St Pratt's Well, Blisland, Cornwall

Scene of an annual pilgrimage from the nearby church of St Protus and St Hyacinth each September

Highlights

• ‍‍Roadside holy well

St. Pratt sounds thoroughly Anglo-Saxon, while his holy well looks almost Japanese. In truth, he is an Italian martyr named St. Protus, killed in Rome during the 3rd century.

His holy well is located just outside the village of Blisland. A long rectangular channel carries the flow of water into a neatly carved stone basin with zen-like geometry. Only the Celtic stone cross standing alongside reminds you this is very much Cornwall.

Unfortunately, the holy well is beside a country road, tucked into the verge like a drain, though easy to reach. There was once a baptismal well here with a chapel alongside, according to The Living Stream. The chapel has gone, but the water still trickles out of the hillside and is used for baptisms in the parish church.‍

Ancient and Holy Wells of Cornwall notes that the water was diverted 50 feet from the original wellspring by a local preacher in the mid-19th century, resulting in its unusual design.

St. Protus had no personal link to Cornwall. He was killed with his brother St. Hyacinth in Rome around 265. The local church in Blisland is dedicated to the brothers and holds a procession to the well and adjacent cross on the Sunday nearest to 22 September, their saints’ day.

Directions

On the road from Blisland to Bodmin

Postcode of nearby church: PL30 4JE

www.blisland.info

W3W: remark.dries.nozzles

GPS: 50.5268N 4.6767W

The well is hard to spot when driving, so look out for the prominent cross. It is possible to pull up a car here. The well and cross are 350m from the parish church in Blisland; head east out of the village towards Bodmin, and they are on your left as the road runs downhill.