Where to Find King Arthur & Round Table Companions Kipping - Until Needed...

Tales abound that the legendary King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table never actually died, but lie sleeping in a cave, waiting for the moment of Britain’s greatest peril to wake and defend their island home. Or alternatively, to either sally out as part of the Wild Hunt and/or complete an annual supernatural circuit around the mountain or hill they reside in.

Some maintain Arthur was an historical figure who had been turned into a legendary hero; others say the precise opposite – he was a protective Celtic deity who was transformed into a ‘real’, ‘historical’ character. So where to find the Pendragon? There are plenty of places in Great Britain rumoured to house ‘The King of the Mountain’, many with similar provenance.

And here they are, those that I could find that is. There may well be more.

Glastonbury Tor

​Arthur and his knights are said to be sleeping beneath Glastonbury Tor, often considered the mythical ‘Isle of Avalon’. Monks attempting to cash in on the legend claimed to have discovered the tomb of Arthur and faithless wife Guinevere at the nearby Glastonbury Abbey in 1191.

Glastonbury Tor

​MundoSalvajeMedia, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Sewingshields

In the 1800s, a knitting shepherd dropped his ball of wool near the overgrown ruins of Sewingshields Castle (no longer visible); following it he stumbled upon a hidden passageway to a great subterranean hall, with a massive round table in the centre. King Arthur, Guinevere and the Knights of the Round Table sat around it in a deep slumber. On the table lay a bugle, a garter and the sword Excalibur. The yokel instinctively picked up Excalibur and cut the garter, upon which moment Arthur and company awoke. Arthur in cold fury said, “O, woe betide the evil day On which this witless wight was born, Who drew the sword, the garter cut, But never blew the bugle horn.”

The Arthurian entourage then went back to sleep and the shepherd scampered away, to an uncertain fate.

Eildon Hills (Melrose, Scotland)

Sir Walter Scott tells of a horse dealer paid in ‘ancient coin’ by an elderly, archaically-garbed buyer who for some reason then takes him inside the hill that evening. As is by now expected, King Arthur and his knights are snoozing; shown the obligatory horn and a sword, the dealer blows the horn. The knights awaken and a loud voice (Arthur’s) bellows he is a coward for not grabbing the sword first.

Richmond Castle

Richmond Castle, Scollands Hall

​Tilman2007, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

According to legend, the castle is built over a cavern where King Arthur and his knights sleep, waiting to rise from their slumber to defend England in her hour of need. Local potter Peter Thompson found his way by chance into the cave. The curious Thompson picked up Excalibur and was suddenly deafened by the sound of clattering armour, so he speedily replaced the sword. All was then still. But as he legged it, he heard a melancholic voice, “Potter Thompson, Potter Thompson Hadst thou blown the Horn Thou hadst been the greatest man That ever was born.”

The potter stopped only to seal the entrance so no-one else would disturb the sleeping knights. Or in another version, searched frantically for it, but never discovered it again.

Dunstanburgh Castle

Earl Thomas of Lancaster (cousin of King Edward II), built the Dunstanburgh edifice between 1313 and 1322, apparently to emulate Camelot, so no ‘Sleeping King’, just the story of a noble known to his allies as ‘Roi Arthur’ in opposition to the feckless Edward, who was famously said to have later died by red hot poker insertion.

In yet another iteration of the Sleeping Knight story, a knight named Guy the Seeker was led to a subterranean hall at the castle by Merlin. There he beholds a beautiful woman (Guinevere?) in a crystal tomb, surrounded by knights – but no mention of King Arthur. Sir Guy faces the tiresome sword and horn challenge and tries blowing the horn first, but forgetting to unsheathe the sword first, fails.

Dinas Rock

Craig-y-dinas boasts a 45m sheer vertical limestone face crowned by an Iron Age hillfort; a sleeping King Arthur and his army biding their time for a counteroffensive against any invaders. They also guard a heap of gold and silver, all protected by bells that will wake them from their kip should any miscreants enter the cave.

King Arthur's Cave - near The Doward

King Arthur’s Cave

​Dave.Dunford, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

King Arthur's Cave lies at the foot of a low cliff at the north-western end of Lord's Wood in The Doward, Herefordshire. Shrouded in local superstition, it the cave is connected with Vortigern, the foolish British king who invited Anglo Saxon brothers Hengist and Horsa in as his mercenaries.

Big mistake.

Arthur and his knights apparently once sheltered in the cave, but only for a short time, when on the run from the Saxons. Merlin may have hidden some treasure there though.

The Doward (Welsh: Deuarth Fach, lit. "two small hills"), boasted cave dwellings which were inhabited until relatively recently.

Tintagel - Merlin’s Cave

OK, not a resting place, but worth a mention, the cave is located beneath Tintagel Castle in Cornwall. In Idylls of the King, Tennyson described waves bringing the baby Arthur to the shore and the mage Merlin then carrying the infant lad to safety.

