Many thanks to Chris Bonney for words and Richard Downing for photos. Ed
Last Saturday, a sundry band of well wishers (pun intended) got together at Hillside to repossess the ancient pagan and latterly Holy Well of St. Boniface.
In times gone by it was an annual tradition to visit and celebrate the well, but more recently it’s location has been lost.
Spring relocated
It was documented by a survey in the 1962 but again was lost until Rob Wilson, Richard Downing and David White, who are all local residents took the trouble to definitively locate the spring, which is high up on St. Boniface Down.
The well was once considered very significant and important to the area, attracting pilgrims from afar and we are told that naval ships up until the 20th century would dip their flag in salute as they passed by.
It was traditional to visit the well wearing garlands of flowers and bright holiday clothes. Apparently if you made it all the way up to the top without looking back you could make a wish that would come true.
Poetry and biscuits
Before setting off, Rob Wilson read us a poem that he had written for the occasion and having been amply plied with coffee and biscuits by our hosts, Gert and Anna, our band of well possessors made our way up from Hillside.
Rob headed the procession dressed in a bumble bee pullover and a tall hat and played a traditional folk tune on his accordion as we walked. We exited from the woods into Bishops Acre to a point at the foot of the slope below the well, to hear both Christian and Pagan blessings. From there we navigated up a steep and treacherous accent.
Music along the way
Rob continued to play unabated all the while – no mean feat, until our band arrived at a spot just above the well where the remnants of a second world war gun emplacement is located.
Here the more timid members of the party, including myself, made a discreet retreat – my excuse being that I was poorly shod for the occasion – while the hardier souls made the final and steepest push to St. Boniface Well.
The town councillors present muttered together about putting a commemorative stone near the well. When the stone is placed, we will not look back as we climb to the well and will make a wish on behalf of the town.
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Image: © Used with the kind permission of Richard Downing
