St Keyne'S Well And Cross To South East

SX 26 SW ST KEYNE

10/187 St Keyne's Well and cross to south east 21.8.64 II

Well house of Holy Well of St Keyne and cross opposite . Circa C16 rebuilt in July 1936 by the Liskeard Old Cornwall Society. Granite ashlar with gabled roof of large granite blocks. Rectangular in plan. Well opening in front gable end with round granite chamfered arch and jambs with pyramid stops. Rectangular well shaft. Situated in low stone rubble retaining wall. Robert Southey's poem quoted the legend concerning the race of brides and grooms to the well after the wedding service. "If the husband of this gifted well Should drink before his wife A happy man henceforth is he For he shall be master for life". The poem continues "I hastened as soon as the wedding was done And left my wife in the porch But I'faith she had been wiser than I For she took a bottle to the church." The poem also describes the old well "An oak and an elm tree stand beside And behind does an ash tree grow And a willow from the bank above Droops in the water below". These were thought to have sprung from 1 root planted by St Keyne. In 1703 the trees were blown down and were replaced by trees planted by Mr Rashleigh of Menabilly. In the 1930s, the trees had decayed and the lane was widened and consequently the well was rebuilt. Illustration of the unrestored well together with a ballad appear in the Gentleman's Magazine, 1799 and 1822. In Blights Cornish Crosses, and in A Lane-Davies Holy Wells of Cornwall, 1970. An illustration in the National Monuments Record illustrates the well-house arch as a pointed granite arch with ovolo moulded arch and jambs. The full text of Southey's poem is quoted by M L Quiller Couch in Ancient and Holy Wells of Cornwall. Directly opposite the well opening is an incised granite stone cross with an alisee patee cross and a carved semi-circular panel below. Resited in 1951. J Meyrick A Pilgrims guide to the Holy Wells of Cornwall, 1982 A Lane-Davies Holy Wells of Cornwall, 1970

Listing NGR: SX2482760213