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Pentre Ifan Portal Dolmen ,Folklore

Pentre Ifan is one of the finest surviving examples of a Neolithic  chambered tomb in Wales. It forms one of a group of Portal Dolmens , built approximately 6,000 years ago around the tributaries of the Nevern Valley . 
It has it's own place in local folklore as this extract from The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries by W. Y. Evans-Wentz (1911) tells us.

Our Pembrokeshire witness is a maiden Welshwoman, sixty years old.. she was born and has lived all her life within sight of the famous Pentre Evan Cromlech, in the home of her ancestors, which is so ancient that after six centuries of its known existence further record of it is lost.

[..she explained that:]..Spirits and fairies exist all round us, invisible. Fairies have no solid bodily substance. Their forms are of matter like ghostly bodies, and on this account they cannot be caught. In the twilight they are often seen, and on moonlight nights in summer. Only certain people can see fairies, and such people hold communication with them and have dealings with them, but it is difficult to get them to talk about fairies. My mother used to tell about seeing the "fair-folk" dancing in the fields near Cardigan; and other people have seen them round the cromlech up there on the hill (the Pentre Evan Cromlech). They appeared as little children in clothes like soldiers' clothes, and  red

caps, according to some accounts. 

  

 The History of St Dogmael's Abbey  by Emily Pritchard (1907),  quoting the Rev. Henry Vincent Archaeologia Cambrensis, Oct. 1864.
'About sixty years ago a respectable man declared that he was cutting a hedge between Trefas and Pant y Groes when a grey-headed old man came to him and told him that there was an underground way from Caerau to Pentre-Evan ; and that if he excavated a certain place he would find two hundred " murk " 

Feet in the Wishing Well ?

I've always been attracted to water. The sea, rivers , wells, pools have fascinated me and drawn me to them

                                    Brigit's Well Carrog.Image Copyright Chris Jones


Water is life . For example the city of Bath exists  due to the merging of three natural springs in the heart of the city which now deliver over one million litres of water a day. The importance of the site scans 10,000 years from the Mesolithic period to the present day .
What makes a spring or watery place special? Why are some places associated with a goddess or spirit and others ignored? Some areas are devoid of sacred well and water worship whilst others seem to have been a focus for ritual activity from at least the Neolithic period around six thousand years ago.
An  example of an early site for ritual activity around a natural spring has been discovered in Wales .
Hindwell discussed here at the Clwyd Powis Archaeological Trust  website                         http://www.cpat.org.uk/projects/longer/walton/walton12-14.htm 

It is thought that the original activity at this site may have focused on a natural spring 

The site grew to eventually cover over 85 acres - thirty times the size of Stonehenge . The implications are that the site had a ritual function though the exact meaning of this over it's life time has eluded archaeological investigation.

It's hard to say with any certainty if Holywells and Healing Wells  such as Ffynnon Sara near Derwen in Denbighshire have early origins in prehistory as there is no firm on the ground archaeological evidence to support this theory .

Wales has more than it's fair share of sacred watery places which are still a magnet for pilgrimage, worship, offerings and connection to deities, ancestors and the distant past . This is an area I will explore and develop further .

Some examples of springs and wells  I have looked at are shown below. Not all have a rich collection of folklore attached to them and need further research to answer the question 'why' people travel great distances to venerate the site and to seek cures at them , such a place is Brockweir in the Wye Valley. 

Local residents seemed to know nothing about the folklore or origins of the worship at or pilgrimage of the site although they did state that many people from far away knew of the spring and travelled there to seek cures or leave offerings presumably to their own deities or spirit of the spring 

So why do we and how do we venerate water ? Why do we want to have our feet in the Wishing Well and how far into the mists of time do rituals and traditions surrounding watery places extend back ?  

There are many questions to be asked about how the thin veil between Christian and Pagan overlaps and why so many of us of all beliefs and religions still seek something at these very thin and liminal places where we still throw coins, leave personal objects , perform rituals and  send up wishes to the saint or deity of our choice .

                                             St Seiriols Well Penmon Anglesey 

On Garway Church and the thin veil

Garway is one of my favourite churches . I have rarely entered a church with such a beautiful feeling of peace and 'oneness' with the spirit of the place.A place of contemplation where time stands still and the outside world seems very far away .
The ceiling in the nave is decorated with twenty four, six pointed stars.

Garway is one of six churches built in England by the Knights Templar . Little remains now of the circular church, the remains of  which are  buried beneath the present church . A local  resident told me that some years ago there was strong feeling amongst people in the community that the ruins of the Templar church should be covered up and forgotten. I asked her why ? She said she didn't know . Was it because for some reason the work involved in keeping this small area was considered too much trouble ? This seems very unlikely given the area exposed is so small. I wonder if for some reasons best known to themselves certain people didn't want an acknowledgement or memory of the Templar presence . This , if so is to deny history, to cover important archaeological remains and project personal prejudices into altering the history and memory of this beautiful place .

