Posts Tagged ‘giant’s grave’

Brittany 2011 – The Valley of No Return

The Broceliande Forest is a legendary place, like Avalon, whose exact whereabouts are uncertain. These days it is considered by some to be situated in the Paimpont Forest in Ile-et-Vilaine in Brittany. Having visited this forest in 2009 to see Merlin’s Tomb, I decided that we ought to look at another of the parts of the forest this time. So, having visited the town of Paimpont for inspiration we decided to head for the Val Sans Retour (The Valley of No Return), which seemed to contain some interestingly-named attractions – not least of which was the Golden Tree, and a couple of megalithic sites.

Introduction to the Valley of No Return

Our starting point for a walk in the summer sun was the village of Trehorenteuc. We knew that we were probably in for an interesting time when we found that many of the houses and local shops were decorated with murals with a woodland and fairy theme, or were named after characters from the Arthurian mythology – especially Merlin. This bade well. We parked and picnicked at the tourist information office (which is alongside a church reputed to be a resting place for the Holy Grail, no less) and then headed out of the village on foot to the start of the forest paths.

A welcome sign for druids

Once inside the woodland we were shielded from the intense heat, but you could see that the forest was usually flowing with streams, but that the lack of rainfall over the last few months had dried up all the shallower beds so that it was now possible to walk along their course from the village right up into the hills above. You could tell that in Autumn or Winter some river-hopping would be required at some points in order to make your way deep into the forest.

As we entered the forest we felt like we had crossed some kind of magical threshold, and that from now on things would get a little stranger. That’s exactly what happened.

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Spring Equinox 2011 Part 6 – The Kirksanton Complex

Lacra Stone Circles [Portal] [Map]
In the final part of our Spring Equinox posts I want to relate the story and findings from the Kirksanton complex of megalithic sites. The stone circles that are situated above the village of Kirksanton are known collectively as the Lacra sltone circles. The more terrestrial site is called the Giant’s Grave. We decided that the stone circles on the hill would be our first objective.

Despite it being only the cusp of Spring the weather was unseasonably warm. This made the climb from the village to the top of the poorly-woaymarked hill all the more of a pleasure and a difficulty. We trekked to the top of the hill and nearly gave up looking for the circles, because we only found a few scattered stones. In fact, at one point I thought that some sheep were arranged in a circle firm, but then they moved and spolied the optical illusion. If we hadn’t been so knackered we would have used our breath to laugh. At what we hoped was the final peak of the hillside we saw a deserted farmhouse and wondered if this could possibly be the site of a stone circle. I pressed onwards relentlessly with Kal following tirelessly behind. Over the next crest I peered over the dry stone wall and saw what I thought wes a incomplete circle of stones and made yet another exclamation of joy at a possible sighting.

The First Double-Circle
Luckily, this time, this was indeed the right place. As we got closer we saw that the stones were definitely large enough to be a stone circle, and that there weer two sets of stones, both incomplete certainly, yet in a definite semi-circular form that appeared to be the outline of two concentric stone circles.

Kirksanton stone circles - bird's eye view

We dowsed that these stones in this highly-disrupted set of circles no longer had any energetic qualities to them, and were disappointed. We both noticed that there were more stones in the distance, some few hundred yards further on from the outer rim of this circle. I dowsed to see if they had energy in them and found that they did. Kal had already felt the pull of these stones and was already jogging over to them as I dowsed this answer.

The Second Circle

As I got to the second circle I could already see that this megalithic sites was ALSO a double circle. This was highly unusual – two stone circles side by side with each other was strange enough (The Hurlers in Cornwall is three side-by-side) but the idea that they were also both double circles was right out there on the ‘unusuality’ scale! I began to take an interest in the central stones of this second circle, and from a close examination in good light I could see that there were some interesting cup-marks.

