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[wells] |
I knew that there was a well in the Anglican shrine at Walsingham. This isn't particularly unusual: for a priory or abbey a ready source of water was a must, but in places like Winchester and Glastonbury the religious building appears to have been deliberately sited in relation to a well that's possibly of an earlier date.
The well was rediscovered when the shrine was rebuilt in 1931, but the stonework is probably eleventh century. As with many wells, there are miracle tales attached to it: water is commonly associated with healing, but what's unusual in this case is that the stories are all relatively modern – the well is an integral part of the shrine. The well is below the current ground level, in an alcove. At first sight the structure seems odd, but of course there's a reason.
Although the well is generally kept locked, there are large jugs of well-water available at all times. If you want to take some away, the shrine shop in Common Place has special, quite classy bottles for sale to fill from the jugs.
Until the day before we visited I wasn't aware that the well at Walsingham is the focus of a daily service at 2:30. It seemed natural to be there for what's known as "Sprinkling". When we attended, there was a very large school party at the shrine, so the service was aimed at "older children" (I was impressed by the demeanour of said school party – if all groups behaved like that, I wouldn't breathe a heavy sigh every time a complete coach on my peak hour commuter train is block booked.)
On the left are people queueing to go down to the well. Those who don't want to go down are invited to watch, and the shrine seems to welcome photography, but the actual sprinkling ceremony seemed a quintessential private moment and I preferred not to intrude.
Starting with explanations and prayers in the nave, everyone processes to the well, and then individually walks down the steps. One is then offered the water in three ways – to drink from a silver ladle, symbolising body; as the sign of the cross, symbolising mind; and poured into open hands, symbolising spirit. At this point the function of the slatted wooden floor becomes obvious – the water from the open hands trickles away back to earth. When everyone has finished, the service ends with closing prayers in the Holy House.
It was extremely moving. The service does a very good job of generating the same sense of awe that must have been present when wells such as the one ate Cerne Abbas cured ailments simply because they were the only source of clean water. No wonder that, as the priest said when explaining about petitions, "things happen". I came to Walsingham to compare it with Mechelen and the atmosphere is indeed very similar. Now I find myself wanting to go back to Brittany to see whether the symbology is similar where a quot;Pardon" is centred around a holy well.