Alderley Edge

The link between the caves at Alderley Edge and Arthur only dates to the Victorian period. In 1838, Mrs Gaskell wrote insisting that Arthur and his court lay sleeping there until England’s extremis roused them. J Roscoe’s 1839 poem ‘The Iron Gate: A Legend of Alderley’ fleshed out a fuller version of the story, but much earlier Cheshire tales spoke of warriors and wizards in the caves, ready for war, and a mysterious man (presumably Merlin) trying to buy white horses from a local farm for the reawakened knights.

Author and Cheshire local Alan Garner used this and other legends, in his novels The Weirdstone of Brisingamen and The Moon of Gomrath.

Cadbury Castle

Said to be hollow, King Arthur and his Knights sleep waiting to be called upon by Britain again in times of dire need. It’s said that on Midsummer's Eve (or every seven years in another version) a hole appears in the hillside and the Knights ride their horses down to drink the water from a spring near Sutton Montis Holy Trinity church (pictured), or maybe the Church of St Thomas à Becket in South Cadbury.

Freebrough Hill

A small peak south of the village of Moorsholm, in Redcar and Cleveland, England; legend says a local farmer, chasing a lost lamb, found an opening into the hill, thence a tunnel that led to an oak door, discovering the King and his knights asleep seated by the Round Table.

Arthur’s Seat

According to legend, King Arthur sleeps beneath the lion-shaped rocks on Edinburgh’s Arthur's Seat, the craggy remains of an extinct volcano close to the city centre. Others claim without evidence it was the site of Camelot.

And, an easily disproved myth, Merlin’s Cave in Clerkenwell, barely two minutes from where I used to live in Amwell Street.

Incidentally, there is another Merlin’s Cave - a pub in the Hertfordshire village of Chalfont Saint Giles, close to the appropriately named Seer Green, where Merlin and would stop off for a break on the way to London when conducting chores for the King.

There are many supposed burial places for Merlin, including Merlin's Grave, Drumelzier (Scottish Borders), The Marlborough Mound (Wiltshire), Bardsey Island (North Wales), and Merlin's Tomb, Brocéliande Forest (Brittany).

According to legend, Sir Lancelot is buried at ‘Joyous Gard’, which could be in France, or Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland:

In Meigle, Scotland there is a site named Guinevere's Grave; apparently, the former queen made her way to Scotland after King Arthur’s supposed death, changing her name to Vanora. There she went back to her old naughty ways, provoking the townsfolk to kill her. Other tales speak of Guinevere becoming a nun at either Caerleon or ‘The Mound's Marker’ at Amesbury .

King Arthur TV shows and movies

King Arthur is of course, the subject of numerous novels, TV series and movies. Here’s the first episode of an interesting one from 1977, ITV’s Raven (all episodes currently available on YouTube). An orphan/former borstal inmate (Phil Daniels) assists a Merlin-esque archaeology professor (Michael Aldridge) in his excavation of a system of caves beneath an ancient stone circle, containing 5th-century rock carvings related to the legend of King Arthur.

C. S. Lewis ’ 1945 novel That Hideous Strength (’A Modern Fairy-Tale for Grown-Ups’), in which Arthur is said to be living in the land of ‘Abhalljin’ on the planet Venus.

Camelot (1967): I Wonder What The King Is Doing Tonight? Changed to, “I Wonder Who The King Is Screwing Tonight? by a bored Richard Burton during the long-running, first stage version of the show.

Arthur is not unique in the legendarium; there are many other examples of slumbering monarchs, heroes, religious leaders, the odd dupe (Van Winkle) and villains across the globe, including the following, some illustrated with clips.

Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa

Rip Van Winkle

Brân the Blessed

Thomas the Rhymer

Typhon and Enceladus in Mount Etna

The demon Hobbomock, sealed in Sleeping Giant mountain in Connecticut

Bernardo Carpio, the ‘King of the Tagalogs’

Ogier/Holger the Dane

And quite a few more, including I guess, Jesus, as he was laid to rest in a cave on a hill.

Also... Kay Khosrow, Shah of Persia, Alexander Suvorov, St. Wenceslas (Václav) of Bohemia, Stephen I of Hungary, Loki, King David, Artavazd I of Armenia, Queen Tamar of Georgia, St. John the Evangelist, Kind Dunmail, King Harold II, Owain Glyndŵr, William Tell, Csaba, the son of Attila the Hun, Fionn mac Cumhaill, Kūkai, founder of Shingon Buddhism, Charlemagne

Stephen Arnell’s novel THE GREAT ONE is available on Amazon Kindle:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-One-Secret-Memoirs-Pompey-ebook/dp/B0BNLTB2G7

References

Article header image attribution:

​Évrard d'Espinques, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Kate Bush - King of the Mountain: https://youtu.be/F8xk_AkeP5c

Richmond Ghost - https://great-castles.com/richmondghost.html

King Arthur - https://gwrachtimeline.co.uk/king-arthur-sleeps-under-the-dinas-rock

Wild Hunt - https://nightbringer.se/the-legend-of-king-arthur/a-z-arthurian-events/wild-hunt/

Eildon Hills - https://nightbringer.se/the-legend-of-king-arthur/arthurian-locations/e-arthurian-locations/eildon-hills/

bardsandauthorsblogspot.com

themodernantiquarian.com

theforestreview.co.uk

hexham-courant.co.uk

Meet Puck, the Mischievous Sprite of Olde (and maybe current) England

Puck, The Naughty Sprite

As we approach Midsummer’s Eve...

