Supernatural Locations in England

There are locations in Britain which defy rational explanation, places which qualify as supernatural (beyond natural). They are a fantasy writer's delight - not just because of their mystery but because the explanations which accompany them appear to be so grounded, so viable. I've used some of them in my books for this reason. When your goal is to convince your readers there may be some truth to your story, fantastical as it may be, using locations drenched in British folklore and with credible explanations, half the work is done for you!

Arthur's Hunting Path

We begin in Somerset, in a location filled with folklore and myth (in my opinion, more so than any other in this country!). I learned about Arthur's Hunting Path from local people whilst on a research trip for my novel The Bastard from Fairyland.

Notice the diamond shape and how it connects four earthworks - that are exactly 10.9 miles apart (that's precisely 4 geomancer miles - an archaic form of measurement).

The line between Burrow Mump and Glastonbury Tor (and therefore also Hamdon Hill and South Cadbury) lies at an angle of 27 degrees at sunrise on Beltane (a highly significant date in the pagan calendar). The other lines are equally aligned to astronomy - the Lunar Standstill, another significant phenomenon in pagan beliefs (it happened every 18 years). In other words, these sites possessed mathematical precision and aligned to regular cosmic events. The same is true for Stonehenge but this site is hardly known in comparison!

The connection with King Arthur comes from the role South Cadbury plays in British folklore and was the work of the Tudor academic, John Leland who wrote about the location in 1542. His theory arose from his collection of books and manuscripts that he spent a lifetime assembling.

It's believed these mounds are hollow, which has given credence to stories of fairies living beneath them - beliefs arising from Celtic stories of the Tuatha de Danaan who fled the invading Milesians by going underground. I have more to say about this in the section about Glastonbury Tor further down in this post.

Stories have evolved telling how Arthur and his knights use this route to hunt on Midsummer and Midwinter nights and are derived from tales told by the French author, Chretien de Troyes, and another Tudor historian William Camden. Victorian archaeologists reported how, during a dig at South Cadbury, locals asked if they were there to "take away the king" (Arthur), who it was believed had been buried there. (That said, Arthur's burial place is also thought to have been in Glastonbury Abbey, according to Leland, though his remains were removed by Edward I.)

Supernatural Conclusions

In the 1920s, Katherine Maltwood an artist and historian, found place names from Avalon, referenced in Grail mythology, matched place names on Ordinance Survey maps within this area. She superimposed maps of the constellations over the Somerset landscape and found they also reinforced these connections.

These connections and the mathematical and astronomical connections make this area a supernatural fantasy land - one I relied on heavily in my novel. Like Stonehenge, this place reinforces the knowledge that existed in the people who lived three thousand years ago, or more. Archaeological research conducted in the last 20 years shows South Cadbury was a deeply significant site. It houses a boat-shaped grave which had to belong to a person of considerable importance, given its construction and the items found in it. Arthur's grave? Who knows. But there is no escaping the evidence - these earthworks exist, place names remain, stories documented over 700 years record even older stories.

An oft-repeated mantra applies here - such stories would not remain in the collective consciousness, unless there was something significant about them in the first place.

An excellent article, giving more information, is here.

Glastonbury Tor

Following on from the previous section, the Tor carries even more supernatural mystery that I discovered on my research trips. Even the National Trust expound the myths centred on this earthwork, it says there is "a hidden cave through which you can pass into the fairy realm of Annwn. There dwells Gwyn ap Nudd, the lord of the Celtic underworld, with the Cauldron of Rebirth". The mention of the cauldron is significant; it's an item reputedly stolen by King Arthur in the Welsh story 'The Spoils of Annwn' and also represents a pre-Christian version of the Grail legend. They go on to say, "The hill mysteriously causes the two nearly adjacent red and white springs below the tor, to run with different waters. The origins of its seven terraces are uncertain. Were they built for growing vines or ploughing? Or did they form a sacred labyrinth for pilgrims?" Locals told me how there have been attempts to contain this water, in reservoirs inside the Tor. The idea that there are channels within the mound fascinated me and featured in the second book in my trilogy, The Bastard in the Dark.

Rather than flout copyright, it's worth Googling 'Katherine Maltwood zodiac' to see the map she created (I mentioned it in the previous section too). Mary Caine published a book about it in the 1970s, it explains the theories in greater detail than I can here.

Whilst these details are exciting and mysterious, my attention focuses on the terraces which encircle the Tor. Geoffrey Russell's 1968 book, 'Secrets of the Grail' promoted the theory, held by locals for a long time, that the terraces contained a labyrinth. The historian Ronald Hutton stated this path was a 'spiritual walkway'. However, in the 'Spoils of Annwn', Arthur and his knights are forced to navigate a maze at a location called Caer Sidi, or 'spiral castle' - a fortification reached by a spiral maze.

