St Maronock's Well, Kilmaronock

Dedication: Saint Ronan

Location: Kilmaronock

Coordinates: 56.056361N, -4.4942160W

Grid reference: NS447876

Heritage designation: none

St Ronan was an Irish monk from the 7th and 8th centuries, who is said to have passed through Scotland on a pilgrimage to Brittany. Certainly, he visited Kilmaronock on his journey through the area, and very possibly established the local church, which is dedicated to him. The patron saint of the parish has occasionally been confused with St Marnock (because of the area's name), but in fact the title "Maronock" is here a corruption of "Maronog", which means "my little Ronan". The well has also been confused once or twice with the other more famous St Ronan's Well in Innerleithen, which was the inspiration for Sir Walter Scott's St Ronan's Well (1820).

St Maronock's Well, also known as "St Ronan's Well", probably dates from the time of the saint's visit to the area. The well has always been marked and named on Ordnance Survey maps, although it has been labelled both as "St Marnock's" and as "St Ronan's". It was described in 1896 by John Guthrie Smith, in Strathendrick and its Inhabitants from Early Times, as being near the church, although he stated in a footnote at the bottom of the page that "the fine spring flows still, but the water is conducted away for the use of a neighbouring farm-house".

In 1963, the well was described as consisting of "a stone-lined pit, 2 feet long by 1 foot wide", and "about 1 1/2 feet deep"; today, it seems that the site's condition has changed considerably, with the water possibly being piped into a neighbouring water tank. It also seems that the "stone-lined pit" has been altered massively.

Access:

The well is located on private land.

Images:

Old OS maps are reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland