It is with Knightly honour that we are empowered to have great knowledge from within & without. With such knowledge comes power, a power that is naturally produced & requires no additional influences to achieve great things. Power is not about the control of others, it is about harnessing the inner strength & full understanding of one's purpose in this particular existence, such truth that can only be realised at a knightly levelQUEST 31 CONT: “So here we are on Tuesday 4th August, day 5 of our epic quest through the magical west country of England; a land known for its many myths and tales. As hinted previously all was not lost when we found the doors of St Edward’s Church, Eggbuckland closed to us on the previous day. A quick freindly phone call enabled us to have access, thanks to the kind and friendly reverend of the church, whose name i have sadly forgotten, but what a friendly man with an amazing mental hord of local knowledge. The extra photos taken are below, turning the day into something very worthwhile and maybe a taster of what was to come. So just goes to show, always have faith and never give up…”
St Edwards Church: Buckland Plymouth:
A traditional setting for a church and graveyard, all looking fresh and verdant after the rains, with bee hives around the back behind the trees, just follow the path into the bushes.
It was well-worth waiting and going back, for St Edwards Church, Buckland was full of many traditional treasures and artworks relating to Craft. Some lovely symbology here especially on the old wall hanging; symbology that relates to Templarism, King Arthur and The Grail. Always a pleasure to see such amazing peices.<please click to enlarge>
“…OF KINDRED NAMES”
Tuesday 4th August: St Pauls Church. Charlestown. St Austell.
Sadly another church that was shut to us on this day, whether due to ‘Miss Rona’ again or whether due to the Clergy being ‘otherwise engaged’ elsewhere i do not know, so not much to say about it really. We did walk around the outside of the church and graveyard, where they were some lovely memorials, so outside only photos will need to suffice on this occasion. It is said that this church is an active church, yet obviously not on the day we were there! It was built in 1849-51 and has been Grade II listed since 1999. St Paul’s is built of granite stone, sourced from a quarry near Stenalees with slate roofs, in the Early English style, built with a cruciform plan made up of nave, north and south aisles, transepts, chancel, vestry and porch. The original pulpit and reading desk of carved oak was gifted by local residents, and the granite font gifted by T. G. Vawdrey.
Charlestown became its own parish separate from St Austell in 1846, at a time when the village was experiencing an increase in its population due to local industrial activity. With services initially held in a room licensed for public worship near the Pier House Hotel with funds for a permanent church being raised by public subscription. In 1848, a plot of land was donated by the proprietors of Charlestown, while various other grants were also received. The foundation stone of St Paul’s was laid on 27 November 1849 by Charles Graves-Sawle of Penrice. It was built by Messrs William Kitt and William Drew of St Austell to the designs of Christopher Eales of London The church was consecrated by the Bishop of Exeter, the Right Rev. Henry Phillpotts, on 30 May 1851.
A stroll around the outside of St Paul’s Church was all we could manage on this occasion <please click on photos to enlarge>
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Paul%27s_Church,_Charlestown
We were hoping for a nice lunch in Charlestown but due to ‘Miss Rona’ again, who would be following us around everywhere we went on this quest, numbers where limited in all the resturants and bars, so we had to make do with a relaxing walk around the pretty harbour and a wee bit of retail therapy! This quest was certainly proving to be one where adaptability was the order of the day! Charlestown (Porth Meur) means ‘Great Cove’ and is a pretty looking village and port on the south coast of Cornwall in the civil parish of St Austell bay, about 2 miles south east of St Austell town centre. The port at Charlestown, developed in the late-18th century from the fishing village of West Polmear Charlestown, grew out of the small fishing village of West Polmear (or West Porthmear), which consisted of a few cottages and three cellars, in which the catch of pilchards were processed, and over the years it has remained relatively unchanged.
Charlestown looking like it has been unchanged for decades… <please click to enlarge>
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlestown,_Cornwall
Grail Bloodline Connections:
- Sir John H Fordam (1423 Kelshall Hertfordshire) 18 x GGF
“FORDHAM HILLS”
St Saviours Church. Trevone. Pastow:
We drove onwards to Trevone, Padstow only to end up in a carpark near the sea that had no relevance to our next destination whatsoever! Thank you ‘satnav’! However the destination did prove to be elusive and take a bit of finding, but we are not ones to give up, and we eventually found it quietly sitting in an elevated postition overlooking the sea. Sadly though after all that trouble; yet another church well and truly locked up, which is a great shame on this occasion, for looking on the internet there would have been some relevant ‘Craft’ artifacts to see. Trevone itself (Treavon in Cornish means river farm) is a seaside village and bay near Padstowe, Cornwall; in Cornish ‘Porth Musyn’ meaning Musun Cove or Mother Sun Cove).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trevone
The stone used for the exterior walls is a fine textured sandstone from the local Middle Devonian and was quarried at Tredinnick on St. Columb Downs. The roof is a well cleaved slate from the Upper Devonian at Delabole. The floor, window sills, terrace and steps together with the stones surrounding the West Window (depicting “The Stilling of the Storm”) and the two small windows beneath are slightly cleaved slate also from Delabole.There is a Foundation Stone of dark grey uncleaved slate from the Tremadoc slates at Portmadoc, in North Wales at the west and to the south of the main church door. It reads: “Edmund ninth Bishop of Truro laid this stone on the 30th April, 1958″. Buried beneath the stone is a daily newspaper, coins of the realm, a bible and a 1662 Prayer Book. One can read more about the church on the link above. It was such a shame we could not get in considering that the bloodline connection was that of Great Uncle, so finding relevance here in modern times….