To many, the naughty sprite Puck (aka Robin Goodfellow) is best known from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night's Dream (1596) as one of the main fairy characters that populate the play, significantly influencing events with his cheeky pranks such as replacing Nick Bottom's head with that of an ass.

Puck by Fuseli

​Henry Fuseli, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Older readers may possibly recall Kipling’s novel Puck of Pook's Hill where Puck (“a small, brown... pointy-eared person”), who refers to himself as "the oldest Old Thing in England", recounts various scenes of English history/fantasy to two children from nearby Burwash, in the High Weald of Sussex. Kipling's Puck is extremely critical of the modern image of a fairy: “Can you wonder that the People of the Hills don't care to be confused with that pointy-winged, wand-waving, sugar-and-shake-your-head set of imposters? Butterfly wings, indeed!”

​Puck of Pook's Hill (1906) by Rudyard Kipling

​‘Pook’s Hill’ is thought to be the hill that can be seen to the south-west from the lawn at Bateman’s, Kipling’s charming rural residence. Its real name is Perch Hill.

Jonathan Whitesell played Robin Goodfellow in The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (2020):

​Jack Gleeson (Joffrey from Game of Thrones) also essayed Puck in season two of The Sandman on Netflix last year.

Puck and Fairies, from "A Midsummer Night's Dream"

​Joseph Noel Paton, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

​In Amazon’s appalling fantasy series Carnival Row (2019, 2023), the Puck are a race of ‘fae’.

But who was Puck - and was he in any way ‘real’?

​Puck associated place-names in England are relatively rare when compared to those commonly said to possess Norse and Saxon stems and originate from Gloucestershire, parts of Sussex, and the South-West, suggesting a possible Celtic origin. Names such as South Gloucestershire’s Pucklechurch ("Puck's Church") and various Puck- and Poke- prefixed woods, hills, and wells survive from early-medieval times to the this very day. Looking further back, Puck has been linked to the Greek God, Pan. In Anna Franklin’s Midsummer: Magical Celebrations of the Summer Solstice (2002) she says, “Robin Goodfellow is sometimes described as having the head of a youth and the body of a goat. Like the god Pan, he has a lusty nature, small horns on his head, and carries musical pipes. It may be that he is the fairy remnant of the ancient horned god or nature spirits, since there originally seems to have been a race of pucks.”

There is also said to be a link between Puck, The Green Man and ​Robin Hood - all to an extent representing nature in its raw and wilful form. Mike Harding, author of A Little Book of the Green Man (1998), said in a 2010 letter to The Guardian:

Robin Hood and the woodland orgies

​Of course there was no Robin Hood. The name is a corruption of Robin of the Wood or Robin in the Hood and refers to Robin Goodfellow/Puck, the spirit of the woods, a pagan nature god who lived on well beyond the Christianisation of this island (Robin is often quoted in witchcraft trials as the name the witches chose for their familiars). He was no "tricksy spirit" but a powerful green god – perhaps seen in one aspect in the images of the Green Man that adorn so many of our great medieval churches and cathedrals. Mayday (a movable feast dependent upon the first blossoming of the hawthorn) was the signal for all and sundry to hie them away to the woods for a mass orgy. Harsh winters and poor diet meant low fertility, so the best way to ensure a good stock of babies was for women to have as many sexual partners as possible.

Any children born of the woodland orgies that went under the name of the Robin Hood games became known as Robson, Robinson or Hudson (Robert Graves – The White Goddess). Men in tights might work very well for the film-makers and the tourist boards – green gods that encouraged fecund fornication probably wouldn't figure highly in the naming of airports. And Maid Marian? Mary the Virgin Mother, the maid, consort of the Green Man perhaps. Morris dancers? Well that phallic symbol the maypole was brought out of the woods accompanied by a gang of dancers – Morris men. (Mary's men?) Until Cromwell came along and did away with maypoles and bonking in the bower, England was a much more ribald and perhaps even merry place. Perhaps the Tories who want a Big Society and a return to merry England could revive the maypole and spontaneous and widespread woodland nookie – bit late to put it in the manifesto though.

