Arthur Uther Pendragon | |
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Born | John Timothy Rothwell 5 April 1954 Wakefield, Yorkshire, England |
Years active | 1970s-2022 |
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Children | 1 |
Website | warband |
Arthur Uther Pendragon (born John Timothy Rothwell, 5 April 1954) is a British eco-campaigner, Neo-Druid leader, media personality, and self-declared reincarnation of King Arthur, a name by which he is also known. Pendragon was the "battle chieftain" of the Council of British Druid Orders.
Born to a working-class family, Pendragon served in the British Army's Royal Hampshire Regiment before being discharged following an injury. Identifying as a greaser, he formed a biker club known as the Gravediggers, moving in counter-cultural circles at free festivals around Britain. After reading a book on King Arthur by the occultist Gareth Knight, he leapt to the conclusion that he was the reincarnation of the mythical king and changed his name by deed poll. He formed the Loyal Arthurian Warband out of his supporters and began describing himself as a Druid. Angered that English Heritage charged entry to visit Stonehenge, using the money for restoration and preservation of the archaeological site in Wiltshire, between 1990 and 1991 he picketed outside the site on a daily basis.
Later that decade he joined various eco-protests against road development across Britain and, with the Council of British Druid Orders, campaigned for open access to Stonehenge during the solstices. For several years, Pendragon engaged in direct action protests and was repeatedly arrested. English Heritage agreed to implement open access at the solstice in 2000. Pendragon later focused on campaigning for the return of human remains removed from Stonehenge by archaeologists in 2008. He continued to call for free access to the site.
In 1986 he bought a sword called Excalibur in a Farnborough shop; its seller stated that it had been the prop in the 1981 film Excalibur . [1]
Pendragon is best known for his legal battles with English Heritage regarding the monument of Stonehenge in Wiltshire, a site of great religious significance to Neo-Druids. Throughout the 1990s, he campaigned for the removal of the four-mile exclusion zone which was established each year during the summer solstice. [1] [2] On 19 October 1998, with assistance from organisations such as Liberty who acted as his counsel, Pendragon had his case heard by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. He claimed that the exclusion zone around Stonehenge was restricting his freedom of thought, conscience, religion and freedom of expression, in contravention of Articles 9, 10 and 11 of the European Convention of Human Rights. The court decided in favour of the UK government. However, the exclusion zone was lifted the following year, after an unrelated case brought before the House of Lords ruled that the public have a right to assembly on a public highway. [3] [4]
In June 2008, Pendragon set up a protest camp on a byway near the monument, demanding free access to Stonehenge for everyone. He insisted that the fences surrounding the site should be removed, and that the two nearby A roads (the A344 and A303) should be closed or redirected. He occupied the byway for ten months, and obtained 8,000 signatures in support of his petition. On 24 April 2009, he was ordered by Salisbury County Court to dismantle his camp and leave, following complaints from Wiltshire Council that he was obstructing traffic. [5] Pendragon defied the order. [6] He finally ended his protest on 19 May, [7] after English Heritage announced plans to move a section of the A303 underground, and to create a new visitor centre about a mile-and-a-half away from the stones. [8]
In August 2011, Pendragon filed a High Court appeal calling for the cremated remains of more than forty bodies to be immediately reburied. The remains had been exhumed from a burial site at Stonehenge in 2008, to be studied at Sheffield University. The appeal was rejected. [9] [10] Pendragon has also voiced his opposition to English Heritage's plan to display three more sets of human remains at the new visitor centre, claiming that out of respect to the ancient British ancestors, replica bones should be on view instead. [11]
In 2020, English Heritage and the authorities controlling access to Stonehenge agreed along with members of the Druid and pagan communities that the Summer Solstice would not be physically observed as it used to be due to COVID-19 lockdowns. In an interview with the BBC Arthur Pendragon stated his understanding for this decision, noting that the Spring Equinox ceremony had also been cancelled. [12] On the evening preceding the Solstice and on the morning following Arthur Pendragon, along with author C. J. Stone and around fifty revellers as well as other Druids held gatherings involving ritual and protest in the publicly accessible area just outside Stonehenge and past the Heel Stone; part of the protest involved a placard making a statement against the proposed road tunnel under Stonehenge, this being the latest development in protest against a tunnel. [13] Arthur has stated publicly that he intends to bring legal challenges against Wiltshire Police, Wiltshire Council and English Heritage for refusing to allow him to park on any of the roads near Stonehenge as parking in the Stonehenge car park caused him to miss the Solstice sunrise. [14]
On 24 January 1994, Pendragon was summoned to magistrates' court after refusing to pay two years' worth of poll tax. His case was presided over by Lord Tenby, who allowed Pendragon to wear his robes and sword in court, and allowed him to swear oath on his sword. At the end of the hearing, the case went against Pendragon and he was ordered to pay the money owed. [15] [16]
Pendragon has been arrested, mainly for trespass, over 30 times. [17] Whilst in prison on remand, his requests to wear his Neo-Druidic robe have been rejected and he has been provided with a prison uniform. Pendragon, refusing to comply with these lawful orders, has then refused to wear clothing, and has been placed in solitary confinement naked. [17]
Pendragon is a self-proclaimed English eccentric, and says that this helps him in his political work. [2] He has stood in several elections — most recently as an Independent candidate for Salisbury in 2010, [18] [19] 2015, [20] 2017, [21] 2019 [22] and 2024.
