The site of Bonar's Well, in Ratho, is on the South side of the village. Click here for a location map provided by StreetMap.
Bonar's Well was one of at least two holy wells in the village of Ratho, the other being the Lady Well, associated with Ratho Kirk. Unfortunately, it seems to have been filled in during the nineteenth century, and nothing is now visible. CANMORE gives the OS grid reference as NT 1395 7053, and this places the location to the West of the main road South of the village. But in the OS map from 1855, the well is clearly indicated to the East of the road:
Bonar's Well, 1855 OS Map
Equally, this places the site of the well in a field further East down the glen, which is known locally for its tendency to flood at the slightest opportunity, creating drainage problems for the farmer who owns it. It could be that the reason for this is that the spring on which the well was built still flows under the field.
Location of Bonar's Well?
Allegedly, the well was once very well known in the area, but what the meaning of its name might be seems obscure. Was Bonar an early saint whose biography has slipped from the record, or was the well simply named after a local farmer or landowner at some point in more recent history? Certainly, there was a local landowning family in the nineteenth century called Bonar, and it could be that the saintly association of the well was superceded by a proprietorial association following the Reformation, in an attempt to remove another trace of "Popery"! Equally, the Bonar family was associated with the Georgian house at Ratho Hall, and in the nineteenth century, a whisky distillery was based there - perhaps Bonar's Well is where the distillery got its water from, and the well is named after the distillery's owner?