THE MIDKNIGHT GARDEN: KNIGHTS OF THE RED ORDER

QUEST 31 CONT: “Still very much walking in Arthur’s footsteps and continuing our quest for the grail in the magical and beautiful south-west lands of England, we left our apartment in Roman Cirencester on Sunday 2nd of August to travel in a southerly direction towards Plymouth, yet with lots of exciting stops along the way. This day was to take us even nearer to Arthur and The Grail”

‘WHAT DID RALPH LEAVE BEHIND?’     

DAY THREE: SUNDAY 2ND AUGUST: ST MARY REDCLIFFE CHURCH. REDCLIFFE BRISTOL.   

Framed by the River Avon and the Floating Harbour, Redcliffe is a bustling commercial hub. It is home to ancient landmarks such as the medieval, Gothic-style St. Mary Redcliffe Church with its with stained-glass windows and 18th-century ironwork, residential tower blocks and the port of Bristol. It is bounded by the loop of the Floating Harbour to the west, north and east, together with the New Cut of the River Avon to the south.nn Redcliffe takes its name from the red sandstone cliffs which line the southern side of the Floating Harbour. These cliffs are honey-combed with tunnels, known as the Redcliffe Caves, constructed both to extract sand for the local glass making industry and to act as store houses for goods. Interesting to us, in the 12th century, Robert Fitzroy gave the Knights Templar part of Redcliffe, which then became known as Temple Fee. The Templars were granted the power to hold courts and execute felons. This right passed, along with the fee, to the Knights of St John of Jerusalem after the suppression of the Templars.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redcliffe,_Bristol

The parish church of  St Mary Redcliffe is an impresive looking church within a setting of green grounds; it is one of Bristol’s best known churches, with the spire at a height of 292 ft (90m) making it the tallest building in the city, and one of the largest parish churches in England, yet sadly on the day we visited, the church was well and truly locked to all visitors. Whether this was due to corona virus or whether it was the policy to keep G-d’s door so unwelcoming is anyone’s guess, but either way the small amount of pilgrims and visitors would pose no threat at all and if the reason was not because of the virus, one does have to question why such an important church would be so locked?

The church itself is an Anglican parish church, the bulding being constructed from the 12th to 15th centuries and has been a place of Christian worship for over 900 years. It was famously described by Queen Elizabeth I, who spoke highly of the church, as “the fairest, goodliest, and most famous parish church in England”. Yet the mystery of our quest remains of just what was left behind? Little is left of the earliest churches on the site although a little of the fabric still remaining has been dated to the 12th century. Much of the current building dates from the late 13th and 14th centuries when it was built and decorated by wealthy merchants of the city. The spire fell after being struck by lightning in 1446 and was not rebuilt until 1872. Although the church plan dates from an earlier period, much of the church as it now stands was built between 1292 and 1370 and the first church was built in Saxon times. Obviously there would have been some fascinating artifacts to see, but sadly today we were unable to enter this church.

During the Bristol Blitz in the Second World war a bomb exploded in a nearby street, throwing a rail and tram from the tramway over the houses and into the churchyard of St Mary Redcliffe, where the rail became embedded in the ground. The rail is left there as a monument. An accompanying memorial plaque reads “On Good Friday 11th April this tramline was thrown over the adjoining houses by a high explosive bomb which fell on Redcliffe Hill. It is left to remind us how narrowly the church escaped destruction in the war 1939-45.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Mary_Redcliffe

St Mary Recliffe – important yet sadly very closed…. <please click on image to enlarge>

GRAIL BLOODLINE CONNECTIONS:  

• Earl Ralph Neville;1364 Raby Durham (16 xGGF)  “What did Ralph leave behind?”

‘FROM LEFT TO RIGHT’

BRISTOL CATHEDRAL BRISTOL:

Bristol is a city in south-west England with a population of 463,400, between Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south, with South Wales just across the Severn Estuary. Iron Age hill forts and Roman villas were built near the confluence of the rivers Frome and Avon, and also around the beginning of the 11th century, the settlement was known as Brycgstow “the place at the bridge”. Bristol was a starting place for early voyages of exploration to the New World and on a ship out of Bristol in 1497 John Cabot, a Venetian became the first European to land on mainland North America. At the height of the Bristol slave trade from 1700 to 1807, more than 2,000 slave ships carried an estimated 500,000 people from Africa to slavery in the Americas. The Port of Bristol has since moved to the Severn Estuary at Avonmouth and Royal Portbury Dock. Bristol’s modern economy is built on the creative media, electronics and the aerospace industries, and the city-centre docks have been redeveloped as centres of heritage and culture.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol

BRISTOL CATHEDRAL: formally the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Bristol. Founded in 1140 and consecrated in 1148, it was originally St Augustine’s Abbey but after the  Dissolution of the Monastries it became in 1542, the seat of the newly created Bishop of Bristol and the cathedral of the new Diocese of Bristol. It is a Grade I listed building and as with many of our cathedrals, stunning to look at both inside and out inside, but all spirituality or sacred energies long dissapated. Covid restrictions were very much applying here, so visitor numbers limited yet sadly the visitors whom were there, were unacknowlegded by the clergy there….

In a beautiful setting and ‘Covid ready’ <please click to enlarge>

The eastern end of the church includes fabric from the 12th century, with the Elder Lady Chapel, which was added in the early 13th century. Much of the church was rebuilt in the English Decorated Gothic style during the 14th century despite financial problems within the abbey. In the 15th century the transept and central tower were added. The nave was incomplete at the Dissolution in 1539 and was demolished, but in the 19th century Gothic Revival, a new nave was built. The western twin towers, showing a big similarity with Wells Cathedral in Somerset, designed by John Loughborough Pearson were completed in 1888. The cathedral has tall Gothic windows and in addition to the cathedral’s architectural features, it contains several memorials and an historic organ. Little of the original stained glass remains, some being replaced in the Victorian Era with further losses during the Bristol Blitz.

