Culloden Clootie Well, known as St Mary’s near Culloden Battlefield, Inverness, set for restoration work from Forestry and Land Scotland
A traditional clootie well near Culloden Battlefield is to undergo repair works by Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS).
The Scottish Government agency has the agreement of a neighbouring landowner to carry out repairs at Culloden Clootie Well, also known as St Mary’s Well.
Part of a broader programme of FLS improvement works to improve facilities at Culloden Woods, local specialist contractors will dismantle the crumbling well wall and use the stone to build a bench for visitors.
Work will begin on Monday (June 23) next week, following on from last year’s extensive path improvements and pothole repairs at the FLS site entrance.
Further path repairs are being carried out to improve access from Woodside of Culloden.
FLS area visitor services manager Carol MacKintosh said: “Although it’s not an ancient monument, the Culloden Clootie Well has an important place in local folklore.
“Tree roots have undermined the well wall and left it in a poor state, which is not very welcoming for those people who are drawn to it.
“As well as keeping the site safe, the new feature will give visitors a quiet place for reflection after they’ve tied their cloot to one of the surrounding trees.
“We hope that this work will provide visitors with an area for peaceful reflection to honour the spirit of the well.”
The work will involve cutting one or two of the nearby trees that have cloots attached to branches, but the FLS team will leave the branches - and any attached cloots - on site.
Clootie wells have been places of pilgrimage in the Highlands for hundreds of years, with visitors asking the spirits for some healing intervention.
A rag offering is left as ‘payment’, gradually deteriorating as the healing magic does its work.
Thought to date as far back as medieval times, the well is a natural spring that has been known by many names over the years.
Often referred to as The Culloden Well, the feature is also called St Mary’s Well, after a small chapel that used to stand nearby.
Its use as a clootie well was recorded in the mid-19th century.
One folklore tradition is that visitors should walk around the well three times – at sunrise – before tying their cloot to a tree.
These days, though, the superstitious are asked to only leave biodegradable rags of cotton or wool to help prevent the site from becoming so unsightly that it needs to be cleared.
