Howard?s Well, Kilmihil, County Clare
Posted on Tuesday, January 18 @ 13:33:30 GMT on stephen |
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A practical exercise in well restoration
On Sunday 20 April, Melanie and I set off for Kilmihil, West Clare, with a mission. A couple of months previously we had spotted a Holy Well on one of our hunting trips that had completely sealed itself and had vowed to clean this up for Earth Day.
We met one of our friends, Clare, and armed with forks, spades, and other implements of destruction, we strode off purposefully down the wrong lane. A nice walk and an hour later found us standing beside the newly christened ?Howard?s Well? ? as this used to be the owner of the land, I believe.
After taking a billhook to the brambles and grass, we eventually uncovered some lovely stonework and a flat area of earth.
- Still no sign of water. So we started to dig out the earth that had been trampled in by cattle and excavate under the base rocks to try and clear the channel. It was a wonderful moment when suddenly water started emerging from nowhere and just filling the hole!
It was very muddy and due to the near drought conditions of the last few weeks, it didn?t exactly ?burst forth?, so more digging was definitely required.
Further along from our ?pond-to-be? was an outflow set into the field?s boundary wall. Strangely, this was at a slightly higher angle than the well, but was definitely not an inlet, so we figured that the water level would normally be a lot higher.
We dug out a trench to this gap and while Clare cleared a mass of bramble, Melanie had another go at the source. It was both encouraged and bullied into supplying a good steady supply, so we left it to fill the excavated area.
The next task was to collect as many large stones as we could to protect the edges we had cut. The farmer?s cattle used to drink at this well, and would no doubt do so in the future. So we decided to protect the sides from caving in by supporting it with stone. Without the help of friendly cattle we impact tested the stones ourselves, before tidying everything up.
Finally, having collected all the tools, making sure that the rest of the area was left as we found it; we each gave a gift to the well. Clare left some beautiful Malachite, I left some Quartz, and Melanie left a Corn Dolly that she had made.
It was a wonderful experience, and one I would thoroughly recommend to anyone next year! We returned to Clare?s for a fantastic Japanese meal cooked by Adam, her husband, and left for home feeling we had done something very personal and special for Earth Day.
Wolf Lorien
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