Dupath Well

Dupath Well comprises a Holy Well House and chapel, dedicated to St. Ethelred, likely built around 1510 by the Canons of St. Germans. It was restored by Rev. H.M. Rice, the former rector of South Hill. The building is constructed entirely of granite ashlar and is rectangular in plan. It is a small, single-storey structure with gabled ends oriented to the liturgical east and west. The west gable end has an entrance with a rectangular surround featuring a roll mould to the outer arch and a hollow chamfer to the segmental inner arch, with plain spandrels. It has a 20th-century timber plank door with strap hinges. The east gable end features a two-light granite mullion window with cavetto moulds to the jambs and arch, along with holes for stanchion bars. Granite rectangular slits are present in the north-west and south-east walls. The roof is formed of long blocks of granite stone supported in the centre by a diaphragm arch. There are crocketted pinnacles at the four corners, possibly a later addition, and a further crocketted pinnacle on the north-east gable. A turret is situated on the south-west gable. The wellhouse has a moulded granite base with a battered slab side supporting a moulded cap decorated with a rope band, a battlemented cornice, and surmounted by four crocketted finials and a central crocketted pinnacle. The interior is simple, with a stone arch resting on rectangular stone responds and plain cube capitals supporting the span and junction of the granite roof members. Water flows through the building, entering from under the west threshold, running along a stone runnel into a shallow rectangular trough, and then exiting through a hole in the east wall into a stone basin positioned outside. The wellhouse likely once contained an altar. It is probably associated with a chapel licensed by Bishop Stafford in 1405, dedicated to St. Ethelred. In 1432, the Canons of St. Germans acquired property at Callington, including ‘Theu Path’. Local legend suggests the site was where a duel occurred between Colan and Gottlieb for the hand of a maiden. The building has been heavily restored.