Well Classification

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 a rock-face naturally or through a pipe or other form, e.g. a small waterfall
  • Manx lhieggey – dripping or falling well where water trickles or perculates downwards into a basin
  • Manx towl – hole in the ground, whether natural or artificial