Saints in Scottish Place-Names
Funded by a Leverhulme Trust Project Grant
St Catherine's Well, Liberton
Grid reference
NT 273 683 (accurate position)
Six-figure easting & northing
327300 668300
Latitude
55.90235312287954
Longitude
-3.162877641871726
County
Midlothian
Nearby places
St Catherine's Chapel, Liberton (0.09 miles)
Liberton, parish (0.69 miles)
Our Lady's Well, Liberton (0.82 miles)
St Margaret's Well, Lasswade (1.39 miles)
Pentland, former parish, Lasswade (1.42 miles)
Object Classification
Antiquity
Water
Is linear feature?
No
Notes
The Balm Well or Oily Well of St Catherine. It gets its name from the black oily film which lies on its surface, which derives from oil shale below the well. The water has long been held to be a curative for skin diseases such as leprosy and eczema. It is dedicated to Catherine of Alexandria. NMRS records that in 1504 James IV made an offering to "Sanct Katrine's of the oly well", and James IV in 1617 ordered that it should be built with stones, and steps made, for easier access. The stonework of the well was almost totally demolished by Cromwell's soldiers in 1650. _____________ It was recorded of this well, probably in the late seventeenth century: 'there is a Wellspring which sends up with the Water and Oyl, or rather a Balsam reasonable thick and fat. This Balsam is gathered and preserved by the Heritors 10 moneths of the year, and is a soveraign cure for wrests, Akings &c.' (Geog. Coll. iii, 123).
Relationships with other places
Adjacent St Catherine's Chapel, Liberton
Names
2 head-names linked to this place ?Oily Well
Head name
Oily Well
Place
St Catherine's Well, Liberton
Certainty that this name applies to this place
Certain
The status of this name is
Current
Is this a current OS form? ?
Yes
Is this the original referent of the place?
Yes
Is the association of this name to this object hypothetical?
No
Oyle Well 1617, Accounts of the Master of Works
Historic formOyle Well Head nameOily Well PlaceSt Catherine's Well, Liberton Certainty that this name applies to this placeCertain SourceAccounts of the Master of Works, ii, 76 Date of citation1617 x 1617 Feature named in sourcewell |
Source code
Accounts of the Master of Works
Source title
Accounts of the Master of Works for building and repairing royal palaces and castles
Oyilly Well 1617, Accounts of the Master of Works
Historic formOyilly Well Head nameOily Well PlaceSt Catherine's Well, Liberton Certainty that this name applies to this placeCertain SourceAccounts of the Master of Works, ii, 81 Date of citation1617 x 1617 |
Source code
Accounts of the Master of Works
Source title
Accounts of the Master of Works for building and repairing royal palaces and castles
Oily Well 1843, OS 6 inch first edn.
Historic formOily Well Head nameOily Well PlaceSt Catherine's Well, Liberton Certainty that this name applies to this placeCertain SourceOS 6 inch first edn. Date of citation1843 x 1882 Notes on the context of this place-nameMid to late 19th c. |
Source code
OS 6 inch first edn.
Source title
Ordnance Survey 6 Inch to the Mile, First Edition
Notes
Mid to late 19th c.
St Catherine's Well
Head name
St Catherine's Well
Place
St Catherine's Well, Liberton
Certainty that this name applies to this place
Certain
The status of this name is
Current
Is this a current OS form? ?
Yes
Is this the original referent of the place?
Yes
Is the association of this name to this object hypothetical?
No
St Catherine's Well 1843, OS 6 inch first edn.
Historic formSt Catherine's Well Head nameSt Catherine's Well PlaceSt Catherine's Well, Liberton Certainty that this name applies to this placeCertain SourceOS 6 inch first edn. Date of citation1843 x 1882 Notes on the context of this place-nameMid to late 19th c. |
Source code
OS 6 inch first edn.
Source title
Ordnance Survey 6 Inch to the Mile, First Edition
Notes
Mid to late 19th c.
Saints in this place-name
Catherine (ns) (certain)
Catherine of Alexandria (certain)
Place-name data
The place-name data featured in this resource is copyright of the University of Glasgow.
Map Layers
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Default map:
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Satellite map:
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Satellite map with labels:
Base map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA, Imagery © Mapbox
Modern OS map:
Ordnance Survey OpenData. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right (2010)
OS 1840-1880 map:
National Library of Scotland Historic Maps
OS 1920-1933 map:
National Library of Scotland Historic Maps