Even earlier than the Templar church there is said to have been a religious presence on the site from the end of the  sixth century although nothing remains of any earlier structures and presumably this first 'church' would have been a wooden structure.
The tower dates to 1180 and is thought to have been a defensive structure separate from the main body of the church at that date

 I approached the church and walked around the exterior , taking in the landscape and the spirit of the place including the now dried up well , from which local lore says that Templars once took water .

The well is still visited as a place of contemplation although whether or not any memory  of it now as a Holy or Healing well remains is something I need to look into further .
As I walked around the church yard the sense of beauty and peace was overwhelming. I came across a small bunch of flowers left beside the path , a small offering to all who were buried there ? If so it was a lovely gesture

 On entering the church I wasn't prepared for the simple beauty  in the architecture , the play on the senses both visual and emotional . The atmosphere was simply beautiful .

To me this felt like a place were the distant past was still very much present . Pagan, pre-Christian call it what you will mingles with a Christian past and present and all souls are welcome there . I believe many souls are present in this place happily welcoming us to join them in their peaceful place .
This is a place where the veil between worlds is so thin there is no real division to stand within these walls is to take that journey from present to past in the most lovely way.
A place to go and wander, connect, stand,  contemplate and come away with a sense of great peace
This is somewhere I will be visiting again and researching in much more depth from a perspective of  folklore and pilgrimage . I also hope to collect local stores and learn more about the hidden histories of Garway Church .
If we do not seek we do not find - open the door to the past and enter.....

Through the Thin Veil 

Garway is a very beautiful Church in an ancient landscape

The church at Garway is a most atmospheric and lovely Portal
Garway is a lovely village with an even more beautiful church originally dating to the Saxon period 
 However there's a very Thin Veil there .... M R James a famous writer of ghost stories, had a peculiar experience when visiting Garway in 1917, which he mentioned in a letter 
'We must have offended something or somebody at Garway I think: probably we took it too much for granted, in speaking of it, that we should be able to do exactly as we pleased. Next time we shall know better. There is no doubt it is a very rum place and needs careful handling.'....
Unfortunately he didn't tell his reader anymore than that
The atmosphere within the church is peaceful and indeed beautiful I can't imagine it was here that M.R. James met his 'rum' spirit though I can believe it of the feelings I picked up in the village !

The Holy or Healing Well at Garway Church said to be were the Templars drank when conducting their rituals and ceremonies at the Church 

The feeling of peace is very beautiful with this area of the church 

Fallen Tomb stone at the Church of St Tysilio , Llantysilio approximately 9 miles from Corwen and 2 miles from Llangollen 
St Tysilio's church lies adjacent to Llantysilio Hall, but at a distance from any nucleated settlement, on the north bank of the River Dee, 4km to the north-west of Llangollen. It is essentially a single-cell late medieval structure, with surviving masonry of that period and some windows of 15thC or 16thC date. A north transept was added in the early 18thC and there was some reconstruction and addition in the Victorian era. Internally, medieval survivals include a font, a small amount of stained glass, and perhaps the lectern. The churchyard, polygonal in shape, is packed with gravemarkers, the earliest from the end of the 17thC.
http://www.cpat.demon.co.uk/projects/longer/churches/denbigh/16893.htm

A local woman told me the story of a young girl who haunts her house which is situated along the lane from the church. The young girl lived in Llantysilio in a time when the belief in and fear of witches was rife . The girl was a healer and grew herbs but local men labelled her a witch. The story goes that she was given shelter at this local house which is now the home of the woman who told me this story . Locla men not content to leave her in peace sought her out one day and murdered her . She is said to be buried in the church yard at the church in Llantysilio .  Her spirit still resides in the house where she is  safe and  cared for . I intend to find out more about this young woman and hopefully find where she was buried and visit her burial place . A very sad story but by all accounts she is a loved and contented  soul living here ...

Valley Crucis Abbey is a Beautiful Ruin where the past walks with the present

 A site I visit often and near my home is Valle Crucis Abbey 

Valle Crucis Abbey was founded as a daughter-house of Strata Marcella in January 1201 by Madog ap Gruffydd Maelor, lord of Iâl. It was once  was ranked as one of the richest Cistercian monasteries in Wales, second only  to Tintern Abbey in the wye Valley 

http://www.monasticwales.org/site/35

Valle Crucis Abbey has many stories attached to it
It's associated with the Holy Grail which is believed by some to have been brought there. Ghostly faces , some in golden helmets have been seen there. Many people say they have heard singing and chanting in Latiin
In the nineteenth century two preachers were walking past the abbey at first light when they heard a male voice singing a Latin religious song. They stopped to listen and did not think that it was anything supernatural at first. It was only when the singing had stopped that they went down to the ruins to introduce themselves and found that there was nobody there
The medieval fish pond is a lovely feature that has survived over the centuries . It once supplied the abbey with fish and therefore food . The water for the Abbey was supplied from the nearby Eglwyseg river

Howard Williams has a wonderful blog which covers the area around Valle crucis
http://howardwilliamsblog.wordpress.com/2014/02/12/valle-crucis-reused-ruins-water-and-death-in-absentia/comment-page-1/