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| Ivyleaf Hill, Stratton, Bude, Cornwall EX23 9LD England tel/fax +44(0)1288 321323 e-mail; tony@ivyleafcombe.com Web site: www.ivyleafcombe.com |
The Quest for King Arthur
Discovering The Past
"And down the wave and in the flame was borne
A naked babe, and rode to Merlin's feet"
Tennyson: Idylls of the King
Dark Tintagel by the Cornish sea… it was here that the infant Arthur was heaved up by the Atlantic into Merlin's Cave, according to Tennyson, and it is here that your search for King Arthur must surely begin. Stand amongst the battlements - the ruins of Earl Richard's 13th century stronghold and it's easy to imagine the clash of the sword and lance borne upon raging wind, and magic rising with evening mists.
The legend is made real, cast in stone and glass, in nearby King Arthur's Great Halls. Here you'll find the granite throne, the sword in the stone and the Round Table, and Arthur's deeds depicted in 72 glass windows.
Head next to St Breward, not far away across Bodmin Moor, you'll find another King Arthur's Hall - this one an ancient rectangular enclosure surrounded by slabs of moorstone. Did Arthur hold court here? And what other secrets lie buried on the moors - at places such as King Arthur's Bed and King Arthur's Downs?
Then it's north to Slaughterbridge, near Camelford, to a moss-covered stone hidden in the river bank. Legend has it that this stone marks the spot where King Arthur fell at the Battle of Camlann in AD 539. One of the defining battles in Cornish history did indeed occur here in AD 825, when the Cornish were slaughtered by Egbert, King of Wessex - but that was almost 300 years after Arthur's reign. Finally to Dozmary Pool, a bleak reed-fringed pool on the moors. After Arthur's death Sir Bedivere rode here and hurled the King's sword out over the wind-rippled waters, and from the depths rose the shimmering arm of the Lady of the Lake to receive Excalibur. This is as good a place as any to end your quest for Arthur: Chivalrous King or Celtic warlord, his secrets lie buried beneath the moorland tors, the Atlantic shore, the storm ravaged stones of Tintagel Castle, forever beyond the reach of all who seek him.