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The poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who lived nearby at Nether Stowey (between Bridgwater and Minehead), was interrupted during composition of his poem Kubla Khan by "a person on business from Porlock", and found afterward he could not remember what had come to him in a dream.
Coleridge and William Wordsworth (who lived nearby at Alfoxden) would often roam the hills and coast on long night walks, leading to local gossip that they were 'spies' for the French. The Government sent an agent to investigate, but found they were, "mere poets". Their walks are celebrated by the Coleridge Way which ends in Porlock. Their friend Robert Southey published a poem titled "Porlock" in 1798.
[edit] Words to Jerusalem
Legend has it that the area beyond Culbone towards Lynmouth where Glenthorne is now situated is where Jesus may have alighted on a trip with Joseph of Arimathea. This is said to have inspired the words to William Blake's famous poem, Jerusalem:
- "And did those feet in ancient time
- Walk upon England’s mountains green?
- And was the Holy Lamb of God
- On England’s pleasant pastures seen?
- And did the countenance divine
- Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
- And was Jerusalem builded here
- Among these dark satanic mills?"
[edit] Submerged forest
A map of Porlock from 1937
From the end of the last glacial period, about 10,000 years ago, the melting of ice caps has caused the sea level in the Bristol Channel to rise about 40 metres. It has been at roughly its present level for the last 2000 years but is still rising very slowly.
Between 7000 and 8000 years ago the area that is now Porlock Beach was more than five miles inland. It was a flat, low lying area and the climate was warm and wet. The area was thickly wooded and Mesolithic people lived by hunting and fishing. They probably hunted wild cattle, the bones of which have been found here. The stumps of trees were preserved in the marshy conditions in which they grew and have today been revealed as the sea has risen to erode them. At low tide can be seen tree trunks, a thin layer of peaty soil and a large amount of grey clay soil which is now inhabited by sea shells known as piddocks.
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[edit] External links
(Source: Wikipedia) |