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THE
LUDGATE HILL STONE CIRCLE
This Page was taken from the notes to the Ludgate Circle Walk, a one
off special for the Easter Holiday of April 2006. The Walk is no longer
scheduled at present but can be booked by small groups. Only the core
information has been reproduced here.
There have long
been rumours of a pre-Roman temple of somekind, often described as a
stone circle, on Ludgate Hill, but evidence for it remains elusive.
Did this temple exist? New evidence related here suggests it may have.
The main problem facing those who would demonstrate such a temple is
that there is not a single piece of evidence for pre Roman settlement
anywhere in the City of London! Due to this fact most historians now
argue that that Londinium was entirely a Roman creation. However a negative
does not prove a positive and the lack of surviving evidence for something
can not be used to draw definitive conclusions of any kind. Large areas
of the City of London, particularly on Ludgate Hill (named after Lud's
Gate in the former London Wall) the site of St Paul's Cathedral, are
obviously completely off limits to archeologists, and as we shall see
those excavations that were possible after the Great Fire stopped at
the Roman foundations. It might take nothing less than the demolition
of St Paul's Cathedral to settle the issue!
However what is known is that Bronze Age settlements did exist in what
is now Greater London, some not too far from the City itself. The majority
of these however seem to have been on the southern side of the Thames,
with settlers moving in from the area of the Great North Wood, of modern
SW London and Surrey, in late Neolithic / early Bronze Age times. There
are several burial mounds and the remnants of a few single standing
stones in Greater London to support this fact. Groundbreaking invstigations
by London based researcher Chris Woods indicate the earliest London
settlement could have been at Deptford Bridge, earlier known as Mereton,
the 'town in the marsh'. Similar though smaller developments may have
occured north of the Thames on the less productive land there. Furthermore
the area opposite the City on the southbank of the Thames, a few miles
west of Deptford, now known as Southwark, was the highest land above
the marshes south of the Thames, and an ideal bridgehead across the
Thames (as it definitely became under the Romans). In times of Bronze
Age trading it would seem strategically odd if this crossing point was
not settled, just as other ford points had been, and if the mound of
Southwark was settled then there would have been almost certainly something,
however small, on the opposite bank in the City.
The Curious Geography
of London
In fact this area has a curious geography. Highest areas of land - generally
the highest hills, and sometimes the highest mountains - in a given
tribal territory, were considered sacred by many peoples, including
the Celts, as well as their bronze age predecessors on these islands.
The elevated parts of Southwark would no doubt have been seen as such
as well, as would other older raised areas of south Greater London.
Thus such a culture would have looked for the same on the opposite bank,
where the highest point is Ludgate Hill. It is then perhaps no coincidence
that great Cathedrals exist in both Southwark and on Ludgate Hill today.
Such places were sacred because they were seen as the places where the
Earth touched the Sky, liminal areas in relation to the heavens, as
well as surface gates to the underworld into which the Sun and Moon
were once believed to have entered when they set, and from which they
departed when they rose. Such primitive notions may seem archaic (and
probably arose in ancient mountainous regions where the horizon is always
close) but their magical symbology and folklore remained valid even
when cultures were dispersed enough to cast the gates of the Sun in
the distant East and West. It was for this reason, as well as practical
considerations, that the dead were buried here too. Glasonbury Tor is
perhaps the most famous example of this with a clear folk memory tradition.
The artificial mound of Silbury seems to have been an attempt by pre
Celtic cultures to create such a liminal hill, indicating the antiquity
of the notion. But Ludgate Hill has another curious feature, although
it is only a low hill, and today a mere 'elevation' in technical terms,
its steep drop into the Fleet valley and gradual slope into the Walbrook
valley, as well as its long narrow shape, makes it what the Chinese
Feng Shui practioner would call a Dragon Hill. A place which draws down
Chi energy from the Heavens and distributes it to the land, making an
area particular fertile and/or prosperous (though it may be pure coincidence
that a Nordic Dragon carving has been found in the burial grounds of
St Paul's churchyard). In classic Feng Shui tradition another hill should
be to the west facing the shallow slope of the Dragon Hill, one more
rounded like a crouching tiger, which acts as a dam for the Chi energy,
and in addition to this Tiger Hill, a third hill should act as a screen
against 'negative energies' from the north (in actuality most likely
the freezing north wind). In the City these hills are Cornhill and Barbican
hill respectively, with the only difference that Cornhill faces the
shallow slope of Ludgate Hill to the east rather than the west. As we
don't know the history of Feng Shui or how it works (or was believed
to work) we can't tell if such a difference is significant or not (it
most likely isn't). Now this is not to claim that Feng Shui works or
does not, that remains an unanswered question for science, just that
it was and still is believed to work. Nor should this be taken as an
argument that Bronze Age Britons were adept in Chinese Geomancy! Just
that if there was any truth or great antiquity to the art then we might
expect to find it all over the world in different forms, particularly
in ancient cultures close to nature. Thus it is quite possible that
the City of London's unique geography may have made it of special interest.
