Madron Well and Madron Well Chapel

Madron Well and Madron Well Chapel
	Madron well
	Shown within Southwest Cornwall
Location	Cornwall
Coordinates	50°08′23″N5°34′33″W / 50.13985°N 5.57587°W
Type	Chapel and well
History
Periods	Medieval
Site notes
Ownership	Bolitho Estate
Public access	Yes

Last updated June 09, 2024

Madron Well and Madron Well Chapel is a scheduled Ancient Monument in the civil parish of Madron, Cornwall, UK.

Madron Well Chapel (grid reference SW446328 ) is the ruin of a 12th- or 14th-century chapel dedicated to St Madern and occupies the site of a much older Celtic structure. Madron Well (grid reference SW445327 ) is a spring 200 m to the west. Clouties, or offerings, can be seen on the path to the chapel, near the holy well.

Location

The chapel and well are 1 mile (1,600 m) to the north-west of the village of Madron and is within the civil parish of the same name.^[1] The Bolitho estate owns the monument.^[2]

History and description

In 1846 the building's measurements were published in The Archaeological Journal and the roofless building's internal measurements were 20 feet (6.1 m) long by 10 feet (3.0 m) wide, and the walls are 2 feet (61 cm) thick and 8 or 9 feet (2.4 or 2.7 m) high.^[3] Measurements published in The Cornishman newspaper of 15 May 1879 gave the external length as 25 feet by 16 feet breadth (7.6 × 4.9 m) and the walls 2 feet (61 cm) thick. The granite altar stone is 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) long, 2 ft 7 in (79 cm) wide and stands 2 ft 10 in (86 cm) above the floor. There is a depression of 9 by 8 inches (23 by 20 centimetres) to contain the portable mensa for the celebration of mass.^[4] The altar appears to date from the first half or middle of the 12th century as do the stone seats and chancel. There is no evidence for any part of the structure being older but the existing structure does suggest an early Christian foundation.^[3]

The building was partially destroyed by Major Ceely, during the English Civil War.^[4] At the 1886 annual meeting of the Penzance Natural History and Antiquarian Society, concern was shown for the removal of stone from here, as well as Kenidjack Castle and Chûn Castle.^[5]

A stream flows through the building and until the 18th century the well and stream were the only source of water for Madron and Penzance. The stream's course dictates the unusual placing of the entrance which is on the north wall instead of the normal, west of centre.^[6]

The chapel was first scheduled on 30 November 1926; it is currently scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 and is considered to be of national importance.^[7]

It is a classic site for the nationally scarce Cornish moneywort ( Sibthorpia europaea ), first reported here in 1824.^[8]^[9] The Penzance Natural History and Antiquarian Society visited the well and chapel in August 1888 and the members were shown two insectiferous plants; pale butterwort ( Pinguicula lusitanica ) and round-leaved sundew ( Drosera rotundifolia ). The members were told plants had been sent to Charles Darwin from this site.^[10]

Well

The nearby Madron Well, which is now concealed in shrubs and undergrowth, is an example of a Cornish Celtic sacred site and is a ground level natural spring.^[6] The well is said to have healing properties and a 17th-century written account tells how, before 1641, John Trelille, a poor cripple, was cured here when he bathed in the water, then slept on a grassy hillock. The hillock was remade every year and was called St Maderne's bed.^[6] An old May Day tradition, which was still being observed in 1879, was for many young folks (mainly girls) to head from Penzance before sunrise, to perform a ceremony, to learn the number of years they have to wait before they get married. Two grass stems or straw, each about an inch long were fastened together with a pin and dropped into the water. Any rising bubbles denote the number of years before they get married. The ceremony was no longer held on May Day, but on a Sunday, because the girls work during the week.^[11] A tradition at this site persists to this day whereby people attach pieces of rag (clouties) to the nearby bushes as a symbol of appeasement to the spirits within the well (see also Clootie well ) – according to a contemporary report in The Cornishman newspaper that tradition was no longer carried out in 1879.^[11]

