Corstorphine Physic Well

Category

Library Item

Item no

31802

Title

Corstorphine Physic Well

Artist / maker

Unknown

Date

1956

Size

8.6 x 13.6 cm

Type

Photograph

Location

Edinburgh and Scottish Collection

Corstorphine Physic Well was at one time well frequented by those hoping to take advantage of its healing waters. Before the reformation the well had been named 'The Well of Our Lady' in reference to the Virgin Mary and was a site of pilgrimage before the practice became frowned upon as Catholic Superstition. In the 1700s 'taking the waters' became a fashionable pastime for the wealthy and by 1745 the well was serviced by specially built accommodation for the visitors and 8 dedicated daily coaches from the centre of Edinburgh. However by the turn of the century the Physic Well had fallen out of favour with affluent city dwellers preferring the newly built St Bernard's Well in Stockbridge. The remains of the well now sit in a modern housing development near Corstorphine with a plaque explaining the well's significance however the beneficial properties of the waters have unfortunately been destroyed by the construction of a nearby drainage ditch.

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Related subjects

Landscape > Water > Wells

Places > Edinburgh areas > Corstorphine

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh