Lady's Well

Sounds intriguing, doesn’t it? The Lady's Well has been a fixture on the estate since at least 1772, and up until the Second World War, was easily visible from the Adam Bridge on the approach to the House. In 1942, to aid the war effort, the Army was allowed to take over part of the estate at Pennyland as a temporary barracks, as well as parts of the House itself. The Pennyland Barracks were used to station British Army servicemen, whereas Canadian and Polish Commandos, as well as Free French soldiers were stationed at nearby Auchinleck House.

One evening, the Free French soldiers, apparently bored with barracks life, left the camp and went into Auchinleck in search of a little “camaraderie amoureuse”. Needless to say, the local male population was a little upset by this French “love invasion”, and so they not so gently sent them packing. Denied their free love, and smarting from their treatment at local hands, the Free French vented their frustrations by blowing up the elegant stonework of Lady's Well in the grounds. In the delicate words of the correspondence between the local authorities, the Army and Lady Augusta (wife of the 4th Marquess of Bute) there was “an incident” on the estate following “some trouble in the village”. Plans were made to rebuild the well a few years later, however, they never came to fruition, and so there still lie the fallen some of the stones of the Lady's Well, disturbed only by the beautiful sycamore tree that has grown on the spot where it used to be.

Interestingly, the sap from sycamore trees has been used for centuries in the Highlands of Scotland to make wine, and it is also possible to distil sugar from it…so a sweet and cheery end to this tale after all!