Black Watch Well

Ignored by passing Bermudian motorists, Black Watch Well sits at a sometimes chaotic three-way intersection between North Shore Road, Langton Hill, and Blackwatch Pass. It is marked by a sign, which explains the little structure’s history.

Black Watch Well takes its name from the heroic Scottish soldiers of the 1st Battalion of the 42nd Regiment of Loyal Highlanders, who are forever remembered here as having come to the aid of the area’s “poor and their cattle in the long drought of 1849.” The limestone well they dug down to an underwater lens still bears its wooden roof, though its interior has been capped for safety reasons.

Park at nearby C-Mart’s parking lot, or across the road at the Ducking Stool Park, whose name refers to its history as a site like St. George’s, where 17th-century public punishments, using a seat on a log to dunk sinners, were frequently staged. These days, it is a popular Cup Match [1] campsite, with deep swimming holes off its scenic cliffs.

The dramatic Blackwatch Pass is also worth driving or walking through; its towering limestone walls, which were carved by hand in the 1930s, demonstrate a magnificent feat of engineering, and also show the crumbling geological strata of local limestone. The Pass links North Shore Road with Marsh Folly and Palmetto Road.