At Augustine’s Well’s crystal clear waters can be found to the right of the Abbey burial grounds. In the 11th century, the monks of Cerne decided that they needed a more impressive tale of their origins, so they hired a hagiographer named Gotselin to create a history of the abbey.

Gotselin did his best, and came up with a story that St Augustine was travelling through Dorset when he came upon some shepherds. He asked them if they preferred to drink water or beer. The shepherds answered 'water', so he struck the ground with his staff and a spring burst forth. Another version of the story is that he had a vision in which he made the spring burst forth and cried 'Cerno El', or 'I see God', a pun on the ancient name of Cerne, which was Cernel.

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Elevation 130 m

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Monday 27 October

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20 %

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Max wind speed: 28.0 km/h

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Location: Cerne Abbas, West Dorset, Dorset, South West England, England, United Kingdom

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