Through time legends are passed down through the generations, stories of long-gone visitors, saints, magic and miracles. The sea cave containing the holy well at Holywell Bay is no different, and here is its story:
In 995 AD a Bishop visited from the Holy Island - this Bishops name was Alchun. He brought the body of St Cuthbert (c. 634 – 20 March 687) with him. St Cuthbert had been an Abbot on Lindisfarne - one of the most important medieval saints of northern England.
Alchun had intended to carry the Saint's relics to Ireland, but their ship was blown to the north Cornish coast instead; where they settled and built a church dedicated to St Cuthbert. This is now known as the church at Cubert, located at the top of the hill and one mile inland from Holywell Bay.
An oracle instructed the Bishop to return the relics to Durham, but as he was leaving the relics touched the sides of the well, passing magical curative powers to the water. The truth of this will never be known unless some new ancient manuscripts are deciphered or discovered that explain more.
We do know that Aldun was certainly a Bishop and took the body of St Cuthbert away in 995 as the Hoevden Annals, Volume 1 tell us on page 81 where it is written:
"In the year 995, Aldun the bishop, removed the body of Saint Cuthbert from Cestre to Dunholm."
ST. CUTHBERT'S, OR ST. CUBERT'S WELL is in the parish of that name in the north of Cornwall, by the Bristol Channel.
Hals (1685-1735) says of the well:
"A famous and well-known spring of water called Holy Well (so named, the inhabitants say, for that the virtues of this water were discovered on All Hallows' Day)."
"The same stands in a dark cavern of the sea-cliff rocks; beneath full sea-mark on spring-tides drop down or distil continually drops of water from the white, blue, red, and green veins of those rocks; and accordingly, in the place where those drops of water fall, they swell to a lump of considerable bigness; and there petrifying to the hardness of ice, glass, or freestone, of the several colours aforesaid, according to the nature of those veins in the rock from whence they proceed. These stalactites are hard and brittle as glass."
It must have been a well of very wide repute, as Hals tells us that people frequented it in "incredible numbers in summer, from countries far distant."
BACKGROUND
Limestone is chiefly comprised of the minerals calcite and aragonite.
Although limestone (CaCO3) is relatively insoluble in pure water (H2O), it readily dissolves in natural rainwater. The product is slightly acidic due to the acquisition of carbon dioxide (CO2) as it passes through the atmosphere and ground.
Water and carbon dioxide form a weak acid, carbonic acid (H2CO3),
H2O + CO2 = H2CO3
water + carbon dioxide = carbonic acid
Carbonic acid readily dissolves calcite (CaCO3) forming calcium bicarbonate [Ca(HCO3)2]
CaCO3 + H2CO3 =Ca(HCO3)2
calcite + carbonic acid = calcium bicarbonate
The calcium bicarbonate is readily dissolved in water.
CAVE DEPOSITS
In our cave the water containing the dissolved calcite emerges into the open, immediately some water evaporates due to changes in pressure, increasing the concentration of calcium bicarbonate in the water. Additionally, much of the CO2 in the water is released back into the atmosphere, further increasing the concentration of dissolved calcium carbonate to the point where it starts to precipitate out of solution. Effectively this reverses the carbonisation process.
Ca(HCO3)2 = CaCO3 + H2O + CO2
calcium bicarbonate = calcite + water + carbon dioxide
The resulting calcite formations that grow are known as speleothems, derived from the Greek words spelaion meaning 'cave' and thema meaning 'deposit'.
THE CAVE
The cave is about a mile from the National Trust car park and you will need to walk across a beach. Be aware that will be busy during the summer months.
Also, be aware of the possibility of falling rocks and unstable cliff faces close to the cave.
As you enter the cave you may see steps, which have been eroded over hundreds of years, cut into the rocks. It is said that "local mothers brought their ailing children to be dragged around the sacred well at the time when the veil between the real and spirit world was at its thinnest. In the darkness of the cave’s womb, they would be passed from the darkness into the light in order that their afflictions could be cured"
In this cave the water seeps from the surrounding bedrock forming a series of pools, and the calcite has been precipitated into sheetlike formations these can be:
Rimstone dams – effectively a stone dam, which are formed at the edge of pools where there is some gradient, turbulence in the water flowing over the edge contributes to the off gassing of CO2 and the precipitation of calcite. Rimstone may have the appearance of stairs when formed in a series.
Flowstones – sheetlike deposits formed where water flows down walls or along floors in caves. They may form many layers which become rounded as more layers develop. The lower edges of flowstones may hang free forming a fringe.
In order to claim this earthcache, please complete the following tasks and email the answers via the link on our profile page - you may log your visit prior to sending the email, but logs without answers will be deleted.
Don't forget about the tide!
1) How many pools are there?
2) Looking at the speleothems what type do you think they are and why?
3) Why do you think the calcite has a rippled appearance?
References used in developing this listing
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/wra-1356297980415/view-page/item1036322/
http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=8114
http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=8114
Essentials of Geolology - Stephen Marshak ISBN 978 0 393 93238 6
Geology, an introduction to physical geology - Chernicoff and Whitney ISBN 0 13 147464 2
