High St Laurence Well, Slamannan

Dedication: Saint Laurence

Location: Slamannan

Coordinates: 55.93778N, -3.83001W

Grid reference: NS857731

Status: destroyed

Absolutely nothing is known of the early history of what was once known as "High St Laurence Well". Its nearby contemporary, which has, unfortunately, also been destroyed, has attracted much more attention. There is, in fact, doubt as to whether the "High St Laurence Well" was actually a holy well; it has been argued that it gained its name only from its proximity to the "authentic" holy well of the parish. It is not unheard of, however, for a parish to possess two holy wells of the same dedication, and that could easily be the case here. Of course, as historical accounts never only ever mention the other holy well, there is no solid evidence that the "High St Laurence Well" was ever holy.

In 1914, Michael Barratt (writing in Footprints of the Ancient Scottish Church) did not doubt that both wells were holy, and simply stated that there were two holy wells of St Laurence in the parish.

Unfortunately, the High St Laurence Well was filled in at some point during the early 20th century; it simply vanished from the Ordnance Survey maps.

Images:

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