Thursday 1 March: Sacred Land and Gateway to Sacred Bristol
Please Join us for some or all of these events!
4.00 pm: Walk starting from Saint Stephen’s. Author Martin Palmer maps out the original medieval design of Sacred Bristol.
6 pm: Refreshments
6.30 pm: Introduction to the Sacred Land Project and book including a short film of Martin Palmer ‘reading’ sacred Bristol.
7pm: How to discover the sacred layout of a church: Martin Palmer ‘reads’ Saint Stephen’s
7.30pm: Canon Tim Higgins announces the plans for the Sacred City Labyrinth (ends 8.30 pm).
Friday 2 March
4.00 pm: Tea and an introduction to walking the Sacred City Labyrinyth in Saint Stephen’s church, led by Canon Tim Higgins, including a short walking meditation in the church. Many ancient faiths use labyrinths as a guide to meditation and the divine.
On Thursday, Saint Stephen’s launches Sacred Land, the latest book by Bristol-born religious historian and broadcaster, Martin Palmer, and announces an exciting new project – Sacred City Labyrinth – to be built on the floor of the church.
Published by Piatkus (£16.99) with a foreword by Melvyn Bragg, Sacred Land shows how to decode every aspect of our landscape including the medieval map hidden in a modern city.
Sacred Land demonstrates, for instance, how Bristol was planned as a sacred city and laid out as a Celtic cross, with Saint Stephen’s as one of the medieval churches in the original design.
The book was inspired by a conversation Martin Palmer had with a Russian Orthodox priest which changed his view of the world. The old priest told him that Moscow was laid out according to images in the Book of Revelation.
And, moreover, every city in Europe built before the 18th century incorporated circles, triangles and crossroads symbolising the Unity of God, the Trinity and the crucifixion.
As a Bristolian, from a family with a 500 year-old Bristol history, Martin Palmer – who heads the Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC) based near Bath – looked at his home city through this new lens and found the most astonishing sacred landscape still visible.
Martin Palmer, who has led several guided tours of Sacred Bristol with Saint Stephen’s, says:
“For decades we have travelled the world to find sacred India, sacred Egypt or sacred China without realising that we walk on sacred ancient land here. This is a guide to rediscovering the stories and beliefs which have literally shaped Britain.”
This book is a companion to that programme. His previous book, Sacred Britain, (Piatkus) with a foreword by David Bellamy, was a bestseller.
The launch event at Saint Stephen’s, Bristol’s parish church in the old city centre of Bristol, will explore these discoveries as well as show how Sacred Land can be a handbook to rediscovering the sacred landscape, stories and beliefs of Britain.
Saint Stephen’s City Canon Tim Higgins will introduce the plan to create a Sacred City Labyrinth on the floor of Saint Stephen’s, Bristol’s parish church.
City Canon Tim Higgins says:
“This Labyrinth will connect the energies of the sacred city with our contemporary life, its personal aspirations and public issues. Martin’s new book gives us more of the tools to see our city as it was conceived – laid out on the earth as a statement, part of creation, sharing a greater purpose. This stands in stark contrast to the way planning decisions are made today.”
City Canon Tim Higgins adds: “This occasion marks an important publishing event, and a contribution to the vision and value of cities and our sense of creation and a sustainable planet.”
As well as an introduction to Sacred Land and Sacred City Labyrinth, the event will also include the latest developments of ARC’s Sacred Land Project – including the creation of a national centre for the study of churches and churchyards at Bitton, Gloucestershire.
Martin Palmer will be available to sign copies of Sacred Land.
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