The Blackden Trust

Event details

Pilgrimage and Protection

Saturday 10^th April 2010
 10.30 am – 4.00 pm

Tutor: Tom Hughes

Going on a journey to a sacred place to worship, achieve spiritual grace or gain protection is an ancient rite that echoes in some of the superstitions we still observe today - throwing coins in wells and giving brides cardboard horse shoes are just two of the most common.

There are many examples of this practice amongst artefacts found at Blackden. For instance, we have a 14th century pilgrim's ampulla for carrying holy water back from the shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham. Using illustrations from the period and artefacts we shall examine the concept of the medieval pilgrimage, exploring reasons why people went, what they found at the shrines and what they brought back.

In the afternoon we shall examine the various ways the site and the houses built on it were protected. We shall take a tour of the Old Medicine House to see markings carved in beams and examine apotropaic objects from Blackden including hidden shoes, a dried cat and foundation burials. We shall consider the survival of these traditions, which continued in parallel to worship in the Christian church.