St Queran's Well

NX97SE 12 9559 7222.

(NX 9558 7222) St. Queran's Well (NR)

OS 6" map (1946)

St. Jardan's Well

OS 6" map (1854)

St Queran ( or Querdon, Guerdon, Quergan, or Jardan etc.) was a Scottish saint, the date assigned to him by Butler being the 9th September 876. The well was held in great repute for the cure of diseases, particularly of women and children, offerings being left at the well.

The Dumfries and Galloway Society possesses many of the several hundred coins that were recovered when the well was cleaned out about 1870. Trans Dumfriesshire Galloway Natur Hist Antiq Soc 1870; 1881; RCAHMS 1914; J Macdonald 1906; J Starke 1867

In the first half of the 17th century this well was referred to as St. Jargan's.

J S Thomson 1890

The coins recovered, date back to about 1560 (the action of the spring water wouldhave completely dissolved any earlier coins) including Scottish, English, Irish and French. Since the well was cleaned out, present day coinage has been found in the well together with one or two Roman Catholic medals of the Virgin and two counterfeit coins.

P Dudgeon 1892

Offerings at the well include ribbon or cloth on the bushes around the well and pins or coins in the water.

E H M'Kerlie 1916

This feature consists of a shallow, circular concrete pool, 3 ft. in diameter fed by a spring and surrounded by a ring of stones 10 ft. in diameter.

Visited by OS Reviser (AEW) 24 May 1952

This well is as described and illustrated by OS (AEW). The stones surrounding it are probably the edgeing of the path which formerly led to it. There are some coins in Dumfries Museum of the same types as those recovered from the well about 1870 but it is not certain whether these are the actual coins (A E Truckell, Dumfries Museum).

Visited by OS (WDJ) 6 July 1964

An original survey error has been corrected. The true position of this well is NX 9559 7222.

Visited by OS Reviser (BB) 16 July 1965