In a Monastery Garden

Amongst my wide variety of friends there are those who have religious vocations ; They being members of the third order of Franciscans, whose local monastery was established in 1820 with the dictate to educate and feed the people. So on a recent visit, I was inspired to take photos of some of the unique features in their garden.

As many of you may know I am a druid and a pagan, this neither stops me nor them from enjoying each others' company and from having some interesting discussions on subjects which are not always common to our individual followings. That being the case we stretch our minds to seek a common understanding.

One commonality between us is our love of nature, plants, trees, animals, ancient sites and the night sky to name but a few.

The pictures which follow speak for themselves.

A stone circle with a difference

The centre stone of the circle has a hole in it, which means that it

might be described as a contract or marriage stone.

For in ancient times: each lover would put a hand through the

hole to make their marriage vows.

What strange creatures can you see

in this ancient tree?

Not a Sun Dial but a Moon Dial.

The face of the Moon dial, a device that was created

by one of the monks many years ago.

This large iron pot is believed to have been a cauldron

in which gruel or stew was cooked during the famine times.

A modern waterfall feature using

recycled wine bottles !