St Euny's Well, Carn Brea, Redruth

Tourists and pilgrims pass this holy well on the way to an Iron Age village‍

Highlights

• Two holy wells and a sacred pool

St Euny has two holy wells near the Carn Euny Iron Age village, with a sacred pool alongside. Situated beside a busy footpath, they are too public (and shallow) for any devotional bathing these days, but quiet enough to reflect on the life of another mysterious Cornish saint.

Remains of a well chapel are said to lie nearby, but other than a few boulders lying under the trees, there is nothing evident.

The largest well has stone steps leading down to a chamber, with a granite capstone covering the back half of the pool. I could only dip the tips of my fingers in the shallow water, but it looks as if it could once have been filled deeper and used for immersion/bathing.

The other well’s structure seems designed to keep people away from the water entirely. It has no steps, but is surrounded by four large, rounded boulders that make access to the water difficult. Some guides say the healing well is the one with the steps, which makes sense as it is much easier to enter.

The sacred pool is a few steps downstream from the healing well. It is shaded by trees and decorated by numerous rag clouties. For some reason, only this of the three water sources attracts the cloth strips.

St Euny was active in Cornwall around the time of his sister, St Ia. The Oxford Dictionary of Saints says the well was still considered healing in the 18th and 19th centuries. The nearby Carn Euny village, an Iron Age settlement, was abandoned sometime in the 5th century, almost certainly before the holy wells were put to Christian use.

Directions‍

Footpath starts at: Carn Euny Iron Age Settlement, Brane, Sancreed TR20 8QS

W3W: truffles.nibbled.unveils

GPS: 50.1031N 5.6376W‍

The well is harder to find than most. First, there is a mile-long drive to Carn Euny Iron Age village, along a single-track road. The walk from the car park to Carn Euny takes 5–10 minutes, along a signed footpath. As you enter the site, look across to the far side where there is a hedge along the boundary. The path starts in the middle of this hedge, by an information panel.

A narrow track through trees goes past a rock well on the right after just 20m. Ignore it, despite what some guides say. Keep walking straight ahead, past a stone house with a roof sloping almost to the ground. The path becomes a vehicle track here. Continue to the T-junction at the end, where there is a stone house in front of you. Turn right, uphill, and after 20m turn left where the main track bends right. The holy wells are along this footpath after less than 5 minutes’ walk.