The cup-marks int he stone suddenly hit me like a bolt of inspiration. Three circular marks at an angle and in a row, and then a fourth circular mark further down the line and off to the left….seemed very familiar to me. I knew this alignment to be one of the alignments I study most – Orion’s Belt pointing to Sirius! Unmistakeably, that was what I was seeing. So, did this site have a particular link to either Orion or Sirius? I dowsed that it linked to Orion’s Belt, and that the first circle we had visited was the circle that was linked to Sirius. Interesting to me as I had once found that I energise my crystals best by orienting a formation towards Sirius, so it had particular significance for me.

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Arbor Low – Part 2: The Ley Line Connections

As I reported in my previous Arbor Low post Kal and I were inside the stone circle taking dowsing readings. This post is the product of those readings, and, as I had hoped, the great stone circle did indeed give up some of its secrets that evening. The results I present here are only preliminary and cursory research into the amazing insights that we discovered, and I hope that over the course of the next year I can back up everything I am about to say with some solid on-the-ground fieldwork, dowsing, and more research. However, for now, I must content myself with my initial exciting findings, and must re-iterate that they are currently only theoretical and speculative.

Impossible Bearings

We dowsed inside the inner circle to find the point from which the radial alignment leys that Kal had found previously emanated. The spot was in between the two central large recumbent sets of stones. I stood in the centre whilst Kal walked around this point with his dowsing rods. Whenever he got a reading he stopped, and I lined up the compass with his dowsing rod and noted the bearing. After only two readings it became apparent that something quite exciting was going on here – the numbers were coming out incredibly familiar: Zero degrees – due North! Not 1 degree, 5 degrees, or 10, but spot on zero. Next – 45 degrees! Interesting. Well, it doesn’t take a mathematical genius to recognise these numbers as particularly significant when related to a circle!! Kal was oblivious to this, as he was simply walking around and stopping at particular points when the rods moved to a right-angle. I was the one whose eyebrows rose a little at each reading until I couldn’t contain myself any longer and blurted out something like, “This is impossible!”.

Here are the set of radial ley line bearings taken:-

  1. 0 degrees
  2. 45 degrees
  3. 90 degrees
  4. 135 degrees
  5. 180 degrees
  6. 240 degrees
  7. 270 degrees
  8. 335 degrees

I took the readings home, quite excited at the prospect of plotting them onto Google Maps and following the result – perhaps this would open up some new avenues of sites to explore along the lines, or new centres of spirituality to visit and dowse this year? Stupid question, as it turned out – of course it did.

ariel_view_with_radials

The importance of place

If those radials are extended out until they reach significant points, such as the end of the land, or a sacred site, then you get some pretty amazing coincidences across a very large area. How could the circle builders have managed to position the circle with such precision over such a wide area? By using star, sun and moon alignments alone?

Here’s a link to the Google Maps diagram of the radials extended in all directions: Arbor Low radials. In this view you can click on each of the markers and see that each of them is a significantly named place, containing either the name of a Christian saint (popularly “Mary” or “Margaret“), or village names ending in “-ley”, “-lea” or “-leigh”. Some of the villages include the name “Cross“”, which I also think is significant, as it may indicate a location where the alignment leys I have discovered intersect with other ley lines. A rich source of further investigation in the years ahead, I feel. One final criterion for a significantly named place is the inclusion of the word “-stone“, which I believe indicates a standing marker stone may have existed there at one time, acting as a sighting stone indicating the direction and placement of the ley line.

Defining the Criteria for a Ley Line

This has always been a hot topic for leyhunters and critics of them. What constitutes a ley line? One could argue, “Well, you could draw a line anywhere in Britain and find that it goes through a place name like that.“. To a certain extent this is true. Random chance would be one factor, but it may also be that this country is riddled with ley lines, and eventually you are going to cross one or run alongside one if drawing a straight line across country. However, these are the elements I felt constituted a ley line without me having actually dowsed its presence yet:-

  1. The town or village must end in “ley”, “lea”, “lee” or “leigh”
  2. Such a village/town must not lie more than 1 mile from the central path of the neutral ley line.
  3. The path of the line must pass through at least THREE significant ancient sacred sites.
  4. There ought to be many references to saints names in the name of the villages, towns or the churches that the ley line passes through.