In 2003, Pendragon published his autobiography, The Trials of Arthur (revised 2012), co-written with counterculture author C. J. Stone. In it, he claimed to be one of those Druids "whose motivations are fundamentally political and radical". [23] It was also noted that Pendragon viewed Britain as "a land, not an identity", "a feeling" and "it welcomes all who arrive on these shores". [24] Pendragon said his patriotism was "inclusive, not exclusive... [and] welcoming of other cultures and other stories". [25] The book further stated that Pendragon could be self-centred, vain, and impatient with others, and that he was sometimes unable to see perspectives other than his own [24] but it conceded that he was "a man who laughed at himself" [26] and acknowledged that some in Britain's Druidic community thought Pendragon brought Druidry into disrepute with his politicised campaigns and direct action tactics. [27]
Camelot is a legendary castle and court associated with King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and, since the Lancelot-Grail cycle, eventually came to be described as the fantastic capital of Arthur's realm and a symbol of the Arthurian world.
The Round Table is King Arthur's famed table in the Arthurian legend, around which he and his knights congregate. As its name suggests, it has no head, implying that everyone who sits there has equal status, unlike conventional rectangular tables where participants order themselves according to rank. The table was first described in 1155 by Wace, who relied on previous depictions of Arthur's fabulous retinue. The symbolism of the Round Table developed over time; by the close of the 12th century, it had come to represent the chivalric order associated with Arthur's court, the Knights of the Round Table.
Stonehenge is a prehistoric megalithic structure on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, two miles (3 km) west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around 13 feet (4.0 m) high, seven feet (2.1 m) wide, and weighing around 25 tons, topped by connecting horizontal lintel stones. Inside is a ring of smaller bluestones. Inside these are free-standing trilithons, two bulkier vertical sarsens joined by one lintel. The whole monument, now ruinous, is aligned towards the sunrise on the summer solstice and sunset on the winter solstice. The stones are set within earthworks in the middle of the densest complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in England, including several hundred tumuli.
Uther Pendragon (Brittonic), also known as King Uther, was a legendary King of the Britons and father of King Arthur.
Amesbury is a town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It is known for the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge which is within the parish. The town is claimed to be the oldest occupied settlement in Great Britain, having been first settled around 8820 BC. The parish includes the hamlets of Ratfyn and West Amesbury, and part of Boscombe Down military airfield.
The A303 is a trunk road in southern England, running between Basingstoke in Hampshire and Honiton in Devon via Stonehenge. Connecting the M3 and the A30, it is part of one of the main routes from London to Devon and Cornwall. It is a primary A road throughout its length, passing through five counties.
Avebury is a Neolithic henge monument containing three stone circles, around the village of Avebury in Wiltshire, in south-west England. One of the best-known prehistoric sites in Britain, it contains the largest megalithic stone circle in the world. It is both a tourist attraction and a place of religious importance to contemporary pagans.
The Battle of the Beanfield took place over several hours on 1 June 1985, when Wiltshire Police prevented The Peace Convoy, a convoy of several hundred New Age travellers, from setting up the 1985 Stonehenge Free Festival in Wiltshire, England. The police were enforcing a High Court injunction obtained by the authorities prohibiting the 1985 festival from taking place. Around 1,300 police officers took part in the operation against approximately 600 travellers.
