I was thrilled to be able to spend this year’s Summer Solstice with my son in Somerset, UK. First we attended the joyful celebrations in the small village of Stanton Drew, renowned for its magnificent stone circles. The festivities begun on Solstice Eve with three sides of Morris dancers, who eventually led us to the stone circle to watch the sun set, which it did in spectacular style.
Next morning we gathered at the eye-watering hour of 4am. The ceremony was an intimate, joyful affair lead by the chief druid and the Oak King, focusing on love and peace, and the appreciation and care of the world around us. The sun when she arose was magnificent.
We continued to Glastonbury in pursuit of more vibes and holy wells.
The Chalice Well, The Red Spring, Glastonbury
First stop the Chalice Well. According to their website, this is the oldest holy well in Britain and archaeological evidence suggests it has been the focus of worship long before the Christian era. A legend describes how Joseph of Arimathea came to Britain, bringing with him a chalice containing the blood shed by Christ at His crucifixion. The chalice was buried near the spring causing the water to turn a deep reddish colour, hence it’s other names: The Red Spring or Blood Spring. It is a chalybeate spring, rich in iron with a strong rusty taste. The water comes up deep from underground, producing 100,000 litres a day and flows into two shallow pools, their shape echoing the Vesica Piscis, an ancient symbol of sacred geometry representing heaven and earth, the divine feminine and divine masculine.
Most people head to the Chalice Well itself, its deep shaft possibly dating to the 12C. The top of the heavy wooden lid protecting the well is also beautifully decorated with the Vesica Piscis symbol. This was designed by Frederick Bligh Bond and was the first peacetime commission for a company that previously manufactured armaments during the First World War. Today the well was especially beautifully decorated with fresh flowers in honour of the Solstice. This peaceful area is for contemplation and meditation only.
The spring water can accessed at another outlet via a lion’s head and this can be collected, drunk or splashed on the body. The water is cold, a constant 11c, heady and strong with a metallic taste very much like blood. It has a powerful kick I find!
There is also a large rectangular pool where pilgrims can bathe their feet in a respectful yet sociable way. The water here was astonishingly cold but perfect for the sweltering day. I had some interesting chats whilst resting here, first with a Liverpudlian who trying to work out what it all meant, and then with a white witch from Dumfriesshire who was following her own path, believing she was related to Mary Magdalen.
The Gardens, with their ancient and healing waters imbued in legend, live up to their intentions of providing a living peaceful sanctuary, available to everyone.
There is a small fee to enter the Gardens but the water is available free from a tap outside the walls and there is usually a queue of people waiting to collect it.
The White Spring, Glastonbury
Also nestling under the Tor and just across the road from the Red Spring is is the White Spring, the Ying to the Red Spring’s Yang, a place with a very different but equally powerful vibe. Again water can be collected from an outside tap and again there are usually queues of people waiting to access it.
Today there was a carnival atmosphere with drumming, chanting, naked toddlers being immersed in its cool waters and outbreaks of dancing.
The White Spring is a calcite spring, rich in calcium, with a smooth silky taste – also delivering a pretty intense kick. During the Victorian period a stone pumphouse was built to contain the water but was later abandoned as pipes were getting clogged up due to the high mineral content. The building lay derelict for many years but was eventually purchased and restored by the White Spring Trust. It is an extraordinary space, subterranean, dark and mysterious, lit only by candles – photography strictly prohibited. There are two main pools, one large and one small where pilgrims are free to immerse themselves, naked if preferred. Around the pools are womb-like shrines: one to Brigid, another to Our lady of Avalon, the green man evident at another. There is chanting, humming, praying, an occasional shout, maybe some pipes. A very different feel to its sister the Red Spring, but an extraordinary place, positively vibrating with something intense and primeval. We splashed the water on us, sat in one of the shrines, took in the atmosphere and eventually emerged blinking into the searing sunlight.
Vibed up we then went on our own peregrination, in search of a strangely forgotten Glastonbury well dedicated to St Edmund.
St Edmund’s Well, Glastonbury
It was getting hot by now as we carried on in search of this little visited well. My son had been before so was hopeful he could remember the way. He could. We went through estates on the edge of town and then dropped down into shoulder high undergrowth, heading steeply down St Edmund’s Hill, rich in nettles and brambles and butterflies.
A bit more clearing, a turn left and a stream was revealed, a makeshift bridge across it.
This turned out to be the outflow from the well, now revealed, tucked into a bank and sheltered by a huge sycamore tree, enfolded in rich greens.
The wellhouse is handsome, stone-built with a decorative gabled roof. A small curved doorway leads within.
In the niche over the doorway is a rathe kitsch image of a goddess fondling a dragon.
Remains of metal hinges suggest that the entrance was originally gated. With a little difficulty it’s possible to climb inside the chamber which proves to be surprisingly long and well constructed out of stone with brick embellishments. There are two inner chambers the first holding a long rectangular basin, the water overflowing. Another triangular shaped arched doorway leads into a smaller chamber, a stone channel allowing the water to flow out smoothly. Chunky flat stones line the sides of the chamber. It was dark and we needed the torches on our phones to see.
The water is cold, incredibly clear and abundant. You can hear it gurgling from within, a soothing sound. It trickles out from the well, disappearing into the undergrowth.
The attendant sycamore tree is huge, its branches making a green canopy over the well. A fresh offering of plump strawberries nestled in its roots along with an eclectic gathering of other gifts.
A beautiful site but trying to find out more about it has thrown me into confusion! It’s very hard to find any actual facts and those that appear seem to contradict each other. Some people suggest that this well is an ancient one and lies on an old pilgrimage path heading into Glastonbury. Others believe that it may be old but was a community well for the collection of domestic water. The Friends of St Edmund’s Well told me that this is St Edmund’s Spring and that it had once had its name engraved over the entrance, presumably in the niche. The wellhouse was built in the Victorian period after the original had been destroyed by an earthquake. They also told me that the original St Edmund’s Well lies in some ancient apple orchards recently purchased by the group, currently inaccessible due to the undergrowth.
And which St Edmund is the patron is also open to much debate. St Edmund the Martyr (d869, he of Bury St Edmunds and original patron saint of England) is a contender as are Saxon kings Edmund 1 (d946) and Edmund 11 (d1016), both buried in Glastonbury Abbey.
The well is clearly still visited and active with evidence that it is loved and used for ritual purposes. If anyone has any further information I would love to recieve it.
We did have to ascend the Tor of course, around 33c at this point!
But worth it. What a day.
With thanks to the Friends of St Edmund’s Well for their information.
Wow. What a day. That Edmund’s well is gorgeous, enhanced my its mysterious history.