Holy Well

St Constantine's Well, Constantine Bay, Cornwall

Trevose Golf Club, Constantine Bay, Padstow PL28 8JB

Save
 to profile
Save
 to profile
St Constantine's Well, Constantine Bay, Cornwall

Pilgrimage to this holy source was popular enough to merit the construction of a major stone wellhouse in this village, which is now on the Cornish Celtic Way

Highlights

  • Holy well and ruined wellhouse of St Constantine

St Constantine’s holy well leaks out of the corner of a ruined stone wellhouse in the middle of the Constantine Bay golf course. A public footpath leads to the well, which is housed under a shelter, half buried in the grass.

The wellhouse is a tiny room with thick stone walls. It was presumably used exclusively for rituals involving the well water since there is a ruined church 70m away uphill, hidden amid bushes and scrub. It is impossible to enter the building now because of the algae and flowing water. The shelter itself is open on all sides with a modern stone wall around it. Inside the wellhouse are benches on either side. The entire floor is now wet, but there was once a channel through the middle that contained the flow. The building is twice as long as it is wide (3m × 1.5m), a good indication of early Celtic origins. Celtic Sites and their Saints record that it was still used in the 18th century by people who would sit and bathe themselves in the stream of water. Nowadays you can only run your fingers through the holy source as it emerges at one end of the shelter.

The St Constantine in question is not the great Roman emperor. Instead, he is a Cornishman, the leader of a local tribe who lived some time in the 6th century. Different legends survive, but he might be the rich man converted to Christianity by St Petroc, as recorded in the 12th-century Life of St Petroc. They met when the king was out hunting and St Petroc intervened to save the stag from harm. He is also remembered in the town of Constantine on the south coast of Cornwall, halfway between Falmouth and Helstone. His saint’s day is 9 March. There are other St Constantines in the Dark Ages, including a companion of St Kentigern who was martyred in Scotland. He is unlikely to be the same as the Cornish saint, but it is theoretically possible. There is a sarcophagus sitting in Govan Old Parish Church in Scotland which is said to be the Scottish St Constantine’s tomb.

Directions

In golf course: Trevose Golf Club, Constantine Bay, Padstow PL28 8JB

www.trevose-gc.co.uk

W3W: cushy.shocks.troubled

GPS: 50.5354N 5.0139W

As you drive into Constantine Bay, the road bends sharply left in the middle of town. Turn off straight ahead here, by the Trevose Golf and Country Club. Drive around the clubhouse for 250m until you see a track heading left through the middle of the golf course. Continue along the road for 60m and there is a small parking space for a maximum of two cars on the left. The footpath to the well starts here. The path wraps around the circumference of the course. The grey roof of the modern shelter housing the well becomes increasingly obvious, 5–7 minutes walk away, as you follow the path. Alternatively, you could walk along the track through the middle of the course, as it takes a more direct route almost past the well. The ruined church is 70m uphill from the well, hidden amidst the trees in the middle of the course.

Show more +

Amenities

No items found.

Key facts

1
2
3
4
5
6
/6

Location

Nearby routes

1
2
3
4
5
6
/6

Become a Pilgrim to reveal contact details

Contact details are available for Giving Pilgrims

Contact details are available only for the Giving Pilgrims

Organiser:

Organiser:

Britain’s Pilgrim Places

Find this place, and hundreds of others, in Britain’s Pilgrim Places book by Nick Mayhew-Smith and Guy Hayward.

Proceeds from sale of the book directly support the British Pilgrimage Trust, a non-profit UK charity. Thank you.

Discover local food

We know that pilgrims get hungry!

Once you have decided on which pilgrimage route you want to walk, we thought you might like to use our Local Food Map.

Learn more

Comments

0 Comments

Login or register to join the conversation.

Be the first to leave a comment.

Tom Jones

Moderator

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.

(Edited)
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

Tom Jones

Moderator

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.

(Edited)
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Holy Well

St Constantine's Well, Constantine Bay, Cornwall

Trevose Golf Club, Constantine Bay, Padstow PL28 8JB

Save to profile
Save to profile

Already visited this place?

Rate this place
Rate this place
Get started

All great journeys begin with a single step

Start your journey
66a2399f70acf69c75df4cd2
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.