Grace Dieu Priory, Leicestershire - March 16th 2003
Report and photos by Lesley Hextall:
Click on the photos for a larger image.
The Priory, now a Scheduled Ancient Monument, dates
from the 13th Century and was originally an Augustinian nunnery.
The Group's first site visit of the
year was to Grace Dieu Priory, Near Thringstone, Leicestershire,
in March, on a gloriously sunny spring day.
We were extremely privileged to be
able to dowse at this ancient ruin, as it is not accessible to the
public at this time.
Our hosts were the local
Thringstone Archaeological / Field Walking Group who gave us a
guided tour and history of the site.
On the day, our dowsers were
able to find underground conduits, building foundations, tunnels,
water, energy lines, hut circles, a stone circle and even a ghost!
The site is complex and
the day's dowsing only scratched the surface. (Findings are still
being collated). We also taught a couple of the Thringstone group
to dowse on the day, which amazed them!
Linda dowsing the entrance to the
small conduit tunnel pictured above.
Report by Chairman John Wright:
On 16.03.03 ten members of the East Midlands Dowsing Group met with four
members of the Thringstone Historical Society on the group's opening site visit
of the year.
The venue was Grace Dieu Priory, a monastic ruin beside the A512 at
Thringstone. A cloudless sky was in total contrast to the Group's first
visit to Grace Dieu in 2001; on that occasion we sloshed round in a
tropical downpour and yet, even under such conditions, the magic
and appeal of the ruins and its history was no less apparent.
The medieval remains and the surrounding earthworks were complemented
by what is dowsed as a Neolithic or early bronze age settlement on the west
bank of the Grace Dieu brook.
History, archaeology, earth energies and a reported haunting; there was
something for all dowsers, whatever their dowsing interest. (It is important
to note that not all dowsers use their skills for the same ends. There seems,
at times, to be as many applications as there are dowsers. With practice,
and confidence, dowser's abilities can extend into previously unknown
and un-thought of areas).