The Tor's terraces are only just visible now, having been eroded by the weather and tourists. The lines still show what is called a septenary maze, shown here. The Glastonbury Tor version is more elongated than this, because of the hill's geology but the shape is consistent.

This shape is also called the Cretan maze because it's the same as the labyrinth on Crete, created by the Knossos civilisation (wiped out by the eruption of the volcano on what is now Santorini). This shape appears in similar contexts around the world, from south-east Asia to the Hopi peoples of Arizona. The purpose of these features usually involved rituals that tested mental strength and religious faith. This may have been the purpose on the Tor. In the centre of the maze is what is now called the Egg Stone - a large boulder, unlike anything else found in the vicinity. There may have been a singular Standing Stone (like Avebury, Stonehenge etc) that represented completion of the journey. There is more information here.

Supernatural Conclusions

What qualifies the Tor as a 'supernatural feature' is the maze. When you combine it with the surrounding zodiac details referenced by Katherine Maltwood and the details in 'The Spoils of Annwn', the Tor takes on additional mysteries. I'm intrigued how people in the Dark Age became familiar with the Cretan Maze, since it featured in civilisations around the world. Sure, there are varied explanations for the terraces, such as agricultural use, but they have been answered with enough conviction that gives the supernatural criteria greater strength as far as I'm concerned. When you combine these stories with those that describe the Tor as a 'gateway to Fairyland', the intrigue levels go sky high! It was a local bishop, Saint Collen, who claimed he met two male fairies on the Tor, close to where he lived. He was invited to meet Gwynn ap Nudd and recorded his experiences afterwards. So many stories - are they just invention or based on some lost truths?

The Woolwich Foot Tunnel

Some years ago the Guardian carried the story about the Woolwich Foot Tunnel and the interdimensional portal that was believed to exist within it. The tunnel allows people to cross over the Thames. The source was the Portals of London website which documents strange phenomena. Routine maintenance work was delayed by 8 months, after 18 months of closure.

The cause of the delays turned out to be a time anomaly. Read the account from one of the workers that's included in the website and you'll see how time played tricks with the workers, who couldn't explain what was happening to them. Experiences included doing a day's work in the tunnel, to come back up to the surface to find only a couple of hours had elapsed. Or the occasion when a group of workers camped out in tents in the tunnel for 3 days, only to find they came out again on the same day they'd left. Perhaps the weirdest? A Bulgarian guy, Petar, had a rope tied around him and his friends kept hold of it as they watched him walk along the tunnel. Just as he was about to disappear around the curve in the tunnel, those workers on the surface called out that they could see Petar on the other bank, even though he was still in the tunnel.

Supernatural Conclusions

Timeslips are not unknown but in modern Britain, the Woolwich Foot Tunnel is the most famous. It reopened in 2012, there have been no more reportings of timeslips since then. Another London example is The Quaerium. This example supposedly dates back to the Romans who called it a 'doorway to other worlds'. There's no sign of it now, though a Roman bath (a square of stagnant water) can be found in an alleyway off The Strand. Perhaps not a place to go bathing?

Avebury Stone Circle

Avebury is a small village in Wiltshire, built in the Middle Ages, long after the largest stone circle in Britain had been constructed, during the Neolithic period, somewhere between 2850 BC and 2200 BC. Like nearby Stonehenge, it likely served as a site for rituals. In more recent times, we're talking from the 17th century onwards, the stones were vandalised by people believing their pagan purposes to be the work of the devil. The stones were often destroyed, those which have survived were buried, to be returned to their rightful place during the 20th century. The efforts to destroy the stones were abandoned after a series of catastrophes; such as the barber-surgeon whose skeletal remains (along with his tools) was found under one of the sarsens after it had fallen on him.

Myths inevitably develop about such a place, such as the Diamond Stone. This huge 500 tonne rock sits on the side of the A4361, until night falls when it supposedly crosses the road to position itself in its new location, only to return before sunrise. The story is linked to a report in the 1970s and a car which crashed on this location and burst into flames, supposedly from colliding with the pedestrian Diamond Stone.

Whilst such stories are easily dismissed, tales of the Avebury Fair are not. These stories have been curated into 3 books by the aptly named Kathleen Wiltshire. The story takes place just after the end of World War 1 and involves a 12 year old girl from nearby Cadley who heard music coming from the village and saw what appeared to be a fair taking place. She and the rest of the family set off to Avebury to have fun at the fair, only to find there was no sign of any festivities. The local people know nothing about it either, there hadn't been a fair since 1850. A similar experience happened to an Edith Oliver, whilst driving her car near the village. She stopped because she heard the sound of fairground music and strange lights, went into the village looking for the fair and found nothing.

