England and Wales Archive
Feature Articles – The Hitching Stone An enigmatic boulder on the moors of Yorkshire reveals an intriguing mythological dimension, which is now mostly forgotten. by Philip Coppens The Hitching Stone sits on the moors, between Keighley and Skipton. It is not the best-known landmark, as both the Lund Tower and Wainman’s Pinnacle, both on Earl Crag, sit to North and are more widely visited. Still, …
Feature Articles – The Giantess’ Landscape Forty miles east of Anglesey, in the famous Welsh coastal resort of Llandudno, is the peninsula that is known as Great Ormes Head. Here, the world’s largest prehistoric industrial site has been discovered. But elsewhere on Anglesey, recent discoveries have unearthed Neolithic remains that rival Newgrange and Stonehenge – though not in fame. by Philip Coppens Great Orme, the …
Feature Articles – Glastonbury: England’s oldest sacred landscape? Glastonbury is often seen as England’s new age capital, with legends of King Arthur and Jesus, and the Grail. But behind such modern inventions, could the area be indeed a sacred landscape, much older than Stonehenge? by Philip Coppens English author John Michell wrote about Glastonbury that “pilgrims are drawn toward it from afar, and as one …
Feature Articles – The mysterious layers of Gilmerton Cove Gilmerton Cove is a mysterious cave system in suburban Edinburgh. For a long time assumed to have been the work of an 18th century blacksmith, it is now emerging that he could not have possibly created the entire system himself. The question that everyone asks, therefore, is who then created the enigmatic structure? by Philip Coppens …
Feature Articles – Dracula in Britain Just over a century ago, the novel Dracula was published, written by the Irish author Bram Stoker. It created a widespread interest in vampirism and depicted Eastern Europe as a rather macabre country. But was Stoker inspired by Eastern Europe, or instead legends and sites of the British Isles? by Philip Coppens On June 24, 1897, Midsummer’s day, the …
Feature Articles – Fairy dust: the Cottingley fairies In 1983, Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths stated that back in 1917, they had perpetrated a majestic hoax. Their world famous photographs, showing the girls in the company of fairies dancing around them, were paper cut-outs, supported by hatpins. It had fooled both sceptics and believers. by Philip Coppens The famous Cottingley fairies were “photographed” by two …
Feature Articles – London’s Celtic “heritage” From the 18th century onwards, a “Druid history” of London was slowly discovered – or imagined – on London’s landscape. It reached a climax with the English mystic William Blake, who transformed it into a sacred site – the Heavenly Jerusalem. by Philip Coppens Primrose Hill Druids may seem far removed from the busy London streets, but some centuries …
Unknown Masters William Blake: What paintings of visions come A poet and painter, William Blake is considered to be a man who gave back Britain a sense of identity, at a time when the French and American Revolutions were doing the same in those countries. But above all, Blake was a mystic, a visionary, with at least one foot in the Otherworld – if …
