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   Details of the Holy Well

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Location

 

Braunton

 

Holy Well Name

 

St Brannoc's Well

 

Map Reference

 

SS487 374  In grounds of the Catholic Church

 

Date Visited

 

Apr-03

 

This well was renovated in 1957 when a new Catholic Chapel was built on the adjacent site of the original chapel of St Brannoc who was a Celtic missionary saint whose cult has flourished in this area since the 6th century. A tranquil spot now very much in the tradition of a grotto where a statute of the Virgin Mary stands looking out over a still pool and the church. The well is  not known to have medicinal properties but has been used down to the present day for baptismal purposes. There are several ancient chapel sites in this parish and one, St Michael's which stands on a hill overlooking the village is sometimes claimed to be the site of the Saint's original attempts to build a chapel but he was foiled when the devil kept rolling the stones down hill. The Saint's cult was strong and at the time of Elizabeth 1st, St Brannoc's relics where paraded around the village on 26 June; he is believed to have been buried under the High Altar of the nearby Parish Church which is also dedicated to St Brannoc.  Devon Sites and Monuments Register.

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