Leylines were first identified in the early 1900s by a wealthy businessman, Alfred Watkins, as he was travelling on horseback over the Herefordshire countryside taking photographs of the landscape. He noticed a straight alignment of ancient sites, such as hill forts, wells, stone and tall tree markers, barrow mounds, castles and churches. He wrote two books, Early British Trackways (1922) and The Old Straight Track (1925), coining the word "ley" because many of the place names on the line ended with this suffix.

Since the time of Watkins, many other old straight tracks have been identified, especially in the Glastonbury area. This might not be surprising, as drovers' roads, pilgrimage routes and pedlars' paths would have run straight across the countryside where possible. What is surprising is that these straight paths can be detected by using a dowsing tool, such as a rod or pendulum!

There appears to be earth energies at work, being released for various purposes including to aid psychic abilities. There are several theories about what these power lines are, some say underground rock fissures that ancient people recognised would increase the power of holy sites, others suggest that the concentration of energies of pilgrimage or trade produces a profound change to the landscape, allowing it to retain specific powers.  

My small dowsing group were investigating whether a ley-line could be detected in the vicinity of St Peter's Chapel, Bradwell, which was built from stone left from an old Roman fort which defended Essex from invasion from the continent. When the Romans left (exactly 1600 years ago in 410AD) their fortresses fell into dilapidation. In the mid seventh century, the Celtic Bishop, Cedd, sailed down the East coast from the Holy Island of Lindisfarne and decided to use the spare stone from the fort to build a chapel at Bradwell and preach Christianity to the people of the East Saxon shore. 

Wendy standing at the door of St Peter's Chapel, Bradwell on Sea

St Peter's Chapel is the oldest stone church in the UK and has been standing since 654AD. There is an annual pilgrimage to the chapel that still takes place on a Sunday near the time of St Peter’s feast day (which he shares with St Paul on 29^th June each year). Some dedicated pilgrims walk from the motte and bailey castle at Ongar but most congregate at the 14th century church of St Thomas in Bradwell Village for a blessing prior to the two mile walk to the coastal chapel. St Peter was the patron saint of fishermen and certainly this area of Essex, where sea and river meet, was rich in all varieties of fish and was a suitable site for monastic life which requires fish meals on Fridays.

Quite interestingly, Moses, the patriarch from the Jewish Testament, spent 40 years of his life bringing his people to the Promised Land. During their time in the desert, they often were extremely thirsty. He possessed a rod that brought forth water when he struck a rock. This is the first record that we have of a dowsing rod. In the church of St Thomas in Bradwell Village there is a stained glass window of Moses. In this window, Moses is depicted with rams' horns (horns are thought to help hooved animals find water during droughts!)  

What did we discover with our dowsing rods? We found a strong leyline, approximately thirty feet wide along the old Roman road that leads directly to the West door of St Peter’s Chapel. It leads inside the chapel where the energies cross in the centre of the aisle.

For the duration, we used as our base the Othona Ecumenical Community which is open for workshops, conferences, weddings, retreats, etc. They provide excellent meals, simple accommodation and comfortable armchairs to rest in front of an open fire in the evenings.

I organise talks, workshops, outings and weekends for anyone interested in dowsing. http://www.wendystokes.co.uk/

If you would like more information on the Othona Community:  http://www.bos.othona.org/

For more information about the Bradwell pilgrimage:

http://www.bradwellchapel.org/sppilgrim.htm

Wendy Stokes is a qualified counsellor, adult education teacher, a recognised healer and experienced channeller. She is the author of 'The Lightworkers' Circle Guide - A Workbook for Spiritual Groups' published by O Books. http://www.wendystokes.co.uk/