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Sunlight bursts between tall pine trunks hung with strips of coloured cloth, long shadows stretching across the forest floor.
The Black Isle

The Clootie Well

An ancient healing well in the woods by Munlochy on the Black Isle, where for centuries people have tied strips of cloth to the trees.

Welcome

Just outside Munlochy, where the road to the Black Isle runs into woodland, a spring rises on the bank among the trees.

Visited and photographed by Simon Hird

It is one of the old holy wells of Scotland, a place of healing for as long as anyone knows, said to go back to the days of St Curitan, a missionary here around 620.

The ritual was simple. The pilgrim walked three times sunwise round the well, splashed some of its water on the ground, said a prayer, and then tied to a tree a strip of cloth, a cloot, that had touched the one who was ill. As the cloth rotted away, so would the sickness. The roots are older than Christianity, and the custom outlasted even a law of 1581 forbidding it.

Stone steps, now with a rope handrail, climb from the car park up the wooded bank past the spring, and cloths still hang from the branches. Leave the offerings where they are.

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Before you go

Open woodland, there at any time, with a car park by the road.

Where
The A832 west of Munlochy.
Since
About AD 620, by tradition.
Path
Stone steps up a wooded bank.

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Did you know

Strips of cloth and ribbon are knotted onto the bare branches of a small tree, stone steps visible in the wooded clearing behind.
Did you know

Three times sunwise.

Pilgrims walked sunwise round the well three times before tying their cloot to a tree.

Strips of cloth hang from bare trees in a pine forest, sunlight streaming low between the trunks and casting long shadows across the needle-covered ground.
Did you know

Against the law.

An Act of Parliament of 1581 made pilgrimage to holy wells illegal in Scotland.

Hidden Scotland

From our guide to Ross and Cromarty

The Clootie Well rises on a wooded bank just outside Munlochy, where the road runs into the trees, and the branches all around it are hung with rags. Tradition links the healing well to St Curitan, around 620. Pilgrims walked three times sunwise round it, splashed some water on the ground, said a prayer and tied a strip of cloth, a cloot, to a tree. As the cloth rotted, so the illness would fade. Stone steps climb from the car park past the spring. It is a strange and rather moving place, so leave the offerings where they are.

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Where it is

On the south side of the A832 half a mile west of Munlochy, on the Black Isle.

Close byMunlochy.
  1. Three archers with recurve bows stand beside a Pro-Boss target scored with arrowsWildwoodzUnder a mile 1 min by road
  2. The AllangrangeThe AllangrangeUnder a mile 2 min by road
  3. A bottlenose dolphin surfacing in the grey water of the Moray Firth beside a Dolphin Trips Avoch boat.Dolphin Trips Avoch4 miles 7 min by road
  4. Fortrose Cathedral's red sandstone arches and clock tower in its green square under a blue sky.Fortrose CathedralThe red ruin at Fortrose.6 miles 10 min by road
  5. The Singleton of Glen Ord Distillery, Muir of OrdThe Singleton of Glen Ord Distillery, Muir of OrdWhisky at Muir of Ord.9 miles 13 min by road
  6. River Ness WalkRiver Ness WalkInverness across the firth.10 miles 15 min by road
Directions
Corrugated metal building with Black Isle Brewing Co sign and porch entranceRestaurantsBlack Isle Brewery1.8 miles as the crow flies
Coastal village curves along a bay, farmland rolling towards distant hillsAttractionsAvoch Castle4.8 miles
A tray of sponge cakes dusted with icing sugar and filled with jam and cream.CafeHarry Gow5.4 miles
Grassy harbour wall overlooking small boats and white houses along the shoreAttractionsFortrose Harbour5.8 miles
Teal banquettes and wooden tables at IV10 under glass pendant lamps and a model sailing ship.CafeIV10 Café Bar Deli5.9 miles
ShoppingHarbour Lane, Fortrose6.0 miles
The whisky bar at The Anderson in Fortrose, a barman pulling a pint before floor-to-ceiling shelves of bottles.BarsThe Anderson6.0 miles
Glass bakery display with tarts, brownies and pastries on labelled shelvesCafeBakhoos Bakery6.1 miles
The Black Isle Dairy farm shop, a green timber building with a chalkboard and flower tubs on the gravel.ShoppingBlack Isle Dairy6.2 miles

Recommend to a friend

Stay nearby

Places to stay near the well, and when each is next free.

A long sandstone steading with a conical-roofed tower at its centre stands beyond a field of young crops, trees framing it on either side in evening light.Newhall Mains
  • To stay
  • In Balblair
  • 8 miles from the Clootie Well
Check datesA white harled cottage with a slated roof and gabled porch sits behind a garden of wildflowers, a table and chairs on the patio.Garden Cottage
  • Sleeps 6
  • In Dores
  • 11 miles from the Clootie Well
Check datesA stone cottage with a slated roof and dormer windows sits behind a gravel drive, ivy covering one gable end.Ivy Cottage
  • Sleeps 4
  • In Dores
  • 11 miles from the Clootie Well
Check datesA stone steading with green shutters and a slated roof sits beside a gravel drive, mature trees framing the entrance.South Bothy
  • Sleeps 2
  • In The Black Isle
  • 11 miles from the Clootie Well
Check datesPlaces to stayEvery stay in The Black IsleAll our places to stay nearby, to search by date and by who is coming.See them all
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