It may follow from this that Bronze Age people settled in the City and
built somekind of shrine on the summit of Ludgate Hill, as would have
been customary. Perhaps even a stone circle. There is a problem with
this however, as such people rarely if ever built stone circles on hills
and rarely have such circle been found in Eastern Britain. Stone circles
were built around settlements most often, perhaps as a kind of protective
barrier, while burial mounds were positioned on the tops of hills. However
there may be an exception here in that London is one of the most flood
prone areas of South East Britain and the Thames a dangerous river.
A small group of settlers in a tiny community would most likely settle
the south sides of Ludgate and/or Cornhill in these circumstances, and
if of a megalithic culture might build a stone circle around their community.
Such an ancestoral construction would remain even when the settlement
grew so large it had to occupy the dangerous Walbrook valley (if it
ever did). But if that was so we should find other stone circles to
the south, and all we have are single standing stones. Stone circles
are not unknown on Eastern Britain however just rare. And we should
remember that the traces of known Bronze Age settlements in South London,
their Celtic remnants later totally destroyed by the Romans, are often
circular. So there is nothing impossible about a stone circle on the
southern slopes of Ludgate Hill, and a high probability that it was
indeed settled by bronze age peoples at an early date.
But why should
we even suspect a circle there?
We know for a fact a Roman temple beneath St Paul's as its remains found
in the foundations after the Great Fire. A small, round, domed temple,
not unlike the form Wren adpted for the new St Paul's, which was rebuilt
over the top of it. Such temples were sacred to the luminaries, and
in particular Apollo and Diana, often both. The church records of 1220
refer to parts of St Paul's as the Chamber of Diana, have led many to
claim that the temple was dedicated to her. But there are as many references
to Apollo in London as much as Diana, and so it is likely both were
revered here as Sun and Moon. The Romans often built their temples over
the shrines of similar deities in their colonies, Romanising them, but
there is no hard evidence for this being the case here.
According to ancient folk sources recorded in 1136 though there was
a temple to the Sun god, 'Apollo', and the Moon goddess, 'Diana', in
London long before the Roman Army arrived. And it should be noted that
the Romans of course also refered to Stonehenge as a 'Temple of Apollo'.
American Scholar James Hersh thus wrote of a lost temple to the 'Celtic
god Ludd' over looking the Thames, refering to Ludgate Hill, and relates
it to Monmouth's dubious tale of a Celtic king of this name founding
London on the hill and built the first wall around the City. But Hersh
gave no other sources. Ludd is thus often thought to be a local version
of the Apollo like Irish Sun and light god Lugh of the Long Hand, later
remembered as a mythical king. Alternatively Lud may be derived from
the Welsh Lludd, himself derrived from the mysterious Irish deity Nudd
/ Nuada / Nodens, various described as a deity of the hunt, healing,
tidal waters, light and both the Moon and Sun (though the names likely
derivation from Noudant-s, or 'sap' indicates he originally represented
the lifeforce and its tides, explaining most of his associations, and
so was most likely formerly a god of light and the Moon before evoving
into a Solar deity). There are of course close parallels between Ludd/Nudd
and Lugh, and Diana was a goddess both of the Moon and the Hunt (remembered
until recently in the 'Hunter's rite' in St Paul's, held every year
near the Solstices). Following the Hersh thread the historian E. O.
Gordon imaginatively wrote that 'where St Pauls now stands, might have
been silhouetted against the sky, the mighty unhewn monoliths of a Druidic
circle'. Again without solid sources. Such a circle though often used
by Druids, as was Stonehenge, would have of course been far older, and
this possibility has long captured the many people's imagination. So
at least we have a popular tradition of a Celtic temple on Ludgate Hill,
one that may have dated back to and included an earlier stone circle.
But all this is speculation built on hearsay of course, and could merely
represent the late Celticisation of a half remembered Roman tradition.
