Archaeology Notes

Event ID 748218

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/748218

NJ71SW 6.03 72677 11765

Well, near South Lodge, (?)c.1795, vaulted ashlar wellhouse with relief panels of Moses striking the rock and Moses on Mount Sinai.

I Shepherd 1994.

NJ 727 119 Moses Well. An initial reassessment has been undertaken of three carved sandstone panels set into a granite well-house of probable 19th-century date, which forms part of a small designed landscape feature in Miss Bristow's Wood, a pleasure ground established at the end of the 18th century. Two of the panels, which are mounted on either side of the well-house door, have been discovered to be conjoining fragments of a single panel, perhaps originally 2m high. A large figure of Moses with his staff is surrounded by scenes from his life, which appear to include: Moses communing with the Lord on Mount Sinai; Moses and the burning bush; and the Israelites collecting manna in the desert or Moses bringing forth water in the desert. The style and iconography of the panels suggest a mid-17th-century date and a possible Dutch origin.

A third panel, presently mounted above the well-house door, bears the carved representation of a banner, surmounted by a ribbon inscribed with fragmentary remains of text. The banner itself appears to have borne an extensive inscription, of which only tiny fragments survive.

All the carved panels bear traces of paint and possible signs of exposure to heat, suggesting that the Moses panel and the inscription have a shared history prior to their insertion into the well-house, if not a shared origin.

Archive to be deposited in NTS SMR.

Sponsor: NTS.

S M Fraser 2003