​Despite the comparative scarcity, at least 50 places in England feature the word "Puck," including:

Puckrup, Gloucestershire - the hamlet derives its name from Old English, meaning a "goblin-haunted farmstead". In local folklore, the locality is heavily associated with Puck (or Puca)

​Puckaster Cove, Isle of Wight - mentioned frequently in local folklore regarding ‘fairy dances’.

​Puckstye & Pockford, Surrey - relating to nearby fields and a centuries-old goblin/sprite-haunted pathway

​Puckham Woods, Gloucestershire - associated with medieval witchcraft

​Puckshipton, Wiltshire - strongly associated with sightings of goblins etc

​According to Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898): Puck/Robin Goodfellow is both a "drudging fiend", and merry domestic fairy, famous for mischievous pranks and practical jokes. During late evenings Puck will sometimes perform small services for the family over which he ‘presides’. The Scots call this kind of domestic spirit a brownie; the Germans, Kobold or Knecht Ruprecht. Scandinavians called it Nissë God-dreng.

​According to his mood, Puck would undertake minor housework, some fine needlework or butter-churning. He would assist housewives with their chores, in expectation of an offering of some fresh crusty white bread and creamy milk. If this were neglected, he would steal that which he believed was owed and enact other petty acts of retribution upon the householders.

After the Protestant Reformation, Puck became the subject of negative texts written by Protestant proselytisers, along with, of course, other supernatural entities. Edmond Bicknoll claimed he was born from the ‘fruit of infidelity’ and was a conspirator of the devil, whilst Reginald Scot referred to Puck as the ‘great and ancient bullbeggar’ and Edward Dering blamed the sprite for the ‘idle superstitions’ of medieval religion.

Contrary to the attacks from Protestant authorities, the belief in Robin Goodfellow and his fairy companions remained significant in early modern popular life, particularly in the realm of household. Indeed, in Bedfordshire, where I currently abide, local rustic families supposedly still give offerings and venerate the ‘Little Folk/Hobs/Lubber Fiends’ who will minister to their domiciliary needs, if appropriately placated.

The fear Puck could engenderer also led to other customs which were designed to prevent his punishments from occurring. For example, people would often leave out pails of water for the creatures to wash themselves. In 1731, George Waldron argued that this belief was still important, saying “a person would be thought impudently profane” to go to bed “without having first set a tub, or pail full of clean fresh cool water”, in order for “these guests to bathe themselves in”.

Which is nice. Maybe this accounts for the pails of water left by cottages in my locality; unless of course it’s meant for the squirrels and birds during the current heat wave.

Puck was portrayed as a cocky trickster who could also shape-shift to toy with the people he met, stating, “sometimes I meet them like a man, sometimes an oxe, sometimes a hound, and to a horse I turn me can.” His jolly japes ranged from ruining dinner parties by annoying guests, spooking people in their sleep and when in the mood, swapping human children for hideous elf-changelings.

Puck by Joshua Reynolds

​Joshua Reynolds, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

​Puck, as Robin Goodfellow, even appears in an 1856 speech by Karl Marx: "In the signs that bewilder the middle class, the aristocracy and the poor profits of regression, we recognize our brave friend Robin Goodfellow, the old mole that can work the earth so fast, that worthy pioneer – the Revolution."

​In 1952, a woman named Mrs. C. Woods reported encountering a 3-foot-tall "elf" or sprite whilst yomping on Dartmoor. Apparently she initially mistook the peculiar little figure for an animal, but realized it was a "tiny man in brown" wearing a smock when she approached closer.

The Red Sprite, a form of upper-atmospheric lightning, is sometimes referred to as "Puck", a reference to mischievous nature spirits, inspiring the phenomenon's name. Whilst extremely rare, Red Sprites have been photographed and witnessed in the night skies of England during severe thunderstorms.

​The Hillfort of Sussex kings on Midsummer's Eve

SOURCES

​May Day’s Festival of Beltane — A Sacred Ritual of Nudity & Fun: https://bearblend.com/smoke-signals/happy-may-day/

Marx’s speech at anniversary of the People’s Paper: https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1856/04/14.htm

Pooks Hill/Perch Hill: https://theweald.org/P5.asp?PId=PSx.Br

Does OE Puca Have an Irish Origin? https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00393274.2017.1314773

​Bedfordshire Folklore: https://britishfolklore.com/bedfordshire/

​Lob Lie-By-The-Fire; Or, The Luck of Lingborough: https://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/ewing/lob/lob-01.html

​The Hart Hall Hob: https://www.fairyist.com/fairy-tales/the-hart-hall-hob/

​Robin Goodfellow: https://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/Robin-Goodfellow/

​Houseproud faeries? https://britishfairies.wordpress.com/2022/12/18/houseproud-faeries/

​Piskies, Pucks and other strange goings on: https://www.toadhallcottages.co.uk/blog/piskies-pucks-and-other-strange-goings-on-part-1/

​Puckwudgie and European influence: https://britishfairies.wordpress.com/tag/fairy-arrow/