In 1882 there was a proposal to pipe water from the well to Madron Churchtown at a cost of £150, Mr T S Bolitho offered to contribute to the cost.^[12]

Related Research Articles

Chûn Castle is a large Iron Age hillfort (ringfort) near Penzance in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The fort was built about 2,500 years ago, and fell into disuse until the early centuries AD when it was possibly re-occupied to protect the nearby tin mines. It stands beside a prehistoric trackway that was formerly known as the Old St Ives Road and the Tinners’ Way. The name Chûn derives from Cornish: Chi an Woon. The area is now sometimes known as Chûn Downs. Nearby is Chûn Quoit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penzance</span> Town in Cornwall, England

Penzance is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is about 64 miles (103 km) west-southwest of Plymouth and 255 miles (410 km) west-southwest of London. Situated in the shelter of Mount's Bay, the town faces south-east onto the English Channel, is bordered to the west by the fishing port of Newlyn, to the north by the civil parish of Madron and to the east by the civil parish of Ludgvan. The civil parish includes the town of Newlyn and the villages of Mousehole, Paul, Gulval, and Heamoor. Granted various royal charters from 1512 onwards and incorporated on 9 May 1614, it has a population of 21,200.

Towednack is a churchtown and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The parish is bounded by those of Zennor in the west, Gulval in the south, Ludgvan in the west and south, and St Ives and the Atlantic Ocean in the north and east. The church is about two miles (3 km) from St Ives and six miles (10 km) from Penzance.

Madron is a civil parish and village in west Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Madron is named after Saint Madern's Church. Its annual Trafalgar Service commemorating the death of Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson was started on 27 October 1946, following a local tradition that his death was first announced on British soil in the Union Hotel, Penzance.

St Levan is a civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The parish is rural with a number of hamlets of varying size with Porthcurno probably being the best known. Hewn out of the cliff at Minack Point and overlooking the sea to the Logan Rock is the open-air Minack Theatre, the inspiration of Rowena Cade in the early 1930s.

Sancreed is a village and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, approximately three miles (5 km) west of Penzance.

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Gulval is a village in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Although historically a parish in its own right, Gulval was incorporated into the parishes of Ludgvan, Madron and Penzance in 1934, and is now considered to be a suburb of Penzance. Gulval still maintains its status as an ecclesiastical parish and parts of the village church date back to the 12th-century. Together with Heamoor, Gulval still retains its status as an electoral ward. The ward population at the 2011 census was 4,185.

Heamoor is a village in Cornwall, England. Formerly a secondary settlement of the village of Madron, Heamoor is situated approximately one-and-a half kilometres northwest of Penzance town centre.

Chyandour is a small settlement within the town of Penzance in west Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is on the north-east edge of the town straddling the A30 trunk road. The Chyandour Brook rises near Carfury and flows into Mount's Bay at Chyandour. Before 1934 Chyandour was in the parish of Madron and was the site of a large tin smelting works.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wherrytown</span>

Wherrytown is a small settlement in west Cornwall, United Kingdom, on the east side of the Laregan River, between Newlyn and Penzance. It was formerly in the civil parish of Madron and was incorporated into the Borough of Penzance in 1934 when local government was reorganised.

Tregavarah is a small hamlet in the parish of Madron in west Cornwall, England, U K. It is approximately 2 miles west of Penzance. Tregavarah Downs is nearby.

Gurnard's Head is a prominent headland on the north coast of the Penwith peninsula in Cornwall, England. The name is supposed to reflect that the rocky peninsula resembles the head of the gurnard fish.

William Copeland Borlase was a British antiquarian and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1880 until 1887 when he was ruined by bankruptcy and scandal.

St Maddern's Church is the parish church of Madron, near Penzance in Cornwall and was once the mother church of Morvah and Penzance. It is a Grade I listed building.

Penzance Natural History and Antiquarian Society (1839–1961) was a local society founded in Penzance in Cornwall, England, UK, whose aim was "the cultivation of the science of Natural History, and for the investigation of the Antiquities referring to the early inhabitants."

