Pilgrim Ways

. The monastery garden was crucial for the kitchen but also for the cure of ailments. There were also areas given over for the cultivation of wild flowers for use during the celebration of Mass and other liturgies and religious festivals.

The Brother Cadfael Centre at Shrewsbury Abbey (where Ellis Peter‟s fictional monastic sleuth cultivated the medieval monastic herb garden in between solving devilish mysteries) captures the essence of what went on in the Giardini Sacristi. Among the plants cultivated in the monastic sacred garden were Lady‟s Mantle, Chives, Garlic, Dill, Arnica, Southernwood, Chervil, Borage, Coriander, Fennel, Christmas Rose, Hyssop, Lavender, Lovage, Lemon Balm, Spearmint, Apple Mint, Honeysuckle, Catmint, Peony, Field Poppy, Parsley, Primrose, Rue, Sage, Houseleek, White Rose of York, Red Rose of Lancaster, Rosemary, Sweet Violet, Onions, Horehound, Wormwood, White Lilies, Poppies, Mandrake, Lettuce, Shallots, Daffodils, Beetroot, Marigolds, Celandine, Acanthus, Orache, Smallage, Clary and Grape Vine. Other old roses cultivated by the monks included Maiden‟s Blush, Blush Damask, the Apothecary‟s Rose (rosa gallica officinalis), Rosa Mundi, Rosa Eglanteria, and Rosa Phoenicia. Roses represented the blood shed by Jesus and the Virgin‟s purity was symbolised by the white lily.

World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF UK) has initiated a Sacred Land Project which as well as encouraging the rediscovery of ancient pilgrim routes urges the recreation of monastic medicinal herbal gardens, using the traditional plants. Along with St.Peter‟s Abbey at Shrewsbury, Gloucester and Peterborough Cathedrals have recreated their monastic herb gardens. Others have survived in parish churchyards.

Crowland and Shrewsbury were both Benedictine foundations. One of my favourite Cistercian monasteries is Valle Crucis Abbey in North Wales.

The Cistercians: Valle Crucis and the Welsh Houses For the pilgrim undertaking an expedition to St.Winifred‟s Well or St.Beuno‟s (see Chapter Five, The Holy Wells), or visiting the Marian shrines of Mid and North Wales (see Chapter Six, The Marian Shrines), the additional journey to Llangollen to see Valle Crucis is well worth the trouble. The abbey lies about two miles north of Llangollen on the west bank of a stream which flows down to the River Dee. The Latin phrase “Valle Crucis” means quite literally the valley of the cross and took its name from the ninth century Pillar of Eliseg, which stands a quarter of a mile to the north of the abbey. This cross was set up by Cyngen, last of the kings of Powys (who died on a pilgrimage to Rome in 854, when Powys passed to the kings of Gwynedd). The inscription on the historic cross records his descent from Brydw, the son of Gwrtheyrn (Vortigen) and grandson of the Roman Emperor, Magnus Maximus, a Spanish-born general who seized power in Britain in 383.

Throughout the nearby hills there are stunning walks (particularly towards World‟s End) which I have enjoyed visiting since my student days. Above the abbey are old footpaths which were doubtless used by the monks who first came here in 1201 when it was established

by Madog ap Gruffudd Maelor, the ruler of northern Powys. A group of Cistercian monks came from Strata Marcella Abbey near Welshpool to create this daughter house.

Their buildings and furnishings were to be plain and they eschewed elaborate decorations.

Their clothes were woven with undyed wool (hence the epithet “white monks”) and they observed strict rules of silence and diet. They established a series of outlying farms, or