As a cultural geographer living and working in Japan, I seldom have the opportunity to engage with readers of Alfred Watkins’ work, let alone correspond with anyone with an interest in dowsing and geomantic practices.
It came as something of a surprise, then, to find an email from Ced Jackson in my inbox kindly asking me to pen a short piece for the LDGN. I must confess, I am not a dowser (though I do own a beautiful pair of copper dowsing rods). However, my doctoral research into geographic practices of contemporary British landscape mysticism at the University of London was heavily influenced by Watkins’ writing, and my thesis, from which my later article on Watkins and “deep mapping” emerged, included extensive discussions of ley theory and utilised dowsing as part of its research methodology. Much of this work was first outlined in a presentation delivered to the Royal Geographical Society at their 2012 annual conference in Edinburgh, which eventually crystallised in the form of the article I later published, and which is discussed here.
It has been five years since I published “A Strange Cartography: Leylines, Landscape and 'Deep Mapping' in the Works of Alfred Watkins” in the peer-reviewed journal, Humanities, and as we approach the centenary of Watkins’ ‘discovery’ of leys, it has been fantastic to be given the opportunity to further reflect on his work and revisit my own examination of his writings.
Published as part of a special issue on the theme of “deep mapping” edited by the University of Liverpool’s Les Roberts, my article argues that Watkins’ conception of leys, whether conceived of as archaeological, spiritual or mytho-geographical alignments, provides ley hunters with unique spatial engagements with the landscape, and considers Watkins’ practice as a critical cartographic method that offers new ways of mapping out and interacting with our surrounding environments.
The overall position of the article is that “ley hunting is a way of retracing history: uncovering site narratives and reimagining the landscape, it is a particular way of knowing place, of developing a biography for and of place”, a position I still believe holds true today.
The article is not purely theoretical, however, and while the first half of the essay draws readers’ attention to the history and theory of Watkins’ work, leys, and the practice of dowsing, the latter part of the study is based on participatory fieldwork (which is probably the more interesting aspect of my work for readers of this newsletter).
With regard to the fieldwork, working between an OS map, Watkins’ The Ley Hunters Manual, and an alignment guide, I was able to locate a series of confirmation points between the Duel Stone, Cawston, and St. Andrew’s Church, Thursford, both located in Norfolk, which provided an alignment of ancient villages, forests, copses and Mare’s-nests that spanned some twelve miles or so. Interestingly, the Duel Stone, a stone-urn monument erected to commemorate the death of Sir Henry Hobart, who lost his life in a duel at the nearby Cawston Heath, appeared to play havoc with my compass, making it near-impossible to locate north. However, I did manage to find my way to the ley’s trajectory and walked the route of the alignment. Much of Norfolk’s physical landscape is rather flat, which made locating confirmation points a relatively easy task as it was possible to see for miles ahead, with the next church, hillock, or village almost always visible on the horizon.
The research for both my article and the thesis took place between 2009-2014, and in the years since I have had much time to revisit the ideas presented and further consider Watkins and his influence, which has become all the more important since being physically distanced from the landscapes he describes (although Japan does have its fair share of geomantic visionaries!). One thing that struck me during the writing of the article, and which has remained a point of interest ever since, is the accessibility of Watkins’ work.
Watkins’ writings on leys are clear, precise, and highly readable, moreover, they encourage us to get out into the landscape and to engage with it on cultural, historic, and spiritual levels – that is to say, Watkins offers his readers methods for knowing their surroundings by interweaving local history, regional geography, and belief with the most readily accessible method of practice, walking! At a time when so many of us are restricted from travel and separated from friends and family, now, perhaps more than ever, Watkins leys can provide us with an opportunity to relocate ourselves in the places and spaces we inhabit, and to uncover the history of our surroundings in ways that seek to remove us from the isolation we currently face.
This accessibility and encouraged interaction with our landscapes and their spatial pasts is what excites me most about Alfred Watkins’ work, and to this end I have looked to expand these themes in my latest research project, which also seeks to connect geography, folklore, and narrative. Building on my existing research into spatial experiences of landscape mysticism, I am currently undertaking a four-year research project on “Literary Geographies of Folklore” funded by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. This study refers to ‘literature’ in the broadest sense, including records in public archives, information/stories/personal encounters distributed through social media, as well as literary fiction. The project will investigate the mutual relationship between folklore narratives and place, with both working to influence and shape people’s understandings of the other, part of which will focus on the literary influence of Watkins’ work and examine the ways that leys have impacted on our imagining of the landscape.
To this end, I hope to be able to draw more attention to the importance of Alfred Watkins, his work, and his influential role in the shaping of the British geographical imagination. If there are any readers who would like to share their experiences of Watkins’ work or who might be able to point me in the direction of relevant literary works referencing leys or Watkins, please do get in touch at the following address, I’d be delighted to hear from you: jamesthurgill@gmail.com.
My article, “A Strange Cartography: Leylines, Landscape and 'Deep Mapping' in the Works of Alfred Watkins”, is open-access and can be downloaded for free from the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/4/4/637
Dr. James Thurgill
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Background on Alfred Watkins
An excellent introduction to Alfred Watkins by Dowsing Anglia is at
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A regional sideways glance
When listing dowsing's various uses, 'healing' often makes the cut. Dowsing groups are usually organised along geographical lines, and that presents an opportunity as many other groups (including healing groups) are similarly organised.
One of the UK's oldest healing organisations is the Healing Trust, formerly the National Federation of Spiritual Healers. As there is an overlap of interests between dowsers and the Healing Trust it may be worth exploring links. https://www.thehealingtrust.org.uk
The Healing Trust is at office@thehealingtrust.org.uk In the UK it is supported by a National network of voluntary Regional committees and Community Healing Centres.
If you are looking for information about a Regional Committee or a Healing Centre, click on the links above the map. The link will take you to a list of the Regions and the information you require.