Saint Mogue's Well

The settlement that would become Manchester, the capitol of Mancunia, was established in the fourth century as a religious enclave on the east bank of the Marmack River overlooking the falls at Amisbeag. Local legend says that Saint Mogue of Manchester (Saint Mogue II) erected a chapel there in 315, and the village’s first church was built upon the ruins of Saint Mogue’s Chapel. The site is currently occupied by Saint Mogue’s Church, a stone edifice begun in 535 and completed in 550, which replaced a previous wood frame structure, destroyed by fire in 498. The current stone church has been rebuilt several times, in the wake of subsequent fires (613, 1027) and floods (993, 1166, 1651), but the foundations and most of the outer walls are those of the original structure. Saint Mogue’s Church is among the oldest and most venerated of religious sites within the See of the Holy Saints.

"Close to the chirch was a wellspryng, couvored by a cutstone well-hause with a cisterne before itte, said to be of anciente fabrikation.  The local folk call it St. Moge's Well"

-- Cerdic Aethelwine

Located nearby is Saint Mogue’s Well, another ancient holy site regularly visited by pilgrims. According to legend, its waters sprang forth from a stone which Saint Mogue struck with his staff when he was called upon to replenish the River Marmack, which had run dry during a severe drought. The shrine which has grown up around the well contains innumerable crutches, braces, spectacles and other medical devices left behind by those who have been cured after immersion in the healing waters of Saint Mogue’s Well.

The "well" is actually a natural spring over which has been built a protective enclosure of stone. Water from the spring flows directly into a hewn stone trough that has been worn smooth by the hands of pilgrims for at least 900 years. The first written account of Saint Mogue's Well appears in a Travel Diary written by Cerdic Aethelwine in 1141, described as "a cutstone well-hause with a cisterne before itte, said to be of anciente fabrikation."

Upon the death of Saint Mogue in 349, the community that had grown up around the falls was governed by Mogue’s erenaghs, a small leaderless collection of priests, monks, nuns and hermits who had begun to establish monastic and anchorite settlements in the area of Saint Mogue’s Well and Chapel. Over time, as Saint Mogue’s reputation for healing miracles spread, more and more pilgrims were drawn to the area, and a thriving village grew up to service their growing needs for food, shelter and other accommodations.

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MANCUNIAN HISTORY

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