00WISHES AT THE WATER

Make a wish
at the water.

An old moss-covered stone well basin around a clear spring in a quiet woodland clearing, soft daylight filtering through the trees — AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

Long before fountains had coins in them, wells and springs did.

On Hadrian's Wall, soldiers and locals left thousands of coins, altars and trinkets at a spring sacred to a water goddess. In the Highlands, people still tie strips of cloth to the trees beside a well. Here is what was left, and what the places ask of visitors now.

DROP IT INor tie it onUpdated 16 October 2026

See what was left

01Principles

Coins for a goddess
Rags for a wish
Leave it light
Old habits, gentle footprints

02THE SHORT ANSWER

People have left
wishes at water for centuries.

In Roman Britain, offerings went into the spring.
At a clootie well, they hang on the trees.

ROMAN SPRING

Thousands of coins for Coventina

English Heritage says excavations at Coventina's well, near Carrawburgh on Hadrian's Wall, uncovered around 16,000 coins in 1876, with altars and sculpture.

See the numbers

CLOOTIE WELL

A rag tied to a tree

At Munlochy on the Black Isle, a cloot is a rag dipped in the well and tied to a tree. Tradition says an ailment fades as the rag disintegrates.

Visiting today

THE PLACE

A spring at the centre

Coventina's shrine had a stone wall enclosing a space about 12 metres square, around a central basin formed around a spring.

See what was left

03WHAT WAS LEFT

Pick an
offering.

Choose something people left at a well to see where it was found and how long it lasted. The bar shows how long that kind of offering has survived, from the records below.

Based on English Heritage, the Northumberland and Durham historic environment record and Forestry and Land Scotland.

Offering finder

Choose an offeringA coin dropped in the springA carved stone altarA brooch or a pearlA wool or cotton rag

A coin dropped in the springCenturies

Coins in Coventina's well ranged from the time of Mark Antony to the emperor Gratian, and were still there when the well was excavated in 1876.

A carved stone altarCenturies

The well held ten altars to Coventina and the goddess Minerva and two dedication slabs, now in the museum at Chesters Roman Fort.

A brooch or a pearlCenturies

The well's contents also included pearls, brooches, jars and two clay incense burners, found in an indiscriminate mass in 1876.

A wool or cotton ragMeant to rot

A cloot is meant to disintegrate: tradition holds that an ailment fades as the rag does. Forestry and Land Scotland says pure wool or pure cotton is best for the environment.

Sources: English Heritage history of Carrawburgh and Coventina's well; Keys to the Past record N7931; Forestry and Land Scotland, Munlochy Clootie Well.

04TWO NUMBERS WORTH KNOWING

One small spring,
a lot of coins.

How many coins came out of Coventina's well,
and how small the basin that held them was.

≈ 16,000 coins

Coins found in Coventina's well in 1876

English Heritage says the 1876 excavations uncovered around 16,000 coins. The local historic environment record lists at least 13,487 coins, from Mark Antony to Gratian.

COINS · ENGLISH HERITAGE

2.6 × 2.4 m

Size of the stone basin around the spring

The spring was encased in a rectangular basin about 2.6 m by 2.4 m, at the centre of a walled enclosure measuring about 12.2 m by 11.6 m inside.

THE BASIN · HISTORIC RECORD

The two records give different totals for the coins; this page quotes each figure as its source gives it.

05FOUR THINGS TO KNOW

Wishing,
lightly.

Both places are still visited. Here is what the people who look after them say.

Keep a cloot small
Forestry and Land Scotland welcomes visitors who bring a cloot to Munlochy, but asks that it is small, appropriate and biodegradable.
Choose pure wool or cotton
Pure wool or pure cotton is best for the environment, because the rag is meant to rot away on the tree.
It is a short walk
The Well Trail at Munlochy is about a quarter of a mile, 0.25 km, and takes around a quarter of an hour.
See the Roman offerings indoors
Little of Coventina's well can be seen on site, and it is often under water. Its finds are in the Clayton Collection at Chesters Museum, open to the public since 1896.

Strips of cotton and wool cloth tied to the branches of trees beside a woodland spring, in soft green light — AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

06WHO MADE THE WISHES

Soldiers far
from home.

Worn, ancient bronze coins resting on pebbles under clear, shallow spring water, light rippling across them — AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

English Heritage notes that commanding officers of the Batavians, a unit posted to the fort of Brocolitia, dedicated altars to Coventina and Mithras. One came from Larinum, now Larino, in east central Italy.

Archaeologists have excavated three shrines and a bath-house in the valley of Meggie's Dene Burn beside the fort, and English Heritage thinks it likely held even more shrines to deities of life-giving water, perhaps visited from other communities too.

07Questions

Questions people ask

What is a wishing well?

Here it means a well or spring where people leave something, such as a coin or a strip of cloth, with a wish or a prayer. In Roman Britain, offerings were left at springs sacred to water deities like Coventina.

How many coins were found in Coventina's well?

English Heritage says around 16,000 coins were uncovered in 1876. The Northumberland historic environment record lists at least 13,487 coins, ranging from Mark Antony to Gratian.

What is a clootie well?

A clootie well is a well, found in Celtic places, where a rag or cloot is dipped in the water and tied to a nearby tree. The tradition holds that an ailment fades as the rag disintegrates.

What should I bring to a clootie well?

Forestry and Land Scotland says a cloot should be small, appropriate and biodegradable, and that pure wool or pure cotton is best for the environment.

Can I see the Roman offerings from Coventina's well?

Yes. Finds from the well are part of the Clayton Collection at Chesters Roman Fort museum on Hadrian's Wall, which is cared for by English Heritage.

08Sources

Make a wish
at the water.