Sunday, March 31, 2013

St Michaels Mount.................

St Michael's Mount (Cornish: Karrek Loos yn Koos, meaning "grey rock in the woods") is a tidal island 400 yards off the Mount's Bay coast of Cornwall, England. It is united with the town of Marazion by a man-made causeway of granite setts, passable between mid-tide and low water.
Its Cornish language name — literally, "the grey rock in the wood" — may represent a folk memory of a time before Mount's Bay was flooded. Certainly, the Cornish name would be an accurate description of the Mount set in woodland. Remains of trees have been seen at low tides following storms on the beach at Perranuthnoe, but radiocarbon dating established the submerging of the hazel wood at about 1700 BC.The chronicler John of Worcester relates under the year 1099 that St. Michael's Mount was located five or six miles from the sea, enclosed in a thick wood, but that on the third day of the nones of November the sea overflowed the land, destroying many towns and drowning many people as well as innumerable oxen and sheep; the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records under the date 11 November 1099, "The sea-flood sprung up to such a height, and did so much harm, as no man remembered that it ever did before". The Cornish legend of Lyonesse, an ancient kingdom said to have extended from Penwith toward the Isles of Scilly, also talks of land being inundated by the sea.
In prehistoric times, St Michael's Mount may have been a port for the tin trade, and Gavin de Beer made a case for it to be identified with the "tin port" Ictis/Ictin mentioned by Posidonius.
Historically, St Michael's Mount was a Cornish counterpart of Mont Saint-Michel in Normandy, France (which shares the same tidal island characteristics and the same conical shape), when it was given to the Benedictines, religious order of Mont Saint-Michel, by Edward the Confessor in the 11th century.
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The vision of St. Michael the Archangel at this site in Cornwall was one of many that were reported across southern Britain and northern France in the 4th and 5th centuries.

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As a great heavenly warrior, St. Michael is often seen on high places and many of his legends involve slaying dragons. Some theorize that St. Michael's strength and victory over dragons is an expression of the struggle of the newly-arrived Christian faith against native paganism in this area.

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St. Michael's Mount is also a prominent site on the major ley line known as St. Michael's Line. Ley lines are hypothetical straight lines between ancient sites that are believed to carry special energy and power. St. Michael's Line runs northeast across Britain from St. Michael's Mount, through sites such as Glastonbury Tor (with its St. Michael's Tower), Avebury, and Bury St. Edmunds.
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You can read more here......St Michaels Mount


When we were in England we did go to Cornwall and we saw this magnificent sight. We were not able to go over to the Island at that time so it is one of my things to do. I am fascinated by legends. To know that this was all on the main land at one point and the sea came in makes me wonder why. What happened that drowned out this area as well as Lyonesse? the Island where Genevieve came from in the story of King Arthur. What made the sea rise, and earthquake, a tsunami? something happened thats for sure. So I am trying to read about this. I began the fascination long ago, it was piqued again while at Tintagel last August.
Apart from anything else this is a beautiful and ancient land.....Cornwall.

2 comments:

Noelle the dreamer said...

Great post Janice! Thank you for sharing the info!

Michele M./ Finch Rest said...

SO interesting!

I have been to Mt. Sainte Michel in France - so incredible! I would love to go there again but this time I know I couldn't walk all the steps like I did back in 1995!

Happy and blessed Easter to you!