Gallos power of Cornwall at Tintagel
Eight feet Bronze statue of a Dark Ages King donning crown and gown and his hands on a sword, standing near the cliff edge was unveiled to public last week brings pride to local nationalist and the fortunes of a village built on a legend. The 13th– century ruin of Tintagel Castle, straddles the Cornish coastline. Over 200,000 visitors a year walks down from the village of Tintagel into 1500 years history and myth. According to mythology, it was here King Arthur was conceived when Uther Pendragon used the magic of Merlin to bluff his way into the castle to have his way with Igraine, wife of the Duke of Cornwall. This 12-century account of Geoffrey of Monmouth has drawn generations of Arthurians to Tintagel. This is English Heritage at its best, where “ history meets legend”, the statue inspired by the legend of King Arthur is the crowning feature among new additions. The new carving 30cm high is a true representation of Merlin, whose name was given to a nearby passage under the rock in Idylls of the King by Lord Tennyson. Richard, first Earl of Cornwall, rich younger brother of King Henry III, in the 1230s, build a modern castle fit for King Arthur. Tintagel became the popular destination in the 1920s when Frederick Thomas Glasscock, a London custard power tycoon decided to retire and build a King Arthur’s Hall, the headquarters of his order of the Fellowship of Knights of the Round Table. This building opened in 1934, includes a throne, a sword in the stone and a round table.