Our pagan past

A new book called Pagan Channel Islands reveals the ancient mysteries behind our menhirs and dolmens. From sleeping dragons and fertility processions to the devil's footprints and isles of the dead, it also unearths a few surprises along the way. Shaun Shackleton meets the authors THEY are older than Christianity by thousands of years and despite being reviled as the domain of witches, ghosts and dragons, many Channel Island menhirs (burial chambers) and dolmens (standing stones) still remain perfectly frozen in time.

Even more bizarrely, they draw close similarities with ancient structures in such far-flung places as Greece and Egypt.

'When we began our research, we found that dolmens and menhirs had a similar function to those at the ancient palace of Knossos in Crete,' said co-author Vince Peddle.

'And at the same time, I was reading Folklore of Guernsey by Marie de Garis and I began to see links with Greek myths,' agreed his wife, Sandra.

'There's a common theme with Neolithic rituals and ceremonies.

The link with the myths is that the themes are arcane and you often come across a fight between a hero and a dragon on a rock. The fight ends with the goodie throwing the baddie off the rock and the baddie leaving a footprint behind in the stone.'

And carbon dating suggests that our French neighbours have stones that could be even older than the pharaohs.

'In Carnach in Brittany there are pyramid-shaped dolmens,' said Vince.

'And carbon dating on them shows that they could predate the Egyptian ones.'

Sandra, 55, and Vince, 50, who use the joint pen name, S. V. Peddle, have poured their findings into a meticulously researched and lavishly illustrated book called Pagan Channel Islands - Europe's Hidden Heritage.

I met them just before a book-signing session in The Press Shop.

'The book took about three years,' said Vince. 'Sandra came up with the first ideas and then I developed them. Sandra took the photos.'

The Peddles have a long history of adventure.

Both are keen travellers and they originally met in 1986 in Crete, where they were both working as teachers.

Between them they have lived in the United States, South Africa, Germany, Greece and Turkey and together in Portsmouth, Manchester, Wellingborough and Watford, where for 10 years they owned and ran a second-hand bookshop. They co-wrote a novel, The Moon Maiden, about ancient Crete.

Now living in Jersey - Sandra teaches media studies at Hautlieu School and Vince is a teacher and bookseller - they also have an enormous affection for the Bailiwick of Guernsey, something that grew during their book research.

'The Priaulx Library is a brilliant place for local study,' said Sandra. 'And the best thing we found in Guernsey - and we'd been about four or five times - was the dragon at Vale Church. It was the oddest thing. I said to Vince, "I can see a dragon.". And once you see it, it can be nothing else.'

This is how the book describes it:St Michael, the Christian dragon slayer, has his own small mount on Guernsey's St Michael's Church. But perhaps the dragon has not been killed. Today the church has one of the most mysterious rock structures to be found on the Channel Islands. A closer examination reveals a dolmen-like structure, a kind of rough capstone straddling two low supporting rocks, creating at least part of the familiar passage grave arrangement. But it is the head, or facing supporting stone, that is most striking.

'The rock clearly resembles a dragon's face. Large eyes, which appear to be closed, as well as a well placed nose, are clearly marked. As soon as one has absorbed this astonishing image, it becomes clear that the whole structure resembles a crouching beast.

'Even the neck is articulated, with a delicate arrangement of small bones fitting neatly into a carefully shaped aperture at the base of the head.

'From many viewpoints, the creature is partly squatting, partly immersed in the land of the island site, as if wallowing in a swamp, halfway between this world and the next. Modern building and tree growth block its view of Vale and low-lying L'Ancresse today, but it is clearly guarding its site.'

The Peddles were also fascinated by the island-wide procession called La Chevauchee de St Michel that began at Vale Church and believe that it was proof that the old pagan beliefs never really died.

'This chevauchee (a word which means 'cavalcade') was a formal procession of officials and servants, riding on horseback around every field and patch of land on Guernsey. It took place at midsummer every three years and was initiated by the priory of St Michel, who held ownership rights over common land. The official purpose of the cavalcade was to collect tithes and ensure that the roads and boundaries were in good order.'

There is no doubt about the pagan origins of this custom and there were a number of stopping-off points where fertility rites were performed.

'One was the Rocque des Faies in the Forest parish, known also as the fairy ring because it was where the fairies were said to hold revels at night. The monks' footmen would dance, fairy-like, around the rock. After their dance, they would knock on the door of a nearby house to claim a glass of milk, a drink favoured by the fairies and associated with the nourishment of the moon goddess. Another port of call was a Neolithic menhir on the hill called Les Pointues Rocques. The footmen would dance around this stone also.

'The chevauchee also stopped at a grass mound at Les Pezeries where, according to folklore, a coven of witches was 'regularly feasted by Satan'. Here the attendants of the monks would sit down and be 'regaled with food and wine' just like the witches. They would then move on to a boulder near Jerbourg, said to have the imprint of the devil's claw upon it, and perform fertility rites there.'

So, that's some of Guernsey's pagan past. But if you think your favourite summer day trip or regular golfing weekend destination is safe, think again. The book also unearths some startling revelations about Herm and Alderney.Islands are sacred in mythology,' said Vince. 'In Herm there are so many Neolithic burial sites - far too many, in fact, for the population. So it must have been an isle of the dead.'

It is suggested that many of the Stone Age bodies buried in Herm and Alderney had been brought from France.

To support this, it is worth noting that most of Alderney's Neolithic remains are at Longis, the coastline closest to France.

Even in the mid-19th century, it was still believed that when fishermen from Brittany put out to sea, they were called by the spirits and their boats were 'weighed down by some invisible burden, until they reached Alderney, destined to be the resting place of the departed'.

'There's a poem from Normandy about a fisherman woken up by a banging on his window,' said Vince. 'He goes out in his boat and it gets heavier and heavier until he reaches Alderney. He's carrying the dead.'

Crossing the common to Shell Beach or a stroll along Longis Bay will never feel the same.

I wondered that because we have so many reminders of our Neolithic past, perhaps we Channel Islanders are still a superstitious race.

Sandra and Vince suggested that we might have good reason to be, especially when they told me about the horrific fate of a Guernsey businessman, Mr Hocart.

'After he destroyed a large menhir on his property, his house burned down twice, then he lost two trading ships and their entire cargo at sea. Bankrupt, he sailed away from Guernsey in search of a new home and he was killed when part of the rigging of a ship crashed on his head. The message of the story is clear: don't tamper with menhirs.'

Although their thorough research into and wide knowledge of paganism shines through the book, Vince and Sandra are not practising pagans.

'It's not a statement of belief,' said Vince.

'Paganism is the unofficial religion of the people.'

'It's not a bad idea to go back to the earth, though,' added Sandra.

As well as our wealth of menhirs and dolmens, the book investigates black dogs, blood rites, Bacchanalian orgies, submarine cities and subversive images in and on our churches.

Are there any more projects on the horizon?

'We want to do something with a similar pagan theme. Perhaps in England,' said Vince. 'We're open to suggestions.'

'If modern pagans want to write or talk to us, we'd be happy to hear their stories,' agreed Sandra.

As the 21st century devours our islands a little more each day and much of the old is replaced by the new, isn't it comforting to know that we can still follow in the footsteps of those we once were? However, with a dragon in the Vale, the devil's claw print at Jerbourg and Alderney and Herm once isles of the dead, best tread carefully, eh?

* To contact the authors, write to Clos des Vagues, La Grande Route de la Cote, St Clement, Jersey, JE2 6SE, or email: sandravince@jerseymail.co.uk.