You’ll find one or two random proximities over any long line placed across the country. I tested this set of criteria, all classic ley line definitions, by starting a line map at a random point in the British countryside, and traced some lines to the cardinal points from there Here are the results for the Random Ley Line:-

  1. NORTH: one close and one direct hit on a line extending 118 miles.
  2. SOUTH: three close and five direct hits on a line extending 142 miles.
  3. EAST:  no hits or near misses on a line extending 99 miles.
  4. WEST: two close and two hits on a line extending 140 miles.

Eight hits on the random southern line, eh? But let’s look at the clustering of those hits – they almost ALL appear in the small space between the M40 motorway in Oxford (a hot spot for ancient sites and leys) and the M3 motorway in the space of about 20 miles. I venture to suggest we have actually hit an existing ley line in that area, or some very close to it. The total line extends some 140+ miles in total, mostly devoid of hits.

How many ancient sites were passed through in this test? NONE. How many saints names were in the names of villages or towns near to this random line? NONE. Did it align three or more sacred sites? NO. Okay – so the “ley” name criteria was occasionally met in clusters, but the other criteria were completely devoid.

The Arbor Low Lines

Let’s compare that now with the lines that I found emerging from the Arbor Low stone circle. I’ll do the details later, but for now, let’s just compare those cardinal hits and near misses.

arbor_low_map

Let’s examine each of those radials in turn, and see which significant places they touch. NOTE: all the lines have at least ONE sacred site because they all emerge from Arbor Low.

1. The Northern Ley

  • Bearing: 0 Degrees
  • Length: 173 miles.
  • Places: 18
  • Sacred sites: 2

The northern ley ends at Holy Island, and goes straight into the Lindisfarne Priory and ends at a place called Mary Gate.

One of the descendants of Llywelyn the Great (c. 1173-1240) was born in ‘Raby with Keverstone’, which is an interesting connection to Yr Elen mountain, a peak conjoined with one named Carnedd Llywelyn, meaning “Llywelyn’s cairn”.

Here are the places that are upon or close to this ley line:-

  1. Farnley Tyas
  2. Aspley
  3. Bradley
  4. Shipley – confirmed energy ley running N/S – 29th Jan 2011
  5. Burley
  6. Ilkley
  7. Thruscross
  8. Bewerley
  9. Pateley bridge
  10. West Layton
  11. Keverstone
  12. Hedleyhope
  13. Hamsterley
  14. Throkley
  15. Kirkley
  16. Longhorsley
  17. Adderstone
  18. Mary Gate, Holy Island (Lindisfarne Priory)

UPDATE 31st January 2011. I have been to Shipley and confirmed that a neutral energy ley exists in the town centre running North-South through the Hockney pub, a memorial statue and a labyrinth design depicting twin entwined serpents. I dowsed that this is the same energy ley that connects to Arbor Low. I suspect that other energy leys exist in the area too, attested by the sheer number of places ending with the suffix “-ley”.

2. The North–Eastern Ley

  • Bearing: 45 Degrees
  • Length: 71 miles.
  • Places: 16
  • Sacred sites: 4

Possibly travels through the Barbrook series of stone circles. Cannot find an end point, however, as many of the circles on the eastern seaboard would have been timber circles, and long since disintegrated.

