Information Raby Mooar Well, Patrick. At Rheaby-mooar there are the remains of a chapel, walls two feet high; burial ground bout quarter of an acre in extent. The ancient baptismal font — a rude granite block — lies there, about three yards distant from a well in the neighbourhood of the chapel. Reference Vestigia […]
Information Chester Farm Well, Kirk Michael. Catalogue entry found on imuseum dated June, 1951 with photograph. No further information. Reference imuseum Location It is not known if the well still exists. There is a well at the farm shown on the OS. Access Private land. Landlowner’s permission required. Links NLS OS 6″ Sheet VII Surveyed: […]
Information Well, Ballacowle Beg, Bride. An attempt has been made to encompass all aspects of life in the Island but one may be led to think that the old body of tradition is more truly found in the cottages and small farms of the countryside. English ways inevitably infiltrated into the towns and the large […]
Information Chibber Vaarley, on Ballakelly, Andreas. Well of the Robbers. Heard locally. W Walter Gill suggests Varlee was probably the nickname of a family which used the well. Reference The Journal of the Manx Museum, Vol V, June 1944, No.70, p.135 Location It is not known if the well still exists. There is no well […]
Information Chibber Folta or Volta, Port Erin. The name of the place from Maddrell’s house to the Eagle Hotel was Magher Folta. The well in it is Chibbyr Folta, and the Lower Folta is towards the station. At Creg Folta is the Gutter Folta. This name belongs to the land bordering the Spaldrick road as […]
Information Yon’s Well, Port Erin. John’s Well. Per Roeder, the well is named after one John Maddrell. Reference W Walter Gill, A Manx Scrapbook, 1929 Location South of the Darragh and east of Ballahowe. See link below as it is shown on the OS. It is not known if the well still exists. Access Unknown. Links […]
Information Chibber Barraharstal, at the South end of Traie Harstal, Big Bay, Patrick. Situated at the top of the barry or inlet for boats to cut through the rocks. Remote from all dwellings, it is used exclusively by fishermen. Harstal is the “Fheustal” of the Ordnance map. Reference W Walter Gill, A Manx Scrapbook, 1929 […]
Information Chibbyr y Chiarn, Glen Dhoo, Ballaugh and/or Slieau Curn. Lord’s Well. Chibber y Chiarn, at the head of Glen Dhoo, Ballaugh. A native of the Glen, aged 84, recalls a custom of visiting this well on Old Midsummer Day, casting money into it, and “putting pieces of patchwork round it.” The water was good […]
Information Brick-lined well Hanover Street/Lord Street, Douglas. Possibly an 18th century well. Mr J. C. Bregazzi, Borough Surveyor, recorded the discovery of a brick-lined well in March 1953 in the course of excavating for a new trunk sewer between Hanover Street and Lord Street close to the Wheatsheaf Inn. His record includes a sketch showing […]
In 1902, and under order of the Local Government Board, a public inquiry was held regarding the provision for the disposal of sewage and the supply of water for domestic purposes within the village district of Laxey. Below is an extract of a newspaper article of the proceedings which includes discussion on some of the […]
Information Chibbyr Aspick, Peel Castle, Peel. Bishop’s Well. Improvements lately made at Peel Castle, furnished by an esteemed correspondent who takes a loving interest in the work of its preservation. The Preservation Committee has been actively employed during the present summer in extending the explorations and furthering the improvemetns at Peel Castle. They commenced operations […]
Information Chibbyr Vael, Kirk Michael. St Michae’s Well. Situated in the angle formed by the junction of the Awin Dhoo with the Sulby river, near Druidale farm, Michael. Reference 1) W Walter Gill, A Manx Scrapbook, 1929 2) Note: In relation to Carn Vael (Michael’s Cairn), Gill also states in the same publication, ‘The well […]
Information The Monks’ Well, Silverdale Glen, Ballasalla From reading some early 20th century newspaper articles, it appears the well had fallen into disuse and must have been in a poor state, so much so it is reported as being ‘discovered’ in 1902. Today it is in much better shape and is regularly visited. […]
Information Billy McLean’s Well, rear of Waggett’s Yard, Church Street, Ramsey. Discovery in King Street – Well Uncovered in Excavations During excavations in the King Street area last Friday, workmen came across an old well and attached to it was a wooden pipe about 12 ft. in length which possibly dates back 200 years. The […]
