Lady Well Traditional Geocache
Lorgadh: As the owner has not responded to my previous log requesting that they check this cache I am archiving it.
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Karen
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(micro)
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When Christianity came to Britain, pagan holy and healing wells
were aggressively rededicated to the Virgin Mary and other saints
while remaining places of Old Religion practice. Also known as 'Our
Lady's Well', Glasgow's Ladywell is an artesian spring noted on
early city maps and can be reliably assumed to predate the city. It
lay just outside the city wall and Drygate Port in medieval times
and will have refreshed Romans travelling the old Carntyne Highway
east-west between forts along the Antonine Wall.
Today it is erroneously believed to have been sunk for use of
commoners denied access to a nearby Priest's Well - which was
reserved for the wealthy living in the old City. Local people used
the Lady Well for their water supply until the early 19th century
when the threat of contamination from outbreaks of cholera and
typhoid forced its closure. It was thought that the spring may have
been tainted because of its nearness to the graves.
In fact, its wellhead was jointly rebuilt by the Merchants House
and City Council in 1835-6 for enclosure in a new wall when the Fir
Park behind it was turned into a gardened burial ground. The
Ladywell was still in public use while most wells in Glasgow were
closed, after fresh water piped from Loch Katrine transformed the
city's health and sanitation in the 1860s. An old article says the
Ladywell was the last public well to be closed but gives no date.
The classical wellhead installed by the 1836 restoration bears no
resemblance to the original - an open round one - and remains there
today. The current lintel stone (its second) notes the 1836 rebuild
and another by the Merchant's House in 1874. A plaque commemorates
its most recent refurbishment by Tennant Caledonian Breweries in
1983. The Ladywell remains capped.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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