Here are the places that are upon or close to this ley line:-

  1. Bakewell (St.Peter’s Well)
  2. Handley
  3. Pilsley
  4. Birchen Edge cairns (between Wellington’s and Nelson’s Monuments)
  5. Ramsley (reservoir)
  6. Whickersley
  7. Bramley
  8. Alverley
  9. Cantley
  10. Wheatley
  11. Twin Rivers (at the mouth of the Humber where it divides into two rivers)
  12. Crabley
  13. Hunsley
  14. Rowley
  15. Westwood Common timber circle
  16. Beverley

3. The Eastern Ley

  • Bearing: 90 Degrees
  • Length: 73 miles.
  • Places: 6
  • Sacred sites: 3

The line ends, I believe, at Bolinbroke Castle, made famous for being the seat of many of England’s kings, as recounted famously in several Shakespearean plays such as Henry IV, who was born there. Wikipedia link. The only other significant place I could find on this line is the Nine Ladies Stone Circle, also in Derbyshire. Perhaps the line ends there – this is something I will have to test out in the field by checking points along the line.

The funny thing about this line is that its bearing is not exactly 45 degrees. If a line is drawn at exactly 45 degrees then it slightly misses Nine Ladies, and misses Bolinbroke by a mile or so by the time it gets out east. Now, despite what I said earlier about the fact that the line as measured on the night was 45 degrees exactly, I actually think this might be a case for saying that I may have taken the measurement slightly wrong for this line. I say that because I am, indeed, fitting this line retrospectively based on the evidence of the sacred sites and villages named “ley” that I only discovered when I traced the line across the land. If you follow the line and see that the sites fit if the line is angled slightly further than 45 degrees I think you’ll agree it’s a more convincing case for the existence of a ley line.

Here are the places that are upon or close to this ley line:-

  1. Nine Ladies Stone Circle
  2. Clay Cross
  3. Lower Pilsley
  4. Pleasley
  5. Clipstone
  6. Bolinbroke Castle

However, by the criteria I laid out earlier, this line is not wholly convincing – only two ancient sites appear on it, and not three – unless Bolinbroke Castle could be considered to be an ancient site. We may never know. Where’s Time Team when you need them?

4. The South-Eastern Ley

  • Bearing: 135 Degrees
  • Length: 155 miles.
  • Places: 12
  • Sacred sites: 3

The least convincing of the radials, as I can’t find many ancient sites along this line for quite a long stretch. This is the problem with most of the lines that extend over the eastern side of the country – the geology of the area does not encourage the building of stone monuments. Instead, it would appear that their ancient monuments were rendered in timber, and then never upgraded to stone, as they had been elsewhere where suitable stone was abundant.

Here are the places that are upon or close to this ley line:-

  1. Brightgate
  2. Matlock Bath (petrifying well, Heights of Abraham, Rutland and Great Masson caverns)
  3. Lea Bridge
  4. Lea Brooks
  5. New Brinsley
  6. Felley (old priory - information contributed by reader ‘Pat’)
  7. Mapperley
  8. Lambley (The Lambley Spring)
  9. Wiggenhall St Mary Magdalen
  10. Tivertshall St.Margaret
  11. Pulham St.Mary
  12. St.James South Elmham

There is clustering of sites on this line, with a section in the middle (between Lambley near Nottingham and Wiggenshall SMM in Norfolk) where there are neither correspondences or ancient sites listed. I am quite unsure about whether the line continues beyond Nottingham at the moment. The only thing I have to make me want to keep the line the length it is would be the end point being the mouth of the River Blyth, which is such an exact geographical feature for a line to end at. A mile further north or south would have been less convincing. End points being the mouths of rivers seems to be a feature of the Arbor Low radials.

5. The Southern Ley

  • Bearing: 180 Degrees
  • Length: 167 miles.
  • Places: 25
  • Sacred sites: 5

The southern ley ends at St Catherine’s Hill on the northern edge of a town called Christ Church at the mouth of the River Avon and River Stour. Either that, or it ends at the Breamore (Bremmer) sites just a few miles further north, where there is a “Giant’s Grave” long barrow, a “Giant’s Chair” and an ancient turf maze called the Miz-Maze. Passes next to Stonehenge and other Wiltshire sites, and through Marlborough.

