St Anne's Well

St Anne's Well is a meditative audio-visual experience designed to enhance an alliance with the natural world.

There is little known about St Anne's Well, an ancient holy well. Originally called Wealletune after the place-name Welton, East Yorkshire. It was adopted by Christianity and re-named St Anne's Well in c.1080. Prior to that it is believed to have been a place of pagan ritual, the well being a portal to the Otherworld. It's particularly meaningful to me as I played around the site of the well as a child. Unaware of the history beneath my feet at that time, I continue to be drawn back there in dreams.

"... the holy well stands before a long, if tiny and ill-lit, corridor of history with doors leading off into many unexpected and little-visited rooms..." James Rattue, author of The Living Stream.

As the soundscape evolves, various bird calls sing out, while at the still centre is the heron. The heron is an enigmatic being richly featured in mythology and folklore. For me, herons can be the most beautiful creatures to grace our skies, and whenever I see one I instinctively feel it is a 'good omen'; somehow they chime with me. In St Anne's Well, the heron may be both guardian and oracle, but always an enduring presence in our subconscious landscapes.

"Give the bird a gift. Open the portal to the Otherworld."