Pistyll Badarn, Llanbadarn Fawr

Dedication: Saint Padarn

Location: Llanbadarn Fawr

Status: lost

St Padarn, a saint of the 6th century, is said to have travelled to Wales from Brittany, along with his cousin St Cadfan and several other saintly relatives, including St Tydecho. He founded multiple churches in both Cardiganshire and Radnorshire, although the centre of his cult in Wales seems to have been at Llanbadarn Fawr, where he founded an important monastery (the site of which St Padarn's Church occupies) and episcopal see. Unfortunately, Padarn has become confused with several European saints with the same Latin name, Paternus, so very few details of his life are certain.

The only historic record of a holy well of St Padarn ever existing at Llanbadarn Fawr is found in the 1840s tithe schedule of the parish, which names a field to the west of the church as "Cae Pistill Padarn", meaning "Field [of] Padarn's Spout". (The image above shows this field, outlined on an Ordnance Survey map of the early 20th century.) Clearly, there was once a holy well at this location. However, it is not obvious which exact water source this field name refers to, and historic Ordnance Survey maps mark two springs in its vicinity, one of which must have been Pistyll Badarn:

A "well" located at SN5960181291, within Cae Pistill Padarn, on the eastern side of the field. This appears to have been destroyed in the 1960s when the field was turned into a housing estate. Given that it is the only one of the two actually located within the boundaries of the field, it is the most likely site.
A "spout" located at SN5951081254, beside the main road from Llanbadarn Fawr to Aberystwyth. This is commonly said to be the holy well, and it is the site described by both Francis Jones in The Holy Wells of Wales (1954) and by the Historic Environment Record. The current structure seems to have been built in 1883, and it still stands beside the road today.

Images:

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