Information Wishing Well, Loch Promenade, Douglas. Following the successful installation of a Wishing Well by the Rotary Club of Perth in Australia, where the coins dropped into the well were collected and the funds distributed between local charities, in 1955 the Rotary Club of Douglas adopted the ‘Wishing Well’ idea as its effort to celebrate […]
Chibbyr Pherick, Peel Hill, Patrick. (St Patrick’s Well). The Holy Well is said to be the first well, or water, where the first Christian was baptized in the Island, and was for ages resorted to as a healing well, and latterly it was called the Silver Well on account of the small silver coins that […]
Information Chibbyr Pherick (aka the Big Well), Station Road, Peel. …There used to be another Holy Well at the top of Peel Harbour, near the railway station. It was closed about forty years ago; Mrs. Caley’s house now stands over it. Chibbyr ‘Parick’, Patrick’s Well, was better known as the Big Well. Before the days […]
Information Dub ny Merroo (aka Dub ny Marroo), Bride. Pool of the Dead. Bayr ny Merroo, ‘Road of the Dead,’ passes from the neighbourhood of Shellack Point to Keeill Vreeshey, Kirk Bride. It was the customary route for funerals. On reaching a spot called Dub ny Merroo, on Lamb Hill, the bier was laid down […]
Information Spooyt Phaddy (or Fhaddy), Lonan. Paddy’s Spout. Dated April, 1925, the following, by Rev Canon Quine, is an extract from a report on an archaeological excavation at a tumulus near Chibbyr Pherrick, Lonan: Chibbyr Pherrick means the Well of Patrick. In past generations it was much frequented for cures. It is a perennial spring […]
Information Chibbyr Baltane, Rushen. Lovely video below by Culture Vannin on the rediscovery of Chibbyr Baltane. This important well was visited by our ancestors for healing through the centuries but had disappeared for some years and in this instance, it probably occurred because people no longer visited and tended the well resulting in the tradition […]
Information This sketch is by John Flower (artist of Leicester) 1793-1861, ‘Castletown, Isle of Man, N.D.’ No other information is known. Click on the photograph to see it full size. (text and sketch source: imuseum.im) Contact If you have any information on this well please contact me and quote well record number (200) as this […]
Information There is a photograph on the imuseum dated 1935 titled Andreas village pump and School House. There is also the following text: The village pump was removed by the Highway Board when the road was improved. Location The well no longer exists. Access The well no longer exists. Links NLS OS 6″ Sheet III […]
Information Ballacross Well, Arbory. Ballacross is the name of a farm which took its name from the siting of a cross. On the estate of Ballabeg, in the parish of Malew, is the foundation of a keeill, the interior of which is 21 feet by 12 feet. The entrance, about 2 feet wide, is in […]
Information Chibber Pherick, on Lhergey Grawe, East side of Glen Roy, Lonan. (St) Patrick’s Well. Manx folklore is full of tales of fairies, brownies, and phynodderrees, and the influence these mythical beings exert on ordinary individuals. Those who wish to be specially favoured by the tiny fraternity must strictly conform to certain well-known rules, or […]
Information Chibbyr Drine, Malew. Thorn Tree Well. A spring of fresh water about half a mile North of Langness farmhouse, Malew, on the margin of high-water mark. Its name suggests votive offerings, but I have heard of none. It is certainly not an ordinary domestic well. (text source: W Walter Gill, A Manx Scrapbook (1929) […]
Information Chibbyr Unjin (Ash Tree Well) or Chibbyr Undin (Foundation Well), Grenaby, Malew. It is usually referred to as Chibbyr Unjin. It will be of service if I put on record, for future reference, one or two facts relative to the Keeill and the Chibbyr. According to Mr Kermode’s List of Antiquities, the Keeill, which […]
Information Old Well (?), Tromode, Douglas. This record is sourced from the imuseum in relation to a sketch by John Miller Nicholson in 1867. The text on the sketch has been interpreted as ‘…old well…’ but the writing looks more like ‘…old mill…’. Location Location Unknown. Access Location unknown. Links Sketch on imuseum.im. Contact If […]
