The Anglesey coastal village of Aberffraw appears to have lost more wells than some villages have ever had.
Today we very briefly examine the remains of Ffynnon Bryn Fendigaid – the spring on the blessed hill. It lay on the sand dunes beside the road heading south from the village towards Malltraeth little more than five miles across the sand from Crochan Dwynwen by Newborough. Both were once noted for resident fish renowned for their ability for fortune telling. The well was also resorted to for cures for all kinds of ailments.
Ffynnon Bryn Fendigaid’s demise began during the eighteenth century when local land owner Sir Arthur Owen built a wall around it to keep animals on. This gradually became ruined, although the Gruffydds state that the spring was reopened in 1861. There is an 1858 mention of the discovery of a spring in the sand at Tywyn Aberffraw in the weekly Baner ac Amserau Cymru,together with a request for any information concerning the history of the well. No replies appear to have been received at the time. This could well be Ffynnon Bryn Fendigaid and the time of the discovery correlates with the time of the reopening recorded by the Gruffydds.
Today, we are led to a brick and concrete structure over the spring which appears to serve no useful purpose. There is no evidence around to suggest that the spring is still active.
Some 400 yards from this spring was Croes Ladys, the site of a once noted mineral spring. This site I have so far been unable to locate. A couple of hundred yards along the road towards the village lay another Ffynnon Beuno, the church at Aberffraw is also dedicated to Beuno. This spring finally vanished in the 1990s under a new road, more details on this in a future post.
Eirlys and Ken Lloyd Gruffydd. Ffynhonnau Cymru, 1999.
Baner ac Amserau Cymru – edition Wed 25th August 1858. retrieved from British Newspaper Archive
SH36036914.
Well Hopper 