​Wizards, Fairies and Elves: Where to Find Them Now: https://www.fairylandtrust.org/wizards-fairies-and-elves-where-to-find-them-now-part-3/

​The Moorland Haunts of the Pixies:https://sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/tdp/tdp02.htm

​Fear of Little Men: https://spectator.com/article/fear-of-little-men/

Gnomes Without Frontiers: https://britishfairies.wordpress.com/2024/10/06/gnomes-without-frontiers-puck-the-pwcca/

​Robin Goodfellow: His Mad Pranks and Merry Jests: https://talesofbritainandireland.com/episode-25-robin-goodfellow-his-mad-pranks-and-merry-jests/

​Rare atmospheric phenomenon over Armagh: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-23504254

STEPHEN ARNELL’S NOVEL THE GREAT ONE IS AVAILABLE ON AMAZON KINDLE:

Amazon.co.uk

www.amazon.co.uk

SAMPLE:

Satan Summoned by Stone? England’s Ancient Demonic Rocks, Lore & Legends

​The Devil, Probably?

In England, there’s a plethora of ancient stones associated with the Devil - and in many cases with related lore in how to summon him in. Here are just a few of them.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys & Girls, Angels & Imps, I give you... England’s Satanic Stones. This one, a mere 5 minutes by motor vehicle from my abode.

The Devil’s Boot (Soulbury, Buckinghamshire)

Not a summoning place, as such, but worth a mention; a glacial chunk of 300-million-year-old carboniferous limestone deposited from the Peak District some 450,000 years ago. Oliver Cromwell has speechified from it, tanks during WWII tried to dislodge it and boy racers have pranged it, but the Boot abides on its hillside vigil. Come the stroke of midnight and the chime of the bells at Soulbury’s All Saints Church every evening though, the object rolls down the hill to face The Boot Inn public house - and presumably then swiftly returns to its original site. Therein lies a tale. The ‘Boot’ is in fact the Devil’s Hoof, sheared off by irate Soulbury villagers after Old Nick tried to trash the church.

The Blood Stone (Wiltshire)

Near the ancient battlefield of Edington (Alfred the Great vs Guthrum’s Danes, 878 AD) in Wiltshire is The Blood Stone. This from The Witchery Arts:

“One of the smallest and most overlooked of these sites is the Blood Stone, situated in the center of a sheep infested valley between Westbury White Horse Hill and Picket Hill in Bratton, on the edge of Salisbury Plain.

The stone itself is about three feet across, two feet high and a dark, scabby red in colour. It’s said that the stone was one of those used by King Alfred’s men as a block upon which to behead Danish prisoners of war after the Battle of Ethendune of AD 878, which is how it is supposed to have got its particular shade. There are even paired indentations in the surface of the rock, which look uncannily like the marks left by a pair of front teeth.

There is archeological evidence to suggest that it really is an ancient execution site since a large pile of headless skeletons, dated to around that time, were excavated from the nearby watercress beds at the bottom of the valley in the 1970s. The skulls were found a half mile away, buried upside-down, apparently according to the Saxon tradition that if a soul escaped through the top of the head it could be thus trapped into heading straight down into the bowels of the Earth.”

The 'blood stains' are actually Iron Oxide traces. Apparently.

​The Devil's Stone (Kent)

The Devil’s Stone is noted for what appears to be a cloven strange footmark indented in it. The Devil, who so annoyed by the sound of Newington-next-Sittingbourne’s church bells, climbed the steeple with a bag over his shoulder, and nicked them.

As the fiend leapt from the tower, he slipped, and his foot hit the stone, the bells rolling out of the bag and into the nearby Libbet Stream. As a result, the well was said to continuously bubble, and bizarrely, the stone is also said to sparkle when hit. Another version of the legend blames the church wardens, who decided to sell the great bell of the church to pay for the repair of the remaining bells. Under the cover of darkness, the bell was drawn up to the roof of the bell tower in order that it could be lowered from outside. The Devil appeared, and seized it. The church wardens, after seeing that Old Nick had gone, attempted to remove the bell with grappling irons and ropes. At first, they had great success at raising the bell to the surface, but the rope broke and down went the bell! Again, they tried and again they failed. In both versions, a local witch arrived and told them that the only way in which the bell could be raised is by drawing it up by four pure white oxen. This was done, and it was almost raised to the surface until a local urchin, who was passing, shouted out at the top of his voice, 'Look at the black spot behind that bull's ear'. The rope instantly broke, and the bell was lost forever!

The Devil’s Stone in Crook (County Durham)

You must run around it seven times anticlockwise at midnight, sometimes with added, much darker rituals.

​The stone is an erratic glacial, beginning in the Lake District more than 10,000 years ago during the last Ice Age. A glacier moved it 60 miles east and dropped it on the edge of the Durham market town of Crook. It is now made up of three large lumps of igneous rock after someone blew it up looking for a diamond reputed to be hidden inside.

