Who cares if it's all real? Myths and the heritage importance of King Arthur .

 

Why are homegrown British and overseas tourists  attracted to visiting the UK? Is it in part because there are so many tangible visible signs of a mysterious past layers of archaeology, strange stone circles and chalk figures in impossible places mix these with the intangible stories (or myths) of demons, witches, highway men and Kings you have an enticing reason to visit despite the constant drizzle!

 Image: Knights of the round table 


Its best from a heritage perspective we don’t delve too deep into these intangible characters as David Lowenthal explains ‘History strives to know as much of the past as possible; heritage is helped by imprecise impression and sketchy surmise.’[1] Let us not worry if our most famous legend King Arthur was real because the wonderous stories take tourists on a fabulous journey through the west side of the UK. And conveniently King Arthur certainly did visit some of the most beautiful parts of Britain,(or did he?). For heritages sake let us not spoil the fun with fact.

King Arthur is so long ago covered in the fog of time and the stories are told so often that reality doesn’t really matter the fact is it all could have happened, (although it didn’t!), it could have. The oldest stories date back to AD540, and King Arthur's Cornwall Discovery Trail takes in The Vale of Avalon, Tintagel (Castel Dyntagell), Dozmary Pool, King Arthur's Great Halls and St. Nectan's Glen. Those who seek Camelot can visit the Welsh Roman fort of Caerleon where the Welshman Geoffrey of Monmouth a medieval cleric who popularised Arthurian legends placed his Castle and round table. Move on to Pembrokeshire and visit his grave and stone circle at Bedd Arthur, or is it his final resting place? There are many other such graves in the UK. You can travel all the way up to Camelon in Scotland and you guessed it the clues in the name - visit another Camelot contender.

King Arthurs Great Halls- Built in 1930's.

Bedd Arthur- King Arthurs Grave.

Of King Arthur, historian Norman Myres said, ‘no figure on the borderline of history and mythology has wasted more of the historian's time.’[2] But this is the conclusion heritage is not always concerned by seeking out the truth for that would ruin a good day out. Heritage is concerned with melding the myths we have in this country and enclosing them into experiences, you can now see a huge stone carving commissioned by English Heritage, of Merlin of Arthurian legend at Tintagel Castle all part of perpetuating the myths of King Arthur. Actually, the real history part is our perpetuating the myth of King Arthur this is the true history our love of retelling our myths and handing them down in ever expanding versions. The experiences we offer our tourists are fantastical and magical layered over time intangible heritage mist sprinkled upon tangible landmarks an enticing package.

Merlin at Tintagel Castle


 Culture Syndicates can evaluate if your myths are enticing your visitors we are evaluation experts working in the arts and heritage industry.

See our website for more details: http://culturesyndicates.co.uk

 

 


[1] Lowenthal, D. ‘The heritage crusade and the spoils of history.’ Cambridge university press 1998. P.134

[2] Myres, J. N. L. (1986), The English Settlements, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Page 16.

Image.1. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Knights_of_the_Round_Table._Graal_(15th_century).jpg

Image 2.

https://www.cornwalls.co.uk/attractions/king-arthurs-great-halls.htm

Image 3

http://www.landoflegends.wales/location/bedd-arthur-stone-circle-mynachlog-ddu

Image 4

https://www.visitcornwall.com/about-cornwall/blogging-cornwall/discover-king-arthurs-tintagel-and-beyond

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