Crow Moor

Female Pagan living in Wessex England. Trying to escape suburbia and return to the wilderness.

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Dusk at Avebury Stone Circle on the shortest day, perfect,

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Well it’s not quite moving into our new home but it is the first stage of our move and it is Pembrokeshire!

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I think mushroom season is pretty much at an end now but it sure has been fun searching through fields and forests looking for fungi.

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This is Llanllawer Church in Pembrokeshire which is a now disused and semi-derelict church next to the Llanllawer Holy Well. It’s thought that the church was built on an ancient site, the surrounding churchyard is more or less circular and on either side of the entrance gate can be seen incised pillar stones each with an early Christian sculptured cross carved into it. You can’t access the church, we did try to get in but what with the rotten floorboards we decided against it. Apparently inside is a ‘weeping stone’, at the bottom of the wall near the north-west corner which is possible connected to the nearby Well.

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The very beautiful Llanllawer Holy Well. This is a Healing Well and was used for healing diseases of the eyes and also as a wishing well. It’s still used and well-loved with various offerings tied to its gate and was surrounded by loads of snake’s head fritillary’s. We couldn’t access the Well itself because it was fenced off possibly because sheep with their lambs were in the field so no water was collected or offerings made but that’s alright because I’m sure I’ll visit this beautiful Well again.

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St Gwyndaf’s Church in Llanwnda Pembrokeshire is dedicated to St Gwyndaf, a Celtic saint who left his home in Brittany in the early 6th century and who lived for a time in Pembrokeshire. Gwyndaf married Gwenonwy a saint and together they had two children, a son named Hywyn, and a daughter, Meugan who also went on to become Saints.

There is a story of Gwyndaf falling out with fellow Celtic Saint St Aidan, who lived at Llawhaden. An argument broke out one day between the saints which almost ended in a fight, enraged Gwyndaf marched off back to his home however as he crossed the stream which marked the boundary of the village, a fish leaped out of the water, frightening Gwyndaf so much that he fell and broke his leg. In a rage he placed a curse upon the stream that no fish would ever swim in it. To this day no fish are ever seen in its waters, though it still flows not far from the church.

The church is medieval and as you enter the porch there is a ‘squint’ a small window in the wall which gives a view into the church. Squints allowed people suffering from diseases such as leprosy to take part in the services without spreading their diseases to anyone else.

Inside you can see the original medieval roof beams, on one of them is carved the head of what is believed to be a tonsured monk.

Embedded into the outer walls of the Church are six Celtic Christian monuments. They were found during restoration work in 1881 and were repositioned to their present places. They date to the sometime between the 7th and 10th centuries and may originally have been grave markers.

Five of the stones are crosses, one is a Latin cross in a round headed panel and the others have double or more outlines. The most decorative stone is tucked away in a corner and next to a drainpipe. It’s just over four feet high and comprises of a set of double and quadruple lines forming an X-shape at the top of the stone. Underneath are four more lines framing a face, it’s thought that the lines could be the hood of a Monk or the hair of a woman and may well have been painted originally.

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On the north slope of Garnwnda Pembrokshire is Carn Wnda Cromlech a Bronze age earthfast chambered tomb. It consists of a large flat capstone supported by a single upright on the edge of a rock cut pit. This burial chamber has stunning views across to Strumble head and its lighthouse. 

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This stone at Carreg Wasted Point, Pembrokeshire marks the spot where between the 20-24 February 1797 three French warships packed with troops tried to invade Britain. Over those four days French soldiers ransacked many villages breaking into farmhouses and cottages and looting the contents. Locals fled to safety, but others hid where they could. According to folklore a young girl and a maid from one of the nearby farms took refuge in St Gwyndaf’s Church. When the Frenchmen burst into the building, the two fugitives retreated into the stairwell in the wall and crouched there in the darkness. Fortunately, the soldiers were more interested in burning the church records and stealing the communion plate, and never discovered the hiding place.

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Ffynnon Wnda Holy Well in Pembrokshire is a healing well where pilgrims coming from the north stopped to drink the water on their way to St. David’s.

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Beyond excited to be going to this years conference at the weekend and catching up with friends and learning lots! http://www.visiblecollege.co.uk/the-occult-conference-2017/

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Wassailing on Glastonbury Tor.

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Dead Woman’s Ditch which in its time has indeed had dead women in it but on such a beautiful afternoon as this it felt peaceful if not a little cold as the sun began to set.

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This is St Mary’s Church at Bishop Lydeard, Somerset which I wanted to visit as it has Hunky Punks which is a Somerset term for gargoyles. Because the church dates from the 14th-15th Century most of the Hunky Punks have disappeared but this one remains which is supposed to be a sea serpent. Inside the church is packed with elaborate carving and a lovely altar with a stunning canopy.

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This was tricky to find and at first we took the wrong turning and ended up having an impromptu tour of some 400 year old Alms houses by a local that left us thinking that 400 years ago they treated the poor better than they do today! But at last we found the Well; this is The Devils Whispering Well. Loads of folklore surrounds this one, from it obviously being somewhere to talk to the Devil to it being somewhere that Witches in the Middle Ages were walled up in it and it’s those lost souls that you can hear whispering. The position of the Well is certainly different, in most you find the water straight in front of you but this one is off to the side, this could be because it’s a cursing well so if you’re in there cursing your neighbour nobody can see you. Interestingly its one of the few Wells locally that wasn’t commandeered by the church like most were.

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This is St Thomas of Canterbury Church in Cothelstone,Somerset built in the 13th century. It was tiny and very pretty and full of Christmas flower arrangements; even the lady on the tomb was given a little posy of flowers to celebrate the festive season.

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This is St Agnes Holy Well at Cothelstone Somerset dated somewhere between 1300-1500 AD. It’s a Well that is associated with love and fertility and on the eve of the Feast of St Agnes on 21st January virgins would go there and use various divinations methods to discover their true love. The locals have become to be warry of the Well as it’s believed that Pixies live there however that didn’t stop them in the 1980’s from restoring it and from holding regular Well Blessings there. It has been described as the prettiest Well in Somerset and I would have to agree, it was especially nice to be greeted by a pair of buzzards who circled over us wondering I’m sure what we were up to in their field.

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Samhain celebrations on Glastonbury Tor.