Saint Drostan, a disciple of Saint Columba, arrived with companions on the coast of Aberdour in the late 6th century and brought Christianity to northeastern Scotland for the first time. With the permission of the Pictish prince Bridei, he founded a monastery here, probably on the site of the later "Old Kirk." The spring was considered a baptism site and, after Drostan's death, became a place of pilgrimage and healing. The present granite well house was built in the 19th century by a local donor.