Of Catherine’s Hill:

“One “miracle” legend that local heritage does not play up is that Christchurch, like Vortigern’s citadel, was reportedly consumed by fire from heaven – no doubt because the reason given is that it was devastated by a fire-breathing dragon sent to punish the town for its wickedness. An account by a visiting French monk, Herman of Laon, has the town being burnt by a fire-breathing flying dragon in 1112/1113. Herman came here with a group touring SW England to raise funds to rebuild their home church, but got an unwelcome reception here. As Herman’s group left, they looked back and were pleased to see the town being burnt up by a dragon in revenge for the insult to their Lady of Laon.

Dragons are often associated with “fire from Heaven,” but despite new-age attempts to equate dragons with ‘serpent lines’ (rather than ley lines) of esoteric or geomantic force, no link with St Catherine’s Hill is apparent, Herman’s dragon rising from the sea. There is a local land-based serpent-dragon legend, but it is localised across the valley at Bisterne (which means beast’s or pest’s secret place). Or at least the family whose ancestor supposedly slew it resided at Bisterne, with the dragon carved on their stone gateposts in commemoration, the dragon itself alighting at Burley Beacon nearby to drink the milk the fearful locals left out for it. (For more on dragons and the theory they are linked to ley lines, see Here Be Dragons (2008), by Michael Hodges, author of the history of St Catherine’s Hill pictured right.)

The notion of the hill as a still actively pagan site in the Middle Ages is supported by some slight circumstantial evidence. At some point a chapel was built on the hilltop either in addition to, or else instead of, the planned hilltop priory church. This is despite the fact the downtown Priory site had up to nine chapels or altars there already. One theory is a hilltop church was erected to displace ongoing pagan use of the hill. It was the policy of St Augustine that the early Saxon church should take over ‘wood and stone’ pagan sites and give them a cosmetic makeover to convert them into Christian ones, beginning around 600.” (Source : http://www.south-coast-central.co.uk/n&q/stcatherineshill.htm)

Here are the places that are upon or close to this ley line:-

  1. Fenny Bentley
  2. Cubley
  3. Fradley
  4. Hilliard’s Cross
  5. Lea Hall
  6. Bentley Heath
  7. Hockley Heath
  8. Henley-in-Arden
  9. Billesley
  10. Blockley
  11. Coln St.Aldwyns
  12. Blunsdon St.Andrew
  13. Westlea
  14. Rockley
  15. Lower Everleigh
  16. Salisbury Cathedral
  17. Clearbury Ring
  18. The Giant’s Graves and Chair, and Miz-Maze
  19. Gorley
  20. Hangersley
  21. Ashley Heath
  22. St.Leonards and St.Ives
  23. South Ripley
  24. Sopley
  25. St Catherine’s Hill

6. The South-Western Ley

  • Bearing: 240 Degrees
  • Length: 120 miles.
  • Places: 14
  • Sacred sites: 2

Passes through the legendary site of Caerleon, reputed site of King Arthur’s Camelot and long-time Roman Fort. link.

When the feast of Whitsuntide began to draw near, Arthur, who was quite overjoyed by his great success, made up his mind to hold a plenary court at that season and place the crown of the kingdom on his head. He decided too, to summon to this feast the leaders who owed him homage, so that he could celebrate Whitsun with greater reverence and renew the closest pacts of peace with his chieftains. He explained to the members of his court what he was proposing to do and accepted their advice that he should carry out his plan in The City Of The Legions.

Situated as it is in Morgannwg (Glamorgan), on the River Usk, not far from the Severn Sea, in a most pleasant position, and being richer in material wealth than other townships, this city was eminently suitable for such a ceremony. The river which I have named flowed by it on one side, and up this the kings and princes who were to come from across the sea could be carried in a fleet of ships. On the other side, which was flanked by meadows and wooded groves, they had adorned the city with royal palaces, and by the gold-painted gables of its roofs it was a match for Rome.”