The only historical evidence given is Monmouth's spurious history, though
there may be a kernal of truth even to this. Perhaps Ludd's encircling
wall was in fact a henge of somekind? Curiously Monmouth also relates
another folk story about London's pre-Roman 'Temple of Apollo', that
of the British King and Necromancer Bladud, who in one version of his
legend fell from the sky here on a flying stone, during a trip from
Bath, leaving the stone embedded in the ground and himself dashed to
pieces Osiris like. Which sounds like a spurious explanation for a single
standing stone being here since some unknown time in the past. Further
indication, but we need much more.
London's Ley Lines
Ley lines play an important part in Wyrd Walks retinue (we even experimentally
dowse for them). And it is these that may provide the final clue as
to the possibility of a stone circle on Ludgate Hill.
For the purpose of the walks 'ley lines', or alignments to use a more
neutral term, defines a linear alignment of ancient churches, or other
features, of a short distance, orientated to significant sunrises or
sunsets at certain times of the year. In London such alignments appear
to run to or from hills, particularly Ludgate Hill. A feature that arguably
gives away their origin as processional ways to sacred hills at significant
times of the year. In fact unique research performed for Wyrd Walks
indicates that all of London's genuine alignments are orientated to
significant sunrises or sunsets over their focal hill. Churches on these
alignments also often preserve the myths or feasts associated with these
orientation dates, the most obvious being their Saint's feast days.
This surprising feature can be used to distinguish authentic 'ley lines'
from the many spurious and rightly discredited alignments produced from
maps alone. The idea behind these processional ways seems to have been
based on mankind's percieved role as the completer or perfecter of creation.
As said earlier sunrises and sunsets over highpoints of land were once
seen as evidence of chthonic gates existing there. But exactly where
the sun sets or rises depends on the perspective of the viewer, initially
probably in relation to nearby mountains. However by processing towards
a certain highpoint on the angle of the sun's path for that day, the
luminary can be 'made to set or rise' over that particular hill or mountain.
Thus 'gates' can be 'located' in this way within the 'appropriate' places
for that festival. Or more often it appears all significant sunsets
and sunrises can be focused on the highest land in an area, that is
its tribal centre, a tradition probably closely associated with the
myths of kingship (where kings are often also seen as manifestations
of a solar deity and a people's link to the gods). Thus the tribe or
king both creates and maintains a 'natural order' in this way. The question
of the 'energetic' qualities of these alignments is an open mystery.
More on this topic can be found on the FAQ page.
Such alignments include churches because such buildings were buit on
top of the pagan shrines and markers that delineated these processional
ways. The most common of which were holy wells, sacred trees and standing
stones. Sometimes a convergence of such processions was marked by a
circle of stones that marked the appropriate orientations. The probable
origin of the kind of alignments we see at Stonehenge. Thus it becomes
clear how mapping 'ley lines' within this theoretical context can be
away of finding the possible positions of stone circles.
Pol's Stump
The strongest evidence for a megalith on Ludgate Hill is St Paul's Cross,
formerly known as 'St Paul's Stump' or simply 'Pol's Stump'. Today St
Paul's Cross is an impressive column in the grounds of the Cathedral
surmounted by a bronze stature of St Paul carrying a cross. This however
is a relatively recent replacement of an earlier 'Cross' used in medieval
times as an open air pulpit and moot place, where freedom of speech
was granted, much like Speaker's Corner today. Much of London's history
is associated with public meetings held here. Originally the site was
occupied by something called 'Pol's Stump', which merits close examination.
The stump was said to be a worn stone of great antiquity surmounted
by a cross. This is reminiscent of the London Stone,
the famous landmark and 'omphalos', now a worn down stump preserved
in a hole in the wall, but once said to have been bigger than a man,
believed to be either a Roman relic or some Megalithic remnant. Given
that the Ludgate stone was described as a stump in Medieval times it
must have been very old indeed. In fact the site of the original cross
(possibly still preserved by today's cross) aligns perfectly with the
churches of St Matthew, St Mary le Bow and St Peter Cornhill on the
summit of the opposing hill. An alignment orientated to the sunrise
of March 25th the old Spring Equinox. It was thus almost certainly once
a standing stone, many of which had crosses mounted on them by early
Christians. Curiously the name Pol, officially said to be a corruption
of Paul, is in fact the Old Germanic nickname for Polder or Balder,
an Apollo like Nordic Sun god (as we see in the famous Mersberg Charm
from Germany). Balder was a favourite of the Pagan East Saxons who were
the first to reoccupy London after the Romans left. It is even possible
there was some mistaken link between the names of Pol and Apollo, perhaps
indicating a continueing tradition. One that may even account for the
dedication of the site to St Paul, whose 'seeing of the light' occured
on his feast day between the Winter Solstice and Imbolc the same day
as one of the Cathedral's 'Hunter's rites'. Curiously Caithness has
its own Megalithic 'Stone of Lud' apparently orientated to a Midsummer
Sunset or Midwinter Sunrise. Unfortunately no Midwinter alignments have
yet been found to the Ludgate site.
