{"id":613397,"date":"2025-12-05T08:05:37","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T08:05:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/613397\/"},"modified":"2025-12-05T08:05:37","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T08:05:37","slug":"ancient-well-hidden-for-centuries-in-cathedral-crypt-uncovered-in-new-art-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/613397\/","title":{"rendered":"Ancient well hidden for centuries in cathedral crypt uncovered in new art project"},"content":{"rendered":"

An ancient well pre-dating the city of Glasgow has been reawakened in a new art project.<\/strong><\/p>\n

St Mungo\u2019s Well marks a place of deep spiritual significance, but has been lying dormant in Glasgow Cathedral, hidden away in the corner of its crypt.<\/p>\n

Now, arts collective Aproxima Arts has uncovered and reinterpreted the sacred site, which was once central to the foundation of the city.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been transformed with the installation of a shimmering circular mosaic and will be at the centre of a series of concerts to mark Glasgow\u2019s 850th anniversary celebrations.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s believed the well is where St Kentigern \u2013 also known as Mungo \u2013 established his cell and performed baptisms in the waters of the Molendinar Burn in the sixth century.<\/p>\n

The natural well was later incorporated into the walls of the cathedral in the 13th century, forming the heart of the Kentigern Shrine in the crypt.<\/p>\n

The site grew in prominence, becoming one of Britain\u2019s major pilgrimage destinations for over 300 years.<\/p>\n

But following the Protestant Reformation in the 1500s, people were dissuaded from visiting the well, which had long been associated with healing and personal blessing, and it eventually fell into disuse and was forgotten about.<\/p>\n

\"ArtefactsSTV NewsArtefacts found at the bottom of the well STV News<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere that well is literally why this cathedral is here, and why Glasgow is here,\u201d explains Angus Farquhar, Aproxima\u2019s creative director.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t appear in many of the archaeological records of the 19th and 20th centuries, so the idea that we could bring it back really began to inspire me.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we discovered it two years ago, it was dark and dirty. It had a lid on, and there was a big metal grill. You couldn\u2019t see into the bottom. I\u2019d been told it was the wellspring of Glasgow, and I thought \u2018there\u2019s a story here\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

In October, the excavation process began with the help of Professor Stephen Driscoll, leading archaeologist at the University of Glasgow, and David Sneddon of Clyde Archaeology.<\/p>\n

It unearthed some unusual finds \u2013 the team came across a hard layer, with items dating from the 1960s onwards lying on top.<\/p>\n

\"ArtistSTV NewsArtist Joanna Kessel created a mosaic from 1,000 handblown glass pieces for the well STV News<\/p>\n

\u201cWe still have a big question mark as to what\u2019s underneath that solid layer,\u201d explains Mr Sneddon. \u201cThere is potentially still medieval well deposits down there. We just need to find a way of getting to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThings we found in the well were kids\u2019 toys, sunglasses, lots of coins, some notes from various places in the world, dice, rings \u2013 a whole selection of things.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn terms of contemporary archaeology \u2013 modern archaeology \u2013 it\u2019s really, really interesting, because we\u2019re still asking the same questions that we might do about artefacts that are thousands of years old. How did they get there, and why did people leave these behind?<\/p>\n

\u201cWith wells, it generally falls into two categories. Things fell in by accident, or things were put there in purpose.<\/p>\n

\u201cDid the sunglasses fall in by accident, or were they a really important pair that related to a family member that somebody\u2019s put in the well on purpose?\u201d<\/p>\n

Once it was cleared out, the well\u2019s transformation into a stunning light display took shape.<\/p>\n

Edinburgh-based artist Joanna Kessel was approached to join the project last year.<\/p>\n

\"StSTV NewsSt Mungo\u2019s Well STV News<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we were standing in the lower church, it was very dark, and we were peering down the well using torches,\u201d says Ms Kessel.<\/p>\n

\u201cAngus said to me, \u2018so what would you do if you could do anything here?\u2019 and I knew immediately. I said, \u2018I\u2019d line the well with gold leaf mosaic\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mosaic has been composed of around 1,000 handblown coloured glass tiles, made by Orsoni Venezia 1888 in Italy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe colours are very much colours that come from being in nature \u2013 the well would originally have been outside in nature,\u201d Ms Kessel adds. \u201cFrom the sky, the light filtering through the tree leaves being cast onto the water\u2019s surface, and then as humans shift from foot to foot, you see below the surface of the water down to the rocks and the earth below. I wanted to get that transition from the blue to the dark green.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m hoping people will feel a sense of wonder and awe, delight and joy when they take the time to peer over and to look down.\u201d<\/p>\n

The re-dedication of the well will be celebrated with concerts at Glasgow Cathedral on December 5 and 6, featuring new music by Karine Polwart, organist and composer Claire M Singer and new choral works by Cameron Sinclair. They will also feature narration and storytelling.<\/p>\n

Audiences can also pre-book timed slots to visit the well.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe thought it would be really lovely to have a permanent legacy to the year \u2013 something that people can look back in years to come and have that connection to this moment in time,\u201d says Mr Farquhar.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about people having a chance to reconnect with the absolute starting point of the city.\u201d<\/p>\n

STV News is now on WhatsApp<\/p>\n

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\"WhatsApp<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An ancient well pre-dating the city of Glasgow has been reawakened in a new art project. St Mungo\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":613398,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7826],"tags":[748,918,4884,712,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-613397","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-glasgow","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-glasgow","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-scotland","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115665930506024780","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=613397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613397\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/613398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=613397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=613397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=613397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}