Chanctonbury Ring (Sussex): Run round this prehistoric ring fort three or seven times backward or naked and the devil will appear and offer a bowl of soup or porridge for your soul. Nice deal.

​The Witch's Stone (Westleton, Suffolk)

Place a handkerchief or piece of straw in the grating beside the chancel door and (using the Witch’s Stone) as a base – run around the church three or seven times widdershins (or counter-clockwise) without looking at the grating; once back at the Witch’s Stone, the item in the grating will be gone and the eerie rattling of the Devil’s chains can heard from the church crypt. Cool. I guess.

​The Devil's Chair, Avebury (Wiltshire)

The Devil’s Chair

​See page for author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

L​egend says that if you run around this megalithic stone at Avebury Henge one hundred times, the Devil will pop up for a chat.

​In an original ceremony devised by Philip Shallcrass of the British Druid Order in 1993, pagans assemble and divide into two groups, one the God party and the other the Goddess party. Those with the Goddess party go to the Devil's Chair, where a woman representing the spirit guardian of the site is a vessel for the voice of the Goddess.

Avebury in fiction:

​Children of the Stones (1977) - full series

The Devil’s Den (Avebury)

​A dolmen burial chamber, part of a Neolithic passage grave on Fyfield Down.

A local tradition says if water was poured into hollows on the capstone, Satan would come in the night and slurp it. Super.

The Devil's Arrows (North Yorkshire)

Two of the Devil's Arrows

​Two of the Devil's Arrows by Gordon Hatton, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

​These millennia-old standing stones in North Yorkshire are the second tallest in the United Kingdom, after the Rudston Monolith.

The common Dark Age belief was that the Devil was shooting or throwing arrows from a neighbouring hill at the Christian settlement of Aldborough nearby, but he fell short of his target. Human sacrifices were supposedly conducted on the top of the stones, where the bodies were left to rot.

​​The Devil's Ring and Finger (Staffordshire)

​Some posit this Neolithic pile as a Druid’s altar within a sacred grove, the circular Ring Stone an altar piece for the Sun God, who represented the power of life, of good, of increase, and the Finger representing the Serpent God, which represented evil and death - in other words Satan, to later inhabitants. The Ring Stone’s porthole, is large enough for a person to climb through, or be passed through, to increase fertility. Or is it a portal to another dimension? Faerie perhaps?​

The Devil's Quoits (Oxfordshire)

​The Devil's Quoits are located in Oxfordshire, Neolithic henge and stone circle near the village of Stanton Harcourt. Folklore says the Devil threw large stones from Wytham Hill, some 8 miles away, during a game of quoits with a beggar for his soul. The beggar lost.

In a different version, Satan was actually playing solo on a Sunday and was b*llocked by God for playing games on His Holy Day. Understandably, a frustrated Old Nick threw his huge stones down in a hissy fit at Stanton Harcourt.

Traditionally, the stones were thought to resist being moved; one story tells of a stone moved to make a bridge that would not stay in place. In fact, the henge has been disturbed many times in recent history. The stone circle originally featured 36 stones, some removed during the medieval period (used as building materials); during WWII, the site was levelled for an airfield. More recently, there have been efforts to restore the henge; the remaining stones being re-erected, missing stones replaced with modern blocks, and the earthworks surrounding the circle re-dug between 2002 and 2008. So a tad ersatz then.

The Devil's Stone (Shebbear, Devon)

The stone is rolled over every November 5th to "turn the Devil away" and prevent the next year's crops failing. Also, if the stone is NOT overturned, Satan will the appear. The Shebbear Yeomanry has yet to try leaving the stone unrolled as a test, local parish records show.

​​The Nine Stones, Winterbourne Abbas (Dorset)

These sarsen stones were erected in the Bronze Age; legend claims they were the Devil, his wife, and his children and cannot be counted; others say they had once been children who were turned to stone as punishment for playing ‘Five-Stones’ on a Sunday. A bit severe.

​In 2007, the Dolmen Grove Druids claimed they’ve had to confront individuals hurling abuse at them as they performed their rituals at the Nine Stones.

The Devil’s Toenail (Bedfordshire)

​This Neolithic stone (10,000 to 4,500 BC) marks the spot where the Devil joined some local kids who were defying the sabbath by enjoying a cheeky game of leapfrog. Satan merrily participated in their game, then opened a hole in the ground into which they were cast and never seen again.

20 minutes or so from my dwelling.

Roche Rock (Cornwall)

Roche Rock

​Roche Rock by Chris Gunns, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

I’ve been to Cornwall’s chapel of St Michael at Roche Rock, mainly I admit from curiosity to see the location for one of the doomed killer monks attempts on Damien’s life in 1981’s Omen III: The Final Conflict than anything else.

