A peculiar custom, once forgotten, Dolly dunking is a Cornish tradition where young girls would take their dolls to blessed in holy wells on Good Friday. A custom which has documented since the 1800’s.
In Cornish Feasts and Folklore (1890) M.A. Courtney recorded, “On the afternoons of Good Friday, little girls of Carharrack, in the parish of Gwennap, take their dolls to a stream at the foot of Carn Marth and christen them.” However, local anecdotes say this took place at Figgy Dowdy’s Well, also known as Margery Daw’s Well, located near the top of Carn Marth hill.
“Figgy Dowdy’s Well, Carnmarth, Redruth, c1910,” cornishmemory.com, accessed April 1, 2026
The same custom was observed at Fenton Bebibell sacred spring in west Penwith. (Cornish Homes and Customs, 1934) Named fenten byghan bobel in Cornish, which translates as “Well of the Little People,” this is a possible reference to the small people of Cornish folklore.
Cornish holy wells, and sacred springs, are thought to be places where spirits dwell, to whom offerings would be made for healing, blessings or foretelling. The custom of ‘dolly dunking’ could hark back to folk memories of ancestral spirits who dwelt in, or nearby, springs and the offerings people made to them.
Alternatively, the ‘little people’ could be a reference to the blessing and naming of babies, a practice that may have once taken place at holy wells. It’s possible these traditional rituals were being remembered and acted out by young girls with their dolls.
Good Friday doll blessing is a tradition that has been revived by CASPN at Fenton Bebibell in Morvah, which sits near the Men an Tol monument. The Cornish Ancient Sites Protection Network resurrected the custom 18 years ago and now do an annual ‘dolly dunk’ on Good Friday. The well was lost to the bracken and gorse of the heathland for decades until it was accidentally rediscovered in the 2000’s.
Is it possible that the tradition of dolly dunking, whatever its origins, was once widespread across Cornwall’s holy wells and springs. Taking place in isolated, insular communites, that weren’t in the habit of writing things down, the local customs were lost to time. Leaving us with only scant records of this peculiar Cornish tradition.
We can thank CASPN for keeping this part of old Cornwall alive for future generations.
Figgy Dowdy’s Well Map Ref: SW7146740637 Latitude: 50.221485N Longitude: 5.205112W Fenton Bebibell Map Ref: SW429352 Latitude: 50.160957N Longitude: 5.601117W
Uncanny Cornwall Blog 