Stunning to look at yet no spirituality left… <please click to enlarge>

https://bristol-cathedral.co.uk/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_Cathedral

GRAIL BLOODLINE CONNECTIONS:

1. Sir Ralph Neville : 1301 Raby (18 x GGF) ‘From left to right’

“WHAT CONNECTIONS?”

THE NINE MAIDENS STONE CIRCLE/BELSTONE STONE CIRCLE. OKEHAMPTON. After the heat and sterile enviroment of the city i was pleased to be driving all the way to Dartmoor where i knew great adventures and true spirituality would great me. Dartmoor has always had a place in my heart and although it was a long drive, it was a relaxing and enjoyable drive through gorgeous scenery and pretty villages. This was to be the highlight of the day by any mile! When we reached Belstone village it was quite a little trek upwards and over the moors to gain access to the circle and one had to take ones time, but the steady walk was enjoyable and well worth it. There was hardly anyone around and the few folks whom were there were chatty but did not linger. The sacred energies and earth magnetics are very evident and strong here; the St Michael Ley Line runs right through the circle or rather the stone circle was purposefully placed upon the ley line; the frequencies are very strong here and at times felt as if time was truly standing still and the stones breathing…. A powerful place on so many levels, the day being full of revelations…..

The Belstone Circle – full of magic and mystery <click to enlarge>

The Nine Maidens, is a bronze age circle and settlement located near the village of Belstone on Dartmoor, in Devon, and one can still see evidence of the settlement in the landscape all around the circle, and yet it was so much more than that. It is also known as the Seventeen Brothers, for there were in actual fact seventeen stones, including an altar stone, just outside the main circle; in these days is no longer complete. It is said that the circle may have been called the ‘nine maidens’ due to the origins of the number nine and to the connections of the site of the number nine, ie the ninth, the ‘hidden one‘. The number nine in sacred geometry from a Ninansian perspective (grammer and language) means ‘the hidden one’. The number nine has many magical or occult meanings such as the ninth gate, the nine stones, the nine maidens, the nine ships, the nine battles. All relating to the ‘hidden one’, the secret underlying knowledge of Craft. Folks whom are astute and tuned in will certainly pick up on this while visiting the circle and will feel the energies for themselves. And of course there are secrets hidden there that maybe no one in our life times will ever know, things forever hidden from the current cycle of mankind. The stones here are so much more significant than Stonehenge or Avebury yet are almost deserted so maybe the curse is working and is in actual fact a blessing?

The stones here are so much more significant than Stonehenge or Avebury<click to enlarge>

There are many folklore tales attached to the stones and despite the fallen stones of the past, the locals are said to be apprehensive of restoration work, believing that anyone whom tampers with the stones will be cursed. Locals cite a film crew which added an extra stone to the circle in 1985; the ‘curse’ was the unfortunate loss of the only copy of the film, ‘The Circle of Doom’, in the post. The St Michael’s ley line, which runs 350 miles from Lands End to Hopton on Sea, Norfolk, via Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, is one of our points of study and focuss on this quest, and runs right through the Nine Maidens. This ley-line goes through many sites dedicated to St Michael, such as St Michael’s Tower on Glastonbury Tor, with the line matching the sunrise on 8 May when the Catholic Church celebrated the apparition of St Michael. Local folklore too suggests that the stones dance: The stone circles on Dartmoor, are said to have been made “when there were wolves on the hills, and winged serpents in the low lands.” On the side of Belstone Tor, near Okehamton is a small grave circle called “Nine Stones.” It is said to dance every day at noon. The stones are also said to have originally been nine maidens who were cast into stone and damned to dancing every noon for eternity as a punishment for dancing on the Sabbath. Equally, the story has involved seventeen brothers. It is also said that the ringing of the nearby church bells brings them to life.

The Altar Stone and Burial Chamber <click to enlarge>

From our point of view, from a Craft and Quest point of view this is said to be a far more important site in the true tellings of King Arthur, of Lancelot Desposyni and the Fordham line, than even Tintagel, which is a bit of a very big red herring. Also we know that in the distant past the site has in actual fact been used as a burial chamber – yet for whom, being far enough above sea level to be placed forever safe in this realm. I was very relunctant to be leaving the moors and the stones behind after our visit.  So it was a sad farewell and heavy heart i felt in leaving this wild magical beauty behind me to trave to pastures anew. I attained new knowledge up on those moors and felt the energies of the land shift and change, felt time stand still as vibrations pulsed, and dimensions shifted. I felt acknowledged as a part of a whole. Up on the moors, the energies were very strong; a place where the metaphysical truly connected to the physical and whispers on the winds told a hidden tale or two….

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine_Maidens_stone_circle

GRAIL BLOODLINE CONNECTIONS:

Sir John H. Fordham: 1423 Kelshall Hertfordshire (18 x GGF) ‘What Connections?’

And so after a magical end to day three of Quest 31 we made our way towards our very posh apartment at Phoenix Quay, Plymouth where we would be spending the next three nights. The apartment overlooking the harbour and night ferry terminus to Spain treated us to some lovely views and sunsets from its huge windows.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHEFtsG5tjE

Please enjoy our (very windy!) video of Belstone Circle

‘The Keeper of Scrolls’ September 2020

‘moon.willow@ntlworld.com’

“Onwards then as our quest continued, to Buckland near Plymouth, Brentnor near Tavistock, Tideford near Saltash, Talland Bay near Loo, Charles Town near St Austell, Trevone near Padstow and Temple near Bodmin. Not all would be opened to us but the ‘jewel in the crown’ would prove to be the amazing Temple Church on Bodmin…”