The Chapel in Omen III: The Final Conflict (1981)

​Roche Rock features in Cornish myth; the ruined chapel that we see today was built more than 600 years ago in 1409 by the wealthy Tregarrick family. The last resident of Roche Rock is said to have been Sir John Tregarrick who hid himself there for many years after contracting leprosy. His only visitor was his daughter who brought him food and fresh water from a nearby well. 17th century magistrate Jan Tregeagle’s evil spirit was set to roam the wilds of Cornwall pursued by Satan’s demons. Tregeagle sought sanctuary in the chapel’s holy ground, but only managed to get his head stuck in the east window, with his body dangling outside to be welted by the Devil’s eager helpers. On a stormy night you can still hear the howls and tortured screams of cornered Tregeagle on the wind.

​In the time of King Arthur, it was said to have been the base of hermit/holy man Ogrin. Ogrin helped the famous star-crossed lovers Tristan and Isolde in their attempted escape from an enraged King Mark, hiding the couple with him on the rock.

​Devil's Chimney (Gloucestershire)

The Devil, cheesed off by the many Christian chapels in the area, took to perching on Leckhampton Hill, mocking and hurling rocks at those who attended church on a Sunday. But the treacherous, turncoat rocks rebelled and drove Satan back beneath the ground, preventing him from harassing the pious villagers any further.

The mass of stones then formed a chimney to hell - as can be seen by tendrils of smoke that waft from the structure at night. Visitors still leave a coin among the stones, to protect them from the wrath of the Devil.

​The Devil's Lapstone (Durham)

The Devil himself offered to help build Durham Cathedral but with the wicked intention of constructing foundations of such crumbly rock, the building would soon collapse, killing anyone inside. Naughty Satan.

Lucifer would fly up and down the length of the River Dene, collecting stones for the cathedral, but one day, his leather apron snapped and the stone within plummeted to earth. The Devil snatched at it, trying to catch it again and again, leaving deep scratches and Satanic blood in the rock. If you ever see the Devil’s Lapstone, take a close look, as you can still see the rents and blood left by The Horned One in his fury.

LINKS:

​The Blood Stone at Luccombe: https://www.gothichorrorstories.com/journal/folk-horror-from-wiltshire-the-blood-stone-at-luccombe-spring-starving-out-the-vikings-at-bratton-camp-the-white-horse-of-westbury-and-the-nature-of-folklore/

​The Devil’s Boulder: https://www.shebbearvillage.co.uk/people/the-devils-stone/

​Soulbury Stone: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-36024009

​Sitting in The Devil’s Chair: https://marywoodenglandandireland2015.wordpress.com/2015/05/29/sitting-in-the-devils-chair-erasure-of-ancient-culture-and-fear-of-the-other/

​Devil's Toenail: Bedfordshire's frightening version of Stonehenge: https://www.bedfordshirelive.co.uk/news/history/devils-toenail-bedfordshires-frightening-version-5808785

​Ritual Protection Marks & Ritual Practices - The Devil’s Stone: https://ritualprotectionmarks.com/2022/10/31/a-chill-tale-for-halloween-the-legend-of-the-devils-stone/

​The Devil's Den and Fyfield Down: https://www.hiddenwiltshire.com/post/the-devil-s-den-and-fyfield-down

​The Devil in Westleton: The Westleton Witch’s Stone: https://withthefaeries.wordpress.com/2022/11/27/the-devil-in-westleton-the-westleton-witchs-stone/

The British Druid Order: https://web.archive.org/web/20120808075032/http://www.druidry.co.uk/bdocaerabiri.html

​The Devil’s Ring and Finger: https://thehistorydetective.org/2019/02/15/the-devils-ring-and-finger/

​The Devil's Quoits: https://www.darkoxfordshire.co.uk/explore/the-devils-quoits/

​Pagans suffer ritual abuse: https://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/1267293.Pagans_suffer_ritual_abuse/

​The Nine Stones of Winterbourne Abbas: https://shows.acast.com/dark-darzet/episodes/the-nine-stones-of-winterbourne-abbas

​Devil's Lapstone: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/devils-lapstone

​Roche Rock: https://www.cornwalls.co.uk/st-austell/roche-rock

​A tale of rocks and rogues: https://www.boltholeretreats.co.uk/blog/a-tale-of-rocks-and-rogues/#

​Why not visit the enigma of the Devil's chimney: https://www.bbc.co.uk/gloucestershire/content/articles/2005/06/17/devils_chimney_feature.shtml

​A look at devil-lore in Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire: https://www.greatbritishlife.co.uk/magazines/cotswold/24329332.look-devil-lore-gloucestershire-oxfordshire/

STEPHEN ARNELL’S NOVEL THE GREAT ONE IS AVAILABLE ON AMAZON KINDLE NOW:

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A Church of Stone and Bone: Unveiling the Secrets of Hythe's Ossuary

Standing sentinel over the Kent town of Hythe, St Leonard's Church is a testament to centuries of faith and history. Its imposing structure, a blend of Norman and Early English styles, hints at a rich past. Yet, within its walls lies a more unexpected story; a silent congregation of bone, housed in the largest and most well-preserved ossuary in Britain. This article delves into the intriguing history of St Leonard's Church. There is a particular focus on the enigmatic crypt and the ongoing quest to understand the lives it holds within its skeletal embrace.