“After the death of Uther Pendragon, the leaders of the Britons assembled from their various provinces in the town of Silchester and there suggested to Dubricus, the archbishop of the City Of The Legions, that as their King he should crown Arthur, son of Uther. He called the other bishops to him and bestowed the crown of the kingdom upon Arthur. Arthur was a young man only fifteen years old …”

(from ‘History of the Kings of Britain’ by Geoffrey of Monmouth).

I suspect that the ley line may end at Butterdon Hill in the Dartmoor National Park. There is only circumstantial evidence for this based upon the frequency of nearby villages with the word “ley” or “leigh” in their names. Perhaps there is stronger evidence for the end point being Caerleon.

Here are the places that are upon or close to this ley line:-

  1. Farley
  2. Checkley
  3. Church Leigh
  4. Dodsleigh
  5. Chartley
  6. Shirleywich
  7. Teddesley Park
  8. Gailey
  9. Wrottesley Park
  10. Romsley
  11. Upper Arley
  12. Tedstone Wafer
  13. St Weonards
  14. Caerleon

7. The Western Ley

  • Bearing: 270 Degrees
  • Length: 92 miles.
  • Places: 6
  • Sacred sites: 2

The western ley goes to the imposing mountain of Yr Elen. No-one seems to know why it is dedicated to Elen, but I can hazard a guess – it is Elen of the Roads – the spirit who shows the seeker the way, who makes visible the invisible paths of energy, the ley lines, and here stands this summit: due West of Arbor Low, on a ley line, and dedicated to Elen. No other sacred sites along the way though, unless you include the town of Mold, which is steeped in history and pre-history, and whose castle may have been the site of a former, much more ancient, fort or protected sacred space. Or perhaps its church dedicated to St.Mary may have a much older history. But that’s speculation.

Here are the places that are upon or close to this ley line:-

  1. Healthylee
  2. Wimboldsley
  3. Tarporley
  4. Buckley
  5. Mold (St Mary the Virgin church)
  6. Yr Elen (mountain)

8. The North-Western Ley

  • Bearing: 335 Degrees
  • Length: 68 miles.
  • Places: 6
  • Sacred sites: 2

The north-west ley ends up at Blackpool’s South Shore. Not generally considered to be a sacred site (although it oculd be considered to be the spiritual home of Mecca Bingo) until you do a little  reserach on the subject. Here’s a quote about Blackpool’s megalithic history from the Megalithic Portal site concerning the one sacred site known about in Blackpool:

“Information from Pastscape:

“The Rev William Thornber states that a round cairn or cairns formerly stood on the site of the Lodge of Stonyhill, and he was told that Mr. Fisher, the proprietor of the field, had carted away upwards of twenty loads of soil, burnt red and black, from the site of a large circular cairn, which had made it difficult to identify. He also states that adjoining the cairns are two wells, one called the Fairy Well, or Wrangdomwell, and the other Bull Spring, which issues from a huge oblong mound of stones, in the Bull Meadows, which he supposes to be of artificial origin. He says that the Fairy Well was still resorted to with offerings of rags , nails and pins, and that he had found, himself, nails, leather thongs and-an old shaped knife, after the meadows had been ploughed.

This area is now completely covered with modern buildings.” Source: http://www.pastscape.org/hob.aspx?hob_id=39366

Here are the places that are upon or close to this ley line:-

  1. Fernlee Reservoir
  2. Pott Shrigley
  3. Gatley
  4. Tyldesley
  5. Crosstown
  6. Blackpool

Again, I’m  not sure if this line really constitutes being called a ley line. There are very few sites above random chance, the sacred site at the end of the line may or may not have been of significant size and status, and there are no known extant or remnant sites in between Arbor Low and Blackpool.

—————————————————————–

As you can see, some of the radials are more convincing than others. Over the course of the next few years I aim to see whether there is any dowsing evidence, or local custom that would back up these suppositions.

Gwas.

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