Other Alignments and proposed Circle
When other alignments are plotted through Ludgate Hill a very interesting
pattern emerges (see map).
Apart from the famous St Paul's Ley that runs right through the middle
of the Cathedral, from St Helen's to the Templar church and St Clement
Danes, the so called London Stone Ley, also discovered by Alfred Watkins,
which runs along Cannon St, connecting St Martin's Ludgate - St Thomas'
- St John's Walbrook - the London Stone - St Leonard's Milk church and
All Hallows Barking, near the Tower of London, passes right through
the south west wing of the Cathedral and the Queen Ann monument to the
front. While two other alignments, in addition to the lower Equinox
line, connect to St Paul's Cross. The middle one, parallel to the St
Paul's Ley, passing through Eleanor's Cross, Cheapside - All Hallows
- St Marys and St Ethelburgas (of the former St Helen's Nunnery). The
upper alignment is more speculative but connects St Vedast with St Paul's
Cross and the Queen Ann Monument. The London Stone Ley orientates extremely
closely with both a Samhain and Martinmass Solar alignment, and is fittingly
terminated by All Hallows church at one end St Martin's at the other
(folklore often associating St Martin with chthonic archetypes). Though
oddly unlike other alignments this orientation is admittedly not precise
(though changing levels of elevation at the site and the approximate
nature of maps and astronomical calculations, or even changes resulting
from Wren's rebuilding of London may account for this). The St Paul's
Ley and its parallel both orientate to an obscure date around April
2nd, the Feast Day of Mary of Egypt (often thought to be Mary Magdeline
in the Middle Ages), and in Roman times known as the day Persephone
rose from the Underworld. A date linked closely with the mystery of
the Templars, explored on another walk.
Note that two other monuments at St Paul's thus fall on the same circle
at the point where lines intersect. This could very well be the location
of a former stone circle. The line of what is now New Change street
actually curves around this circle (more apparently on O/S maps) for
a reason not entirely clear but seemingly following the line of St Paul's
grounds. Oddly however O/S maps indicate that the line of Deans Court,
to the south west of Queen Ann's monument also follows the same curve,
perhaps indicating a second circle of stones or an outer bank (though
this is not all apparent on this map). This curves right round to the
base of St Peter's Steps, the traditional approach to the Cathedral
from the south.
It should be noted however that these alignmnents are dependent on Wren's
remodelling of the area after the Great Fire, as well as the traditional
Cannon St aligned Saxon grid pattern of London. Any conclusions therefore
depend on how closely Wren (and Hawksmoor who sited the new buildings)
reproduced ancient orientations. What seems to follow from this is either
the geometry of an ancient henge, around the original Bronze Age settlement,
is preserved in Wren's structure, or the belief in a stone circle here
influenced his plans.
Two other features point to the older origin of the structure. Just
to the south east of the monument once at the bottom of Old Change lies
Friday Street, a road that curves round towards the monument. According
to John Stow in his 16th history of London this was named after a Friday
fish market, but others have traced the name back further to Friggasdaeg,
the Saxon name for the day named after the goddess Frigg or Freya, the
mother of Balder or Pol and the Nordic equivalent of Diana. The presence
of the stature of a large cat here (sacred to Freya) may or may not
be coincidence! Nearby Distaff Lane appears to weave its way around
the outer circle apparent in the structure. Aptly considering that a
distaff was the weaving tool used in the wool industry once based here
(distaffs being made and sold here hence the name) as well as a symbol
of the Norns or Wyrd Sisters and indeed the goddess Frigg herself.
Note :
This map is an approximation used for demonstration purposes
only. O/S maps are required for exact alignment. It is an
immediate post Blitz map showing Wren's London and its bomb
damage.The circle appears to have protected St Paul's Cathedral
amazingly well!
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Other
facinating Geomantic Mysteries explored on Wyrd Walks include the
recent discovery of the London Pentagram, an alignment of the London
Stone, St Pauls and Strand Leys of Alfred Watkins and two other ancient
tracks to form a near pentagram. One that due to the reorientation
of certain churches in the Middle Ages became a definable irregular
pentagram, of which St Paul's is the bottom right hand point, mysteriously centred on a part of Covent Garden which later
became the temple of the Grand Lodge of English Freemasons!
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