A Church Steeped in History

The origins of St Leonard's Church remain shrouded in some mystery. Historical evidence suggests a Saxon foundation, possibly as early as the 10th century. However, the earliest documented record dates back to 1090. A time when a Norman church dedicated to Saint Leonard, the patron saint of prisoners, stood on the site. The Normans, known for their architectural prowess, likely constructed the core of the present-day church.

Over the centuries, St Leonard's underwent several extensions and modifications. The 13th century saw the addition of the chancel, a key architectural element that would become intricately linked to the church's unusual crypt. Furthermore, this period also coincided with a growing trend of building charnel houses – dedicated spaces to store exhumed bones from overflowing cemeteries.

Unveiling the Crypt: A Repository of the Past

Descending a narrow staircase, visitors to St Leonard's Church encounter a sight both captivating and unsettling: the ossuary. Nevertheless, unlike traditional crypts, this space is not a subterranean chamber but an above-ground room built as part of the 13th-century chancel extensions. Lined with shelves along its four arched bays, the ossuary holds an estimated 2,000 skulls and a staggering 8,000 thigh bones.

The precise reason for creating such a repository is open to debate. One theory suggests it served a practical purpose – as a charnel house, storing exhumed bones from the surrounding churchyard to make space for new burials. Consequently, this practice was quite common in medieval England, though the sheer scale and meticulous arrangement of the Hythe ossuary set it apart.

Another theory proposes a more spiritual significance. During the Middle Ages, memento mori – the contemplation of mortality – was a prevalent theme in religious thought. The ossuary, with its stark display of human remains, could have served as a powerful reminder of death's inevitability and the importance of living a righteous life.

The Whispers of the Skulls: Unveiling Identities

The origins of the individuals represented in the ossuary remain a subject of ongoing research. Radiocarbon dating has confirmed that the bones date primarily to the medieval period, ranging from the 12th to the 15th centuries. This timeframe coincides with a period of significant population growth in Hythe, a bustling port town.

A closer examination of the skulls reveals intriguing details. Several exhibit signs of trepanation, a surgical procedure involving the drilling of a hole in the skull. While the exact reasons for trepanation in these cases remain unclear. It was a practice employed for various ailments, ranging from headaches to epilepsy.

The meticulous arrangement of the bones, with skulls placed on shelves and long bones stacked in the central bay, suggests a degree of respect and order. This careful organization, along with the sheer volume of remains, hints at a systematic collection process over an extended period.

Modern Research and the Untold Stories

In recent years, advancements in archaeological and forensic techniques have opened new avenues for understanding the lives represented in the ossuary. Researchers have begun analyzing the bone structure and chemical composition to glean information about diet, health, and even geographical origins of the individuals.

Isotope analysis, for instance, can reveal dietary patterns based on the presence of specific elements absorbed through food. Such research could shed light on the socioeconomic diversity of the population buried at St Leonard's and whether the ossuary contained remains from across the social spectrum.

DNA analysis, while a complex undertaking on such aged remains, holds the potential to unlock even more profound insights. It could reveal genetic relationships between individuals and potentially provide clues about migration patterns and disease prevalence in medieval Hythe.

Conclusion

The Hythe ossuary serves as a powerful reminder of the impermanence of life and the enduring power of human curiosity. Standing as one of Britain's most well-preserved repositories of the past, it presents a unique opportunity to delve into the lives of a medieval community.

The ongoing research into the origins and identities of the individuals housed within the ossuary promises to unveil a wealth of information. This knowledge has the potential to not only illuminate the specific history of Hythe but also shed light on broader social, dietary, and health practices of medieval England.

References:

Parish of St Leonard, Hythe. "The history of St Leonard's church." The Parish of St Leonard, Hythe, www.slhk.org. Accessed July 9, 2024.

Brown, Peter. Medieval Charnel Houses and Ossuaries in England. Cambridge University Press, 2018.

Thomas, Anne. Sacred Bones: The Spiritual Significance of Ossuaries. Routledge, 2021.

Flickering Lamps, https://flickeringlamps.com/2015/07/10/the-extraordinary-ossuary-at-st-leonards-church-hythe/

Public Domain Images

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St_Leonard%27s_Church,_Hythe,_from_the_north_-_geograph.org.uk_-_2196134.jpg

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St_Leonard%27s_Church,_Hythe,_from_the_north_-_geograph.org.uk_-_2196134.jpg

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ossuary_in_the_crypt_of_St_Leonard%27s_Church_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1003309.jpg

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_crypt,_St._Leonard%27s_church,_Hythe_-_geograph.org.uk_-_5399995.jpg