Following on from my visit to St Cleer Holy Well, I set off to find Roche Rock & Hermitage, fondly referred to as the Chapel on the Rock.
It was a recent Rick Stein programme, where he visited the Rock Inn, that prompted me to write this blog. My friend and I had made a previous visit to the Inn and the chap behind the bar told me how to get to the Hermitage and the best place to park. He also told me that access is now denied to the Chapel and only rock climbers dare make the ascent.
Access isn’t clear, but once you cross the stile, there is a notice board with information on the area.
The approach is steep, but in the words of Hamish Miller, “To come across Roche Rock by accident is a humbling experience. In a flat landscape, moulded into hills and valleys by heavy industry, a great crag of black rock rises over a hundred feet into the air. Its startling, stark shape makes you catch your breath. ”
On the notice board it describes how the rock is made of grey quartz and black tourmaline which are tough and why the Rock has defied the centuries.
On leaving the stile and the notice board, there is a public footpath sign and the Chapel then starts to come into view.
I have heard, that the rocks in this photo have something to do with witches.
Then the sheer magnitude of the place comes into view.
And here is a shot of the ladder which is now sealed off.
So I sat at the base of the Rock to soak in the view and meditate for a while, connecting with the Michael Line which runs through the Chapel. A very different energy to the Mary Line at St Cleer.
Blessings
“Find what you love and love what you find”