wordwell.

Butler, Rev. A. 1883 Lives of the Saints. J. S. Virtue London and Dublin, Reprint (1990) London. Studio Editions (Abridged)

OSFM. Ordnance Survey Field Memorandums. A collection of survey notes and descriptions of monuments on pro-forma sheets compiled by Ordnance Survey field staff in the course of the 1:2500 map revision of various counties, mostly dating from 1931 – early 1960s. These unpublished manuscripts form part of the records of the Archaeological Survey of Ireland, National Monuments Service Archive, Dublin.