Doward Hill and Vortigern's Cave

The oldest Arthurian Site!
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694 Uther
A dramatic and bold quilt design in any color combination, Uther will delight quilters with the many subtle designs that can be brought out.  Castle "Walls" , stars and more!  A great design that performs solidly!

 

280 Enchantry
Lattice work and the illusion of curved seams! Great in any color combo!

 

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398 Mystical
People will wonder how you sewed it!  Secret? Paper Piecing!  Super in any color combination or setting!

 

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598 Sage
Wonderful in any color combination and oh! the settings.   Super quilter friendly design!

 

 

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609 Wizards Dresden
Very easy to do and the settings will come together like magic!  Wonderful borders and other effects to be created!

 

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432 Druids Circle
This variation of the Wedding Ring creates a fascinating, interlocking Celtic Knot!

 

 

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084 Applegarth
Named for Merlin's beloved home and containing a "magicians" trick of it's own!  Margo's made the "wizards" hat easy to see but can you find the fish?
 

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This cave is unique in the field of candidates for the cave legend in that it can actually be explored. Most of the others are normally hidden from sight and only open in very particular circumstances. Perhaps the legend is descended from an earlier one involving a false wall somewhere within. Helen Hill Miller, in her The Realms of Arthur, takes a different slant to the legend by hinting at a more military use, saying that the cave's "recesses penetrate very far into the hill, and could hide a substantial force (115). The cave also has a long history of use; the first people to live there were of the Old Stone Age. This is older than any other Arthurian site.  It has a parallel to Cadbury Castle in that it is a cave within a hill fort. The cave is near the Iron Age fort of Little Doward, which provides an alternative to the Vortigern death story told of Nant Gwrtheyrn. Besieged by Ambrosius, the fort catches fire and Vortigern is consumed by the flames. Of course, the Cadbury cave is said to only open on Christmas Eve, and Arthur's Cave is in plain view year round.
It has three entrances--the rightmost two are more than big enough to walk through (10 feet high or so), but the third is more of a crawler. The cave is not one you can get lost in, as its several rooms are large, open ones. Two of these are simply alleys that lead into the hill, but there is one large, circular room perhaps 25 feet in diameter. Could this have been a meeting place for Arthur and his knights, a Round Table?

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