The Stonehenge road tunnel is a proposed tunnel in Wiltshire, England, with the goal of moving the A303 into a tunnel under part of the Stonehenge World Heritage Site to remove road traffic from view of the stones. Various proposals have been made for a tunnel in the area since the mid 1990s, but are controversial. UNESCO has previously raised concerns that the World Heritage Site would be at risk due to the earthworks associated with a tunnel project.
The Pendragon Cycle is a series of historical fantasy books based on Arthurian legend, written by Stephen R. Lawhead. The cycle was originally planned as a four-book series, but the original publisher opted to stop after the first three books, resulting in an abrupt ending to Arthur and the existence of many unexplored stories and plotlines. The first three books were thus originally called "The Pendragon Trilogy". Lawhead moved to a new publisher a few years later. It was decided to expand on the trilogy by finishing the series, and two additional books were planned. These books, Pendragon and Grail, are set in between events covered in Arthur. Lawhead later wrote a final book Avalon, which is not considered to be a true addition to the cycle but rather a "related semi-sequel" to round out the "Once and Future King" aspect of the legend. The film and television rights to the series were purchased by DailyWire+ in November 2022.
In Arthurian legend, Mount Killaraus is a legendary place in Ireland where Stonehenge originally stood. According to the narrative presented in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, King Ambrosius Aurelianus embarks on a quest to construct a memorial for the Celtic Britons who were treacherously slain by Anglo-Saxons. When conventional methods fail to produce an awe-inspiring monument, Ambrosius turns to the renowned wizard Merlin for guidance. In response, Merlin advises the king to transport a stone circle known as the Giant's Ring from Mount Killaraus in Ireland, attributing magical and healing properties to these stones, which were believed to have been brought from Africa by giants.
The A344 was an A road in the English county of Wiltshire. Until 2013 it ran from its junction with the A303 at Stonehenge, northwest to its junction with the A360, 2 miles (3 km) away.
Stonehenge has been the subject of many theories about its origin, ranging from the academic worlds of archaeology to explanations from mythology and the paranormal.
Winterbourne Stoke is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about 5 miles (8 km) west of Amesbury and 3 miles (4.8 km) west of the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge.
Stonehenge Avenue is an ancient avenue on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, England. It is part of the Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites UNESCO World Heritage Site. Discovered in the 18th century, it measures nearly 3 kilometres, and connects Stonehenge with the River Avon. It was built during the Stonehenge 3 period of 2600 to 1700 BCE.
Merlin is a partly lost French epic poem written by Robert de Boron in Old French and dating from either the end of the 12th or beginning of the 13th century. The author reworked Geoffrey of Monmouth's material on the legendary Merlin, emphasising Merlin's power to prophesy and linking him to the Holy Grail. The poem tells of his origin and early life as a redeemed Antichrist, his role in the birth of Arthur, and how Arthur became King of Britain. Merlin's story relates to Robert's two other reputed Grail poems, Joseph d'Arimathie and Perceval. Its motifs became popular in medieval and later Arthuriana, notably the introduction of the sword in the stone, the redefinition of the Grail, and turning the previously peripheral Merlin into a key character in the legend of King Arthur.
Rollo Maughfling is the Archdruid of Stonehenge and Britain. He is a long-time campaigner for the restoration of traditional rights of access to druidic sites, and respect for ancient druidic rituals. He is also a founder member of the Council of British Druid Orders.
Druidry, sometimes termed Druidism, is a modern spiritual or religious movement that promotes the cultivation of honorable relationships with the physical landscapes, flora, fauna, and diverse peoples of the world, as well as with nature deities, and spirits of nature and place. Theological beliefs among modern Druids are diverse; however, all modern Druids venerate the divine essence of nature.
The Council of British Druid Orders is a neo-pagan group established in 1989 which was originally formed to facilitate ceremonies at Stonehenge. The council's founder, Tim Sebastion, used the title "Archdruid of Wiltshire, Chosen Chief of the Secular Order of Druids, Conservation Officer for the Council of British Druid Orders and Bard of the Gorsedd of Caer Abiri (Avebury)."