Sir Edward Hoblyn Warren Bolitho was a Cornish landowner and politician. He was Chairman of Cornwall County Council from 1941 to 1952 and Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall from 1936 to 1962, for some years serving in both roles simultaneously.

Lanyon is a hamlet in the parish of Madron in Cornwall, England, UK. It is situated on a north facing slope on the Madron to Morvah road. The nearest town is Penzance 4 miles (6.4 km) to the south.

St Mary's Church, Penzance is a Grade II* listed parish church in the Church of England in Penzance, Cornwall.

The Egyptian House is a grade I listed building in the Cornish town of Penzance. It is built in the style of Egyptian Revival architecture and has been in the ownership of the Landmark Trust since the 1970s. The current building dates from 1835 to 1836.

References

↑ OS Explorer Map 102. Land's End. Southampton: Ordnance Survey. 2005. ISBN 0 319 23703 6.
↑ Preston-Jones, Ann. "Scheduled Monument Management Project, 1999-2000". Cornwall Archaeology. 39: 210.
1 2 Historic England. "Madron Well and Madron Well Chapel (424435)". Research records (formerly PastScape). Retrieved 10 January 2016.
1 2 "Madron Well". The Cornishman. No. 44. 15 May 1879. p. 5.
↑ Bolitho, W (18 November 1886). "The Voluntary Institutions of Penzance: or Self-help Rather Than State Direction". The Cornishman. No. 436. p. 4.
1 2 3 Charles Thomas (1974). Christian Sites in West Penwith Excursion Guide. Redruth: Institute of Cornish Studies. pp. 3–7. ISBN 0 903686 04 X.
↑ Historic England. "Medieval chapel known as Madron Well Chapel associated with Madron holy well (1006728)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 10 January 2016.
↑ Paris, J A (1824). Guide to Mount's Bay and Land's End (Second ed.). ISBN 978-1507837238.
↑ French, Colin N; Murphy, Rosaline J; Atkinson, Mary G C (1999). Flora of Cornwall. Camborne: Wheal Seton Press. ISBN 978-0953461301.
↑ Anon (9 August 1888). "The plants that feed on insects, &c., and are found near Madron-Well". The Cornishman. No. 527. p. 3.
1 2 "Madron Well. May Day There". The Cornishman. No. 43. 8 May 1879. p. 4.
↑ "Churchtown-Stream". The Cornishman. No. 216. 31 August 1882. p. 5.

External links

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[1] OS Explorer Map 102. Land's End. Southampton: Ordnance Survey. 2005. ISBN 0 319 23703 6.

[2] Preston-Jones, Ann. "Scheduled Monument Management Project, 1999-2000". Cornwall Archaeology. 39: 210.

[pastscape-3] 1 2 Historic England. "Madron Well and Madron Well Chapel (424435)". Research records (formerly PastScape). Retrieved 10 January 2016.

[cman44-4] 1 2 "Madron Well". The Cornishman. No. 44. 15 May 1879. p. 5.

[5] Bolitho, W (18 November 1886). "The Voluntary Institutions of Penzance: or Self-help Rather Than State Direction". The Cornishman. No. 436. p. 4.

[ics-6] 1 2 3 Charles Thomas (1974). Christian Sites in West Penwith Excursion Guide. Redruth: Institute of Cornish Studies. pp. 3–7. ISBN 0 903686 04 X.

[7] Historic England. "Medieval chapel known as Madron Well Chapel associated with Madron holy well (1006728)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 10 January 2016.

[8] Paris, J A (1824). Guide to Mount's Bay and Land's End (Second ed.). ISBN 978-1507837238.

[9] French, Colin N; Murphy, Rosaline J; Atkinson, Mary G C (1999). Flora of Cornwall. Camborne: Wheal Seton Press. ISBN 978-0953461301.

[10] Anon (9 August 1888). "The plants that feed on insects, &c., and are found near Madron-Well". The Cornishman. No. 527. p. 3.

[cman43-11] 1 2 "Madron Well. May Day There". The Cornishman. No. 43. 8 May 1879. p. 4.

[12] "Churchtown-Stream". The Cornishman. No. 216. 31 August 1882. p. 5.

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