Warts and All

The Well Tree




Damage by coins




Access to the Well



About two miles from here and a short way up a leafy lane stands, a frequently visited tree. It is known affectionately around here as The Well Tree.

It is a very tall Ash with two trunks and branches that appear to scrape the sky, or at the very least, touch the clouds.

The trunks grow upwards, dividing out of a six foot high single trunk and where they separate a 'v' shaped hollow was formed; very like a reservoir, here it is known as a well, for it fills with rain water and in hot summers dries out.

It is to this hollow that people with warts or other ailments come. To dip their hands into the water on three separate occasions or fill a small bottle and take the water away.

Each time a sufferer visits the Well Tree they leave behind them a token, an offering, a gift. The majority of people hammer coins into the Bark, some healing trees are now known as Money Trees because of the quantity of coins in the bark.

It is in the long run very unfortunate for the tree, because the metal coins slowly poison the trees and rot sets in to bring about their early demise.

I do consider this coin offering an odd superstition, with a very back handed gratuity to the tree which has healed the sufferers !