It is a beautiful walk from the centre of Perranwell village to the parish church and ancient St Piran’s Well. A quiet lane lined with wildflowers winds up over the hill and makes it’s way through farmland.
The historic church is well worth a visit itself but follow the lane a little further and a footpath drops down towards the creek. This tight tunnel of a track, with a turn-stile at the top, leads to St Pirans Well.
Well of a saint
Tucked away in a little dell, St Piran’s is a delight. Lush, surrounded by ferns and Jurassic looking gunnera plants it is a shady, secluded spot.
Wells such as this one have been sacred places since the earliest times and it is highly likely that this spring was an important place before the arrival of Christianity.
The well’s actual connection with the patron saint of Cornwall is also unclear. Saint Piran arrived in Cornwall in about 460AD, floating on a millstone. He was supposed to have preformed various miracles and showed the Cornish how to mine tin. He has given his name to several Cornish villages including Perranzabuloe, Perranuthnoe, Perranporth and Perranwell. Thomas Tonkin, the 17th historian, noted that St Agnes landed at ‘St Piran Arworthall’ on her return from Rome. But how the saint’s name became connected to the ancient manor of Arworthal is a bit of a mystery. To this day, however, the church still uses the water from the well for its baptisms.
Home of a trout
A small book containing the memories of Ellen Crewdson, who grew up in Perranarworthal, was published in the 1920s. Crewdson describes in delightful detail her childhood in the 1860s, the village and it’s many characters. It’s a fascinating insight and she also relates a strange tale about the well.
In those days there were no reservoirs or waterworks. Nanny Hoskin used to bring the water for drinking up to the house from a cave like well called the Adit. Dark, clear water was there, fine ferns draperied the roof. A beautiful large spotted trout for years was the master of this place. One of our greatest childhood griefs was that at last he disappeared. Caught I am afraid by some unprincipled Fisher. It was quite tame and used to come out of the depths of the Adit and look at us, gently moving his fins as if he breathed through them.
The purity of the well’s water was once common knowledge. I know that the farm where I grew up was still using it as ‘table water’ in my grandmother’s time.
St Katharine’s Well
The diarist Rev. Francis Kilvert spent time the village in 1870. He stayed in Tullimar house in Perranarworthal and besides visited many of Cornwall’s popular tourist attractions he also walked to St Pirans Well. He knew it by another name however.
We finished breakfast comfortably and then [went] down to see the holy Well in a little garden craft by the Falmouth Lodge. It is a dropping well and the clear cold water drips over from the arched roof of a little cave cut in the rockside into a small basin scooped in the living rock. The little cave is dark and cool overhung with briars from the bank above, the ferns grow about it and dip their fronds almost into the water. The brimming basin overflows softly and dribbling into the grass and the rocky brim is worn smooth by the resting of buckets when people come to the well to draw. It is a very beautiful well and reminds one of a holy water niche and basin. It is called St Katharine’s Well or the Holy Well. The water is celebrated for its sweetness coldness and purity, to which I can bear witness having drank three draughts of it.
Curative Waters
The St Piran’s Well water was once prized for its medicinal qualities. A small plaque, which was attached to the granite wall of the well to mark the Millennium, states that the water is rich in iron salts. It is thought to be particularly good for returning health to ‘sickly children’. The historian Davies Gilbert wrote 1838 that the spring was ‘much frequented of late’ by this seeking a cure. In addition, during my own life time I have known local gypsies who would come to collect water weekly from the well. They told me it was the best water in Cornwall!
Walking to the Well
From the train station, take the footpath leading to the centre of Perranwell. At the village stores take the footpath, signposted on the left of the shop. Follow this path over two stiles and through a wooden gate to the church. Then walk past the church and follow the lane around to the right. There is another footpath on the left with a turn-stile. This narrow path goes down hill and comes out beside some houses. On the left you will see a small garden gate and a sign pointing to the well.
