The wishes of staff at the Speyside Heather Centre, by Dulnain Bridge, came true when they discovered a 22-carat gold sovereign in the dark and murky depths of their popular well.

The centre, which celebrated its 35th anniversary earlier this month, has now donated £100 to charity in exchange for holding onto the coin, which dates from 1898.

The sovereign was found amongst a pile of mucky pennies dredged from the well earlier this week by boss Betty Lambie, who runs the attraction with husband David.

She had been cleaning and counting up the dirty haul of cash when she discovered the solid gold sovereign gleaming brightly in the pile.

After researching the coin's history, Mrs Lambie said that staff had decided to make a charitable donation equivalent to the sovereign's value.

"This has been such a magical find, especially coming at this time of year," Mrs Lambie said yesterday.

"What is for sure is that whoever threw the sovereign into the well didn't do so by mistake. We all hope that their wish came true – it must have been very special."

She added: "Sorting through money thrown into the well is always a mucky but worthwhile job.

"This time I had collected the cash and was sitting at the kitchen table that evening counting it up when I spotted the sovereign. It was the size of a £1 coin, but it stood out from the rest.

"It has the old Queen Victoria veiled profile on its front, and St George and the dragon on the reverse."

Mrs Lambie carried out some research online and found an identical coin up for sale on auction website eBay for £96.

The centre decided to make an equivalent donation to charity in exchange for keeping the sovereign.

A sum of well over £300 – including the Heather Centre's donation – will be on its way from the wishing well fund to local charities.

Mrs Lambie now intends to frame the sovereign and put it on display at the attraction, which is visited by 90,000 people every year.

"We want to inform visitors how it was found, and also want to be able to show the donor the impact their kindness has had if they visit in the future," she said.

"We previously emptied the well a couple of months ago, so the sovereign must have been thrown into it since then."

The Heather Centre has raised more than £100,000 for charity over the years, including Macmillan Nurses, Cancer Research, the Highland Hospice, Crossroads, Faces, and Chest, Heart and Stroke.

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