St Columbas Well

Opposite the car park in Invermoriston a small wooden sign points to Saint Columba’s Well. The well can be seen after you descend down a few steps.

It is believed that a well or spring has been on this site since early Pictish times. Until the 6th century AD the water here was considered to be poisonous, causing boils and ulcers to appear if splashed on the skin.

Then in AD565 St Columba, on his way to visit Drude (a great King of the Picts) drove out the evil spirits around the well and blessed for all time the water coming from it.

The water was then clean and pure and was said to have great curative powers it may have even have been the source for what is now lochness, but that’s another story.

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The Font Stone

The stone is within the Abriachan Community Gardens, if you follow the path up through the gardens to the left it’s about 3/4 of the way up.  The gardens here are definitely worth a visit if you’re in the area.

There is some dispute over the origins of the stone; some associate it with St. Columba, others with St. Finian’s monastic cell, whilst some claim it’s just a post-hole from a normal house. However, what isn’t disputed is the claim that the water hole is never dry, no matter what the weather is like, and if it’s emptied then it will refill itself quickly. It is a mystery where the water comes from, but it is believed to have apotropaic as well as healing qualities.

As recently the 20th century, drops of water from the Font Stone were put in the baptismal bowls of newly born babies believing that this would relieve the pain of childbirth, and women would also secretly let their infant have a taste of the magical water before being baptised by the minister at the church. It was thought that the water would help keep fairies away from the child, and pieces of cloth were even kept around the stones, and were later worn by the child as an anti-fairy talisman.

The Font Stone

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