Mysterious Britain & Ireland

Category: Early Christianity

Ancient Sites / Early Christianity / Featured Sites / Legends

St Bees Priory

The atmospheric church at St Bees is all that remains of a small Benedictine monastery closed down during the reformation. The priory is associated with the legend of St Bega, who is said to have fled here to escape an arranged marriage in Ireland.

Ancient Sites / Early Christianity / English Fairies

Irton Cross and Church

There are two Celtic Crosses in Irton Churchyard, one is truly ancient and the other is a copy of the former incorporated into more modern grave. The ancient cross is thought to date from the early ninth century, before the Norsemen invaded the area.

Ancient Sites / Early Christianity

Gosforth Chapel

This must have been an important place of worship to the Norse invaders, and to later generations judging by the wealth of important early Christian relics here. The actual church has been renovated several times and much of the older structure has been destroyed.

Ancient Sites / Early Christianity / Standing Stones

King Doniert’s Stone

Two granite slabs carved with latin inscriptions and intricate patterns, lie near the edge of Bodmin Moor.The stones are the remains of crosses, and are associated with King Doniert (Durngarth) of Cornwall who drowned in AD 875 in the river Fowey.

Ancient Sites / Early Christianity / Wells

Bodmin

Bodmin means the house of the monks, and this was an ecclesiastical town until the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII.

The original monastery dedicated to St Petroc was founded in the 6th Century. St Petroc’s bones are believed to be kept in an ivory casket in the crypt of St Petroc’s Church.

Ancient Sites / Early Christianity / Legends

Congresbury Church

The Yew trees in the church yard are said to be the relatives of an ancient tree which sprouted from a staff planted in the ground by St Congar. Yew trees grow very slowly and are often found in ancient churchyards. In many cases they are the descendants of ancient trees planted when the church was first built. The story may be a folk memory related to the original planting.