Dupath Well, Callington 1857

A pencil and wash sketch of Dupath Well, near Callington, Cornwall, signed "R. H., 1857."

Dupath Well, near Callington, Cornwall, is a remarkably well-preserved example of the Medieval predilection for building covered “holy wells” in the county. Around forty structures, usually comprising a simple gabled house, were built over wells or springs in Cornwall in the Medieval period. This well was built in 1510 by the Augustinian canons of the nearby St. Germans, on land which they acquired in 1432, then known as “Theu Path.” The spring was said to be able to cure whooping cough, and there may have been baptisms in its waters. The edifice is made entirely of Cornish granite and was restored by the Reverend H. M. Rice, rector of South Hill and Callington, in the 19th century.

A local legend suggests the site once played host to a fateful battle between Colan, a poor knight, and Gotlieb, a rich gentleman, for the hand of a Lady. The story inspired a poem by the Reverend R. S. Hawker, (1803-1875), who changed the latter’s name to “Siward.” It read as follows:

Dupath Well.

Hear how the noble Siward died!
The Leech hath told the woeful bride
‘Tis vain: his passing hour is nigh,
And death must quench her warrior’s eye.

“Bring me,” he said, “the steel I wore,
When Dupath spring was dark with gore:
The spear I raised for Githa’s glove,
Those trophies of my wars and love.”

Upright he sate within the bed,
The helm on his unyielding head:
Sternly he leaned upon his spear,
He knew his passing hour was near.

“Githa! thine hand!” how wild that cry,
How fiercely glared his flashing eye;
“Sound” herald!” was his shout of pride:
Hear how the noble Siward died.

A roof must shade that storied stream,
Her dying lord’s remembered theme:
A daily vow that lady said,
Where glory wreathed the hero dead.

Gaze, maiden, gaze on Dupath Well,
Time yet hath spared that solemn cell,
In memory of old love and pride:
Hear how noble Siward died.”

- Robert Stephen Hawker, “Dupath Well,” The Cornish ballads and other poems of the Rev. R.S. Hawker, Vicar of Morwenstow : including a second edition of 'The quest of the Sangraal', (Oxford; London: James Parker and Co., 1869), 21-2.

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