Grail Bloodline Connections:
- Rev Benjamin Clarke: (1899-1976 Devon/Tevone) Great Uncle
- Victor Ford: (1955-1973) MA, MSE (18 years)
‘A TRUE LAST WORD’
Temple Church, Temple, Bodmin:
Most definitely the highlight of the day, being the most important and sacred site of the day (even this quest) in relation to our Grail Bloodline Quest. This church is truly hidden away from the eyes of the world, hidden within a dip in the landscape with no views from the roads that cross the moor. It seemed to be totally lost in time, or maybe just out of time, totally isolated yet open to all true pilgrims who came that way. It was lovingly looked after, very welcoming and with an amazing ‘energy’ in a true ‘Craft’ sense. Full of Knight Templar history and interestingly our lead researcher’s Great Grandfather (46 x GGF) traveled here, and was involved for a short time within this area, enough to place his mark; that Great Grandfather was of course Lancelot Desposyni of the Fordham line, so a very personal quest.
The beautiful and peaceful Temple Church on Bodmin Moor <please click to enlarge>
The Church of St Catherine as it is also known as, is a Grade II listed building in the small hamlet of Temple not far from the busy A30 but far enough away not to be affected by the traffic noise, yet it could be a million miles away in another century. This peaceful, almost ‘pocket’ of timelessness feels as if it has been suspended in time. The church itself has no electricity, just beautiful and very fitting candlelight. The church was founded in the 12th century by the (said) mysterious and secretive medieval Order of the Knights Templar, after they procured a large parcel of land on Bodmin Moor, which then was was nothing but wild, open moorland, to the unititiated eyes. From that gift a religious community grew and a church was built, but as the centuries passed it is said (maybe as misdirection) that Temple became synonymous with lawless, some might even say ungodly, behaviour. In an area not entirely unfamiliar to strange goings on, Temple Church too became infamous. Irregular practices (it is alledged) continued until in the late 18th century when the church again became subject to normal diocsean discipline.
It was the duty of the Order to protect and provide hospitality to journeying pilgrims and it is believed that they established a chapel on the site as a refuge for those pilgrims en route to Santiago de Compostela, Rome and of course the Holy Land itself. The pilgrims journeyed from Wales and Ireland and took the land route across Cornwall, perhaps first stopping over at Little Petherick, reaching the port of Fowey and continuing across the seas to the continent. Sailing around the treacherous waters off Land’s End was to be avoided at all costs.
A sanctury for journeying pilgrims and travelers alike
The hamlet of Temple was very isolated in the Middle Ages, even more so than today. From the time of the Reformation, when the Order of Saint John was dissolved, Temple Church fell outside the jurisdiction of the bishop and gained a reputation as the place to go, if you needed to be married fast, under the cover of darkness and without the necessary permissions, which seeings how isolated and hidden it is, this would be very easy to imagine. Weddings would be performed here without the reading of the banns or the need for a licence, and the parsons were happy to receive the couple’s ‘grateful donations’. It was not only illicit marriages that were undertaken, according to John Norton, Temple Church also allowed anyone who had taken their own life to be buried in the churchyard.
By 1777 it was reported that the fabric of the building had descended into a ruinous state and services were having to be held in neighbouring parishes. From then on no services were held at Temple Church for more than 100 years. During the Victorian era there was a trend for restoring and renovating churches across England, not all of them sympathetic, but enough money was raised to have Temple Church restored by the Cornish architect Silvanus Trevail. Trevail began work in 1882 following the original ancient foundations. The Knights Templar (it is said) often built circular churches but there is no evidence that their Cornish version was anything other than its present day shape.
During the rebuilding an old Ash tree had to be removed from within the ruined walls. When the tree was cut down it’s roots were found to be entwined around the bones of a human skeleton. Whoever it was, they must have had a certain status to have been buried beneath the floor of the original church. There is no record as to where Trevail had the bones reinterned, so a mystery remains of whom the bones belonged too and where they are now….
The church is full of Knight Templar symbolism both old and new, giving many clues as to the sacred history of the site. As in all our quests nothing can be overlooked , as it is often the tiniest detail that is the most important <click to enlarge>
The ‘new’ church was officially opened in June 1883 and a tea party was held in the graveyard after the first sermon had been given and celebratory hymns sung. The only remnants of the original building constructed by the knights are a few pieces of decorated stonework which can be seen just outside the church door in the wall of a small inconspicuous outbuilding. All the sights we visit on our quests, we do so for very important Craft reasons and although many of the sights are marked ‘in time’ by a church building or the like, it is about what one cannot ‘see’ physically that is the important factor, for in this physical realm, not everything is as it may seem, so a small out-building around the back can remain un-noticed for decades, cenuries even. It is the same thing with tales, mythologies and ‘so called’ histories; it is not that on the surface which is important, but that which has lain hidden beneath, for centuries. One has to keep digging deep to find the truth and answers and yet only those whom have knowledge of the KEYS, will ever be able to dig deep enough. Yet that is the way, the way it has always been, the way the truths have always been protected over the years, within this very shallow world of men; truths hidden behind tales of misadventure, tales of misdoings and tales of misdirecton, thus keeping that which needs protecting, forever secret, yet hidden totally within plain sight….
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple,_Cornwall
Grail Bloodline Connections:
- Lancelot Deposyni (520-593) France 46 X GGF
“He prayeth well who loveth well
Both man and bird and beast”
“And so our time in this area was coming to a close, with lots of new experiences undertaken and certainly lots to think about and much to digest in the coming weeks; knowledge and discoveries that would continue to have a profound effect upon my life, for example, for many years to come as i continue on my search to unravel the mysteries of the Grail Quest”
‘The Keeper of Scrolls’ October 2020
<moon.willow@ntlworld.com>
Next Stop: Southhampton….
