Sacred Wonders of Britain
At the edge of Europe, the British Isles is home to one of the world's richest collections of sacred sites. With stunning photography, Sacred Wonders of Britain tells stories of the landmarks that have attracted visitors not just today, but for thousands of years; from the Orkneys to Canterbury, and Stonehenge to Glastonbury. Exploring major new discoveries about what our ancestors believed, this illuminating series reveals how these ancient people's view of the sacred meets our own today.
- 2013-2014
- 1 season
- Documentary
At the edge of Europe, the British Isles is home to one of the world's richest collections of sacred sites. With stunning photography, Sacred Wonders of Britain tells stories of the landmarks that have attracted visitors not just today, but for thousands of years; from the Orkneys to Canterbury, and Stonehenge to Glastonbury. Exploring major new discoveries about what our ancestors believed, this illuminating series reveals how these ancient people's view of the sacred meets our own today.
Season 1 Episode Guide
3 Episodes 2013 - 2014
Episode 1
Neolithic
60 mins
Neil goes in search of the very first stirrings of religion in Britain. In Nottinghamshire he discovers clues to a world of magic and ritual etched into the rock of Creswell Crags by Ice Age hunters. In the south of England and on the Scottish borders, great tombs are evidence of ancestor worship among the first farmers of the Neolithic era and an extraordinary discovery in Herefordshire reveals what really lies beneath their burial mounds. In the flint mines of Grimes Graves in Norfolk, he discovers how stone age miners carried their religion deep underground. Finally, in the great stone circle and henge of Avebury and the extraordinary monuments of Orkney, he discovers how a new age of belief swept away the old religions and changed Britain for ever.
Episode 2
Bronze and Iron Age
60 mins
At Flag Fen near Peterborough he discovers a vast ancient causeway built across the fens, with sacred objects placed among its timbers. At Maiden Castle's hill fort in Dorset he unearths evidence of macabre human sacrifices to ward off evil spirits. Neil travels to Anglesey, where swords, precious artifacts and even a slave chain were ritually deposited. It was home of the druids. Neil learns about their bizarre rituals and dark reputation and how the Romans viewed them as dangerous religious extremists.
Episode 3
Early Saints
60 mins
Neil Oliver examines how the creation of saints by the early church led to a new generation of Sacred Wonders across Britain. On Iona, in the Inner Hebrides, Neil discovers the traditional resting place of Macbeth. He also delves back through time to discover how St Columba sanctified the island with a tough brand of monasticism all the way from the Egyptian desert. On Lindisfarne, Neil sees how the epic journey of St Cuthbert led to the writing of the extraordinary Lindisfarne Gospels and the building of Durham Cathedral. At Canterbury Cathedral, Neil learns how St Thomas Becket's grisly murder was harnessed to build its nave, one of the great glories of medieval architecture, and on Glastonbury Tor in Somerset, he investigates layer after layer of powerful legend in the story of the Holy Grail, the sacred cup of everlasting life.
