St Bernard's Well, Water of Leith

A perfect day for running, I took myself along the Water of Leith as far as Stockbridge Sunday market where I turned for home through the streets of the New Town.

A natural spring was discovered above the Water of Leith in 1760.  Lord Gardenstone purchased the well in 1789.  Alexander Naysmyth designed the Greco-Roman temple - it has Doric columns, a dome topped with a golden pineapple and a statue of Hygieia, the Greek and Roman goddess of health.  Over the doorway is the inscription "Bibendo Valeris" which means drink and you will be well. 

The well is named after a 12th century monk St Bernard of Clairvaux who lived in a cave nearby.
 
For nearly two centuries people came to the well "to take the waters" believing the mineral rich waters could cure a host of ailments.  It was closed in the 1940s because the water contained arsenic and other impurities.