Supernatural Conclusions

There are numerous stories of strange lights seen within the circle at night. Eye witness reports have included seeing shapes moving between the stones, amidst the lights. Local myth suggests it is a location for fairies to celebrate and party. I mention this because the Avebury Stone Circle is another place on the Michael ley line - just like Glastonbury Tor and Arthur's Hunting Path (it runs from Burrow Mump to the Tor). If you're not familiar with ley lines, they are a form of earthbound energy that, like our National Grid, criss-crosses the country; the Michael line is the most powerful and connects locations which carry the same name, frequently churches dedicated to... you guessed it... Saint Michael. (The church that sat on top of the Tor was one example, until an earthquake destroyed it). Supernatural stories often describe strange energies in these places. Some visitors to the Avebury circle talk about hearing or sensing the stones "buzzing", as though they contain energy, like any electrical appliance. Could the ley line be responsible for the fairground stories? More information and images available here.

Saint Michael's Mount

Following up my mention of ley lines, it leads me to include St Michael's Mount in Penzance, Cornwall. Its original Cornish name is Karrek Loos yn Koos (meaning ‘grey rock in a wood’ and shows how it was originally built when sea levels were lower than today. Neap tides (when the sea recedes to its furthest extent) you can see the remains of the trees. The church itself does not have any strong Christian affiliations, it's the myths that makes this place famous.

Let's start with the raising of sea levels. Believed to have been part of the Scilly Isles, the city of Lyonesse vanished beneath the Atlantic Ocean in one dreadful night. There are connections with Arthurian legend. Thomas Mallory, who wrote Morte D'Arthur also curated events about a son of Lyonesse, the book is The Book of Sir Tristram de Lyones. The tragic story of Tristan and Isolde features in the Vulgate Cycle and it became the source of more stories, even opera, from that point. The Tristan Stone, just outside Fowey, has an ancient inscription linking Tristan to the area, even referencing Nennius, a 9th century Welsh academic monk who wrote many of the stories that others curated into Arthurian legend.

My reason for this slight diversion is to emphasize the proximity of the myths. Rising sea levels likely did wipe out communities in this area, St Michael's Mount became a tidal refuge and a stronghold, a location for several battles. Its religious relevance started after four miracles occurred in the Middle Ages, when Saint Michael intervened to rescue fishermen at the mercy of mermaids. Unsurprising in a coastal community, mermaids have featured in many stories.

Alfred Watkins, in a lecture to Woolhope Naturalist’s Field Club in 1921, first referenced 'ley lines' and stated how the Michael line entered England at St Michael's Mount, traversed the land in a straight line, taking in Glastonbury Tor, Avebury until it left the nation, to enter the North Sea at Bury St Edmunds. (Notice another Saint reference!) Considerable debunking of the ley line theory has met stiff opposition (check out ley lines on YouTube!) and resulted in theories which contend these lines extend around the globe. The connection with St Michael and dragons, (which is mentioned in the Bible) has been linked to lung-mei (dragon paths) in Chinese geomancy.

Supernatural Conclusions

An academic essay goes into enormous detail here. It's assertions on ley lines is particularly interesting as is the way in which mermaids, dragons and even giants are linked to this location. It points out as significant that for a religious location, unlike places such as Lindisfarne, there is little relevance to Christianity. Pilgrims visited only because of its links to Mont St Michael in Normandy, along with the tale of the four miracles (which was likely a means to attract pilgrims). More fascinating are the stories which permeate this whole area, starting with the drowned city of Lyonesse (England's answer to Atlantis!) and its connections to Arthurian legend. The ley line theory ties St Michael's Mount with these stories beautifully.

Final thoughts

Ten years ago I started work on The Bastard from Fairyland, my first novel. It had undergone several earlier iterations as I struggled to find ways to incorporate my years of research on British folklore. Stories, like the ones detailed here, felt so mysterious and yet so real that I had to include them, to validate the events in my book. I mention this to illustrate the thin line that separates fantasy fiction from the real world. Earlier I said, these stories would not remain in the collective consciousness, unless there was something significant about them in the first place. I believe that. Sure, details get exaggerated or invented to fill in the gaps, but there is often a nugget of history at the centre of these stories. For fantasy authors, like me, it's a question of working out how to use those details to make your reader question how much is fiction - and how much may be real.

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