Information Ballakinnag Well, Ballaugh. There is a catalogue entry on the imuseum which states Notes on stepped well at Ballakinnag Farm, Ballaugh, collected by M. Quilliam and C. Quilliam. Date(s): February 1954. The record is a two-page document which also mentions a wishing well and a sketch of a well. As the document has not […]
Information Chibbyr Vreeshey, Marown. (St) Bridget’s Well “There was mention of a well, Chibbyr Vreeshey, in the field below, that had an association with the keeill and until the twentieth century used to draw people from all over the Island on account of its healing properties. I found this information from a newspaper article in the […]
Information Glen Crutchery Well, Conchan. “So you have not heard what the Mooayer-ny-Booiagh does?” said the old lady; “then I will tell you. There was a servant girl at Bemahague, and the mistress wanted her to go to Glen Crutchery Well to get a can of water before daylight, and afterwards she was to be […]
Information Chibbyr Vreeshey, Douglas. St Bridget’s Well. Many extraordinary properties were ascribed to the Nunnery Well, dedicated to St. Bridget, but as Waldron (in 1731) says, it was, “of late suited to dry up”. Water was taken from the sacred well for baptismal purposes in connection with the parish church and St Bridget’s Chapel. The […]
Information Chibbyr Karrin, The Corrody. Karrin or (St.) Ciaran’s well. This well adjoins the little church on Corrody farm, which was probably dedicated to a St. Ciaran, of whom there were many. But two ot these saints were more distinguished than the others, St. Ciaran of Clonmacnoise and St. Ciaran of Ossory. It is significant […]
Information Chibbyr Hidee, Castletown, Malew. Tide/Tidal Well. There are 6 surviving wells at Castle Rushen and in the courtyard is Chibbyr Hidee, said to rise and fall with the tide, like that of Ballig Well in Conchan. A magical cause seems to have been attributed (to its rising and falling), but since the well – […]
In the rugged matrix of George Quarrie’s uncollected verses lurks a rite used in connection with a Well on Kionlough. “A young man has been found lying unconscious, and cannot be restored to his senses. At last old Betty from Shellag climbs to the Clagh Vedn (a white boulder on a tumulus near the sea-cliffs), […]
Information Chibbyr Feeayr, Cronkbreck, Grenaby, Malew. Cold Well. It stands by the side of the lane leading to the deserted farmhouse, and was roofed and walled in solid masonry by Preston of Cronkbreck (alias Knockbreck) about sixty years ago. Though it is not reputed to possess medicinal or magical virtues, a Green Lady has been […]
Information The Fairy Well, Thalloo Holt, Slieu Rea(?), Lonan. Two spring-wells fill two little pools about 30 yards apart on the West side of the green road going up to the croft. The resident fairy removed from one to the other on account of interference with her property in the course of some drain-cutting or […]
Information Chibber yn Arragh, (Well of the (good) Ploughland), Lonan. There are two roadside wells of this name in Ballarragh village, Lonan. As the Manx arragh, spring-season, is awkward to apply to wells, to Ballaragh, Bride (?), or to the earthen dyke on Snaefell known as Cleigh yn Arragh, besides its being of the feminine […]
Information Chibber Air, usually translated as Gold Well. On Croit ny Howe, Clay Head, Lonan. …the “gold” of the Manx well may have been suggested by the colour of scum on its water, as ‘brass’ was in the case of the Brass Well, Mevagissey, Cornwall. The word, however, is susceptible of other interpretations. (text source: […]
Information The Big Well, Douglas. It stood at the top of Bigwell Street in the days before the town was supplied with water from the Clypse Reservoir. (text source: W Walter Gill, A Manx Scrapbook (1929) Many people when consulting the census records for Douglas, find they have an ancestor who lived in Big Well […]
W Walter Gill in ‘A Manx Scrapbook’ (1929) classified wells on the Island as such: Manx farrane or geill – a spring well in which water rises to the surface of the ground or into the bottom of a basin where there is a more forceable uprush of water Manx spooyt – jet issuing from […]
Isle of Man Wells welcomes the opportunity to visit as many wells and springs as possible, particularly on private land and with the owner’s permission. If you would like to issue an invitation for us to visit a well or spring on your property please contact Ber Weyde. Information can be made public or withheld as a private record.