Britain is packed to the gunnels with places to visit that many regard as sacred, from iconic sites such as Iona, Lindisfarne and Stonehenge to more out-of-the-way pilgrimage destinations, stone circles, holy wells and obscure corners. Then there are places that appeal to a particular following, places of philosophical or celebrity interest such as Karl Marx's tomb in Highgate cemetery, Princess Diana's statue or, for sporting enthusiasts, Twickenham rugby stadium. This book, first published in 2011 as Sacred Britain, has been thoroughly revised with additional sites and re-packaged as part of Bradt's award-winning series of Slow travel guides to regions and aspects of the UK. Updates have been included, including to Stonehenge, Tintagel and Monkwearmouth-Jarrow, as well as new locations such as Goat's Hole Cave on the Gower Peninsula, Creswell Crags in Nottinghamshire, Stanton Drew in Somerset and St Nectan's Glen in Cornwall. Also new is the memorial to Princess Diana in Kensington Palace Gardens, which is included in addition to the island on the Althorp estate on which she is buried. Sites in England, Wales and Scotland are featured, from far-flung islands to ancient chalk hill carvings, hot springs and sites of myth, legend and apparition; and from soaring cathedrals to Buddhist and Hindu temples, shrines to martyred saints, irreligious philosophers and immortal rock stars locations revered for their connections with art, music, literature, sport, crime; and places holding emotional associations for those with ancestral roots on Britain.

'A fascinating take on travel in the British Isles' Sandi Toksvig, author and TV and radio presenter 'A wonderful, timely guide' BBC Countryfile Magazine

Vorwort
. A unique title, first published in 2011 as Sacred Britain; now revised and represented as part of Bradt's award-winning series of Slow guides. . A travel guide to places of both religious and secular pilgrimage in England, Wales and Scotland . Includes everywhere from iconic sites such as Westminster Abbey and Stonehenge, to Buddhist temples, celebrity homes and sites associated with Princess Diana. About Bradt Travel Guides . Founded in 1974, Bradt is now the largest independent guidebook publisher in the UK with over 200 titles in print . Serial winner of the Gold award for Best Guidebook Series in the Wanderlust Reader Travel Awards . Bradt guides are written by authors who really know their destinations. Many are resident there, or have been visiting regularly over a number of years . Each new Bradt guide is backed by a dedicated press and social media campaign

Autorentext

Born and raised in Portugal, Martin Symington paid yearly visits to his grandparents in Leicester in the UK. To return to this industrial city at the heart of Middle England years later, and find it pulsing with Hindu, Sikh and Jain temples was one inspiration for Britain's Sacred Places. Other seeds were sown when he followed in the footsteps of millions of medieval pilgrims across the salty sea cliffs of north Wales to drink miraculously clear, sweet water from a holy rock pool below the high tide mark; and when he first observed the remarkable similarities between the faith displayed at religious shrines and the ardent devotion shown by followers at the tomb of Karl Marx. Realising a sense of the sacred in 21st-century Britain takes manifold forms and is to be found in unlikely places, he set off on a quest which took him from Orkney to the southwest tip of Cornwall; and from the wilds of west Wales to the expanses of East Anglia. Time and again, he was astonished by what he discovered.

Zusammenfassung
Britain's Sacred Places: a guide to ancient and modern sites that stir the soul - travel guide covering places of religious and secular pilgrimage in England, Wales and Scotland, from Westminster Abbey to Iona, Twickenham stadium to Orkney, including Buddhist temples, Stonehenge and Princess Diana's statue.

Inhalt

INTRODUCTION

How to use this book

1 LONDON

Westminster Abbey, Diana, Princess of Wales, Marc Bolan's Rock Shrine,

Twickenham Stadium, Bevis Marks Synagogue, Highgate Cemetery,

London Central Mosque, Shri Swaminarayan Mandir

2 SOUTHERN ENGLAND

Marazion & St Michael's Mount, Land's End Peninsula, Walking The Saints'

Way, Tintagel, St Nectan's Glen, The Cerne Abbas Giant, Glastonbury,

Stanton Drew Stone Circle, Bath Spa, The Avebury complex, Stonehenge,

Winchester, The Long Man of Wilmington, Canterbury

3 CENTRAL & EASTERN ENGLAND

Bradwell-on-Sea, Bhaktivedanta Manor, Amaravati Buddhist

Monastery, Uffington White Horse, Rollright Stones, Little Gidding,

Ely, Walsingham, Leicester's Hindu, Sikh & Jain temples, Lincoln,

Creswell Crags

4 WALES

Tintern Abbey, Llanthony Priory, Goat's Hole Cave, Caldey Island,

St David's, Bardsey Island (Ynys Enlli), Anglesey (Ynys Mon),

Holywell

5 NORTHERN ENGLAND

Chester, York, The medieval monasteries of North Yorkshire, Cumbria's

stone circles, Durham, Jarrow, Lindisfarne (Holy Island), The Farne

Islands: Inner Farne

6 SCOTLAND

Whithorn, Samye Ling Tibetan Buddhist Monastery, The border abbeys,

St Mungo & Glasgow Cathedral, St Andrews, Iona, Callanish & the

Western Isles, Orkney

APPENDIX

A guide to the sacred sites in this book, Sacred tours

INDEX