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Abstract
This article focuses on St Nectan’s Glen, Cornwall, where layers of ritual deposition imply a long history of spiritual significance—an implication that is debunked by a diachronic examination of the site, which reveals a relatively recent, and conscious, crafting of the sacred.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my PhD supervisors, Tim Insoll and Petra Tjitske Kalshoven, for their support and advice throughout my doctoral research and beyond. Many thanks also to Lawrence ‘Loz’ Barker, Cheryl Straffon, and Sally Daffern for their very helpful correspondences. Particular thanks go to the journal’s peer reviewers, one of whom was Jeremy Harte, who provided a wealth of invaluable sources and information for the improvement of this article.
Notes
1 The term ‘kieve’ means ‘tub’, ‘vat’, or ‘cauldron’ in Cornish dialect, and refers to the bowl-shaped basin at the bottom of the St Nectan’s Glen waterfall (Madge Citation1950, 29).
2 For further information on British coin-trees, see Houlbrook (Citation2014, 2015a, 2015b, 2015c, 2015d).
3 These observations are taken from the author’s visit to the site in April 2013.
4 These observations are taken from the author’s visit to the site in April 2012.
5 While the theory that holy wells possessed pre-Christian significance is a popular one, it should be noted that scholars such as James Rattue have questioned the extent to which this was the case: ‘it is not good enough’, Rattue writes, ‘to use paganish ritual as evidence of pagan worship’ (Citation1995, 37).
6 Waterfall at St Nighton’s Kieve is currently part of the collections of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London: http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O17817/waterfall-at-st-nightons-kieve-oil-painting-maclise-daniel/
7 See http://www.pastscape.org.uk/ (last updated February 2016).
8 See http://www.cornishguardian.co.uk/New-owner-vows-sacred-site-St-Nectan-s-Glen-open/story-15516560-detail/story.html. Commercialism at St Nectan’s Glen had earlier undergone some criticism in the 1992 issues of Meyn Mamvro: Ancient Stones and Sacred Sites in Cornwall. Robin Ellis opined that ‘it would be a tremendous place for meditation—if it wasn’t for the café and all the tourists it attracts!’ (Citation1992, 19)—a criticism which elicited a number of responses from later contributors to the magazine, some disagreeing with Ellis, claiming that accessibility necessitates a degree of commercialism (e.g. Laws Citation1992), and others similarly condemning the commercialization of the site (e.g. Pacsco Citation1992).
10 See, for instance: http://www.thedungeons.com/edinburgh/en/.
11 All comments posted at http://www.st-nectansglen.co.uk/your-views/.
12 Article posted 20 April 2011, by ‘This Is Cornwall’: http://www.westbriton.co.uk/Sale-sparks-fear-access-sacred-site/story-11471725-detail/story.html.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Ceri Houlbrook
With a PhD in Archaeology, attained from the University of Manchester, Ceri Houlbrook considers herself a historical ethnographer and folklore archaeologist, and is particularly interested in the material culture of popular customs and beliefs, both past and present. She is currently a Postdoctoral Research Assistant researching concealed deposits on the ‘Inner Lives: Emotions, Identity and the Supernatural, 1300–1900’ project at the University of Hertfordshire.