'On the summit of a rocky knoll, near Tomen y Rhodwydd is a spring dedicated to St Garmon, the water of which is said neither to increase nor diminish at any time, nor has it any visible inlet or outlet, and superstition attributes to it miraculous properties.'
Samuel Lewis, 'Topographical Dictionary of Wales' Vol. II (1834)
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While St Garmon’s Well is known to have existed, practically no one can agree as to where it actually is. Many believe it lay somewhere near Tomen y Rhodwydd, a claim repeated by Baring-Gould & Fisher, though others, including locals believe the remains, little more than a few stones now, lay in a ditch, in a hedgerow by the promisingly named, Saint’s Crossing off the B5431. It is telling that the fields here reflect the presence both of the well and the saint, named, cae ffynon and cae saint - this seems then likely to be the spot.
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The Coflein website, however, further complicates the matter, describing St Garmon’s at this place thus:
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‘A stone-lined well, 0.5m wide and 0.4m deep, set under a vertical bank by a disused road. A spring lies on the south side and at the west end of an old closed road. The well is protected on three sides by rough masonry to the height of 3 feet. At a distance of 12 yards to the east a cross wall between two banks still partly exists to impound the water.’
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There is now little evidence of such an elaborate structure here, and one can only assume the description is related to earlier, older information. The likely location, within a field off the disused road reveals little but a memory of what was, vagueness in the landscape.
The lost St Garmon's Well, a vagueness in the landscape, 'formerly much frequented.'
The history of the well and any specific cures its waters may have afforded are unknown, forgotten, but it had a presence, certainly, and its dedication to Garmon is telling. It was more than likely an important well of some standing.
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It should be noted, of course, that there are other springs in the area, and several of them have sometimes been named after St Garmon. A mystery then, and one awaiting solving.
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