0:00:02 > 0:00:09Britain is home to many of the most beautiful holy places in the world.
0:00:09 > 0:00:12Our religious heritage and architecture is more varied
0:00:12 > 0:00:15than virtually anywhere else on earth.
0:00:15 > 0:00:22My name is Ifor ap Glyn and I am on a journey to explore the best of Britain's holy sites
0:00:22 > 0:00:26and to uncover the rich and diverse history of our spiritual landscape.
0:00:28 > 0:00:32I want to know how these places came to be,
0:00:32 > 0:00:36discover what they reveal about the people who worshipped at them,
0:00:36 > 0:00:40'and explore why they continue to fascinate us today.'
0:00:40 > 0:00:42This place is incredible.
0:00:42 > 0:00:46'My journey will take me to towering mountain hideaways...'
0:00:46 > 0:00:51It was here that St Twrog took on the pagan forces of evil.
0:00:51 > 0:00:52'..icy healing pools...'
0:00:52 > 0:00:55I'm not sure what effect this is having on me,
0:00:55 > 0:00:58but it is certainly having an effect!
0:00:58 > 0:01:01'..and the graves of long-departed saints...'
0:01:01 > 0:01:04There's something quite unsettling about this relic.
0:01:04 > 0:01:08'I'll search out islands where the faithful seek refuge from the world.
0:01:09 > 0:01:12'I'll wander ruins steeped in history...'
0:01:12 > 0:01:15His congregation were roused to come here
0:01:15 > 0:01:19and rip down the rich trappings of this cathedral.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23'..and descend into caves which have been sacred for thousands of years.'
0:01:25 > 0:01:26Wow!
0:01:26 > 0:01:31From the divine to the unexpected, join me on a journey
0:01:31 > 0:01:33to the unforgettable corners of our country,
0:01:33 > 0:01:36the landscapes that make the soul soar.
0:02:03 > 0:02:07Until about 20 years ago, we were all happy enough drinking tap water,
0:02:07 > 0:02:11but nowadays millions of us will pay a pound or more a time to drink
0:02:11 > 0:02:13this stuff - "natural spring water".
0:02:13 > 0:02:15Now, what's all that about?
0:02:15 > 0:02:19Has our modern world become so contaminated that we really think that this stuff
0:02:19 > 0:02:24is better for us, that "original spa water" or whatever is somehow the real thing -
0:02:24 > 0:02:27even if it comes in a plastic bottle?
0:02:28 > 0:02:32It turns out that it's not such a new-fangled idea at all
0:02:32 > 0:02:36and I'm off to discover how this yearning for pure, natural water
0:02:36 > 0:02:41has always been bound up with our spiritual beliefs.
0:02:41 > 0:02:46I'm going on a journey to try and find out why it is that water crops up again
0:02:46 > 0:02:50and again as the essential element in some of our holiest places.
0:02:57 > 0:03:01My journey starts above the Conwy Valley near my home in north Wales.
0:03:09 > 0:03:14Set amid this glorious landscape is a tiny church.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26And in the corner of the churchyard is a well where
0:03:26 > 0:03:30a superstitious healing ritual persisted for hundreds of years.
0:03:33 > 0:03:37We don't know when it started, but there is a long tradition
0:03:37 > 0:03:40of desperate parents carrying their sick or dying children
0:03:40 > 0:03:44all the way up these rugged hills to this remote spot.
0:03:46 > 0:03:50Today the well is overflowing following the recent rain,
0:03:50 > 0:03:52but you can still easily discern
0:03:52 > 0:03:54the surround of the well beneath the water
0:03:54 > 0:03:57and there's something quite moving about the size of it.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02It's small, it's child-sized,
0:04:02 > 0:04:05and you can easily imagine desperate
0:04:05 > 0:04:08parents bringing their sick children here in the hope of a cure.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11What would happen is they would come here
0:04:11 > 0:04:13either first thing in the morning
0:04:13 > 0:04:17or last thing at night. They would immerse the sick child in the well,
0:04:17 > 0:04:20and then wrap them in a blanket
0:04:20 > 0:04:23and take them to a nearby farmhouse to sleep.
0:04:23 > 0:04:28In the meantime, they would then take the child's clothes and put them in the well.
0:04:28 > 0:04:34It was believed that if the clothes floated, then the child would make a full recovery.
0:04:34 > 0:04:36But if the clothes sank, the outlook was bleak.
0:04:42 > 0:04:48The current church at Llangelynnin dates from the 12th century.
0:04:48 > 0:04:50But there's been a church here in some form
0:04:50 > 0:04:55since a saint called Celynin first came here in the 6th century.
0:04:59 > 0:05:03The holy well has been part of local folklore for centuries with
0:05:03 > 0:05:05the first written reference to the healing ritual
0:05:05 > 0:05:09appearing in a local history journal in 1867.
0:05:09 > 0:05:12The well was still in use at the turn of the 20th century.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18There is evidence of an inn next to the church which suggests
0:05:18 > 0:05:21that people visited here in significant numbers.
0:05:21 > 0:05:25It must have been a welcome sight after a gruelling four-mile trek
0:05:25 > 0:05:30up into the hills from the nearest town carrying a sick child.
0:05:30 > 0:05:34Nowadays the church at Llangelynnin is only used for three services a year.
0:05:34 > 0:05:38But then it's always been a marginal kind of place,
0:05:38 > 0:05:41standing as it does between the world of agriculture
0:05:41 > 0:05:46and the wilderness of the mountain, and as the population has receded
0:05:46 > 0:05:50back into the valley below, the church and the well at Llangelynnin
0:05:50 > 0:05:54have been "left behind", as it were - society's moved on.
0:05:54 > 0:05:58These days we put our faith in modern medicines and the NHS -
0:05:58 > 0:06:03but we can still sympathise with the yearnings of the parents of the past who came here.
0:06:03 > 0:06:07And maybe that's what draws us here still.
0:06:07 > 0:06:10The fact that there's a history of hope here,
0:06:10 > 0:06:14hope that was invested in the primal powers of water,
0:06:14 > 0:06:17and that appeals to something very deep within us.
0:06:25 > 0:06:29From Wales I'm heading north - to the Scottish Highlands
0:06:29 > 0:06:31and a place where water played a dramatic
0:06:31 > 0:06:35and turbulent part in our spiritual history.
0:06:35 > 0:06:391,500 years ago this area was a battleground for the soul
0:06:39 > 0:06:43of Scotland, and in the process a legend was born that is now
0:06:43 > 0:06:46known all over the world.
0:06:46 > 0:06:51My destination is Castle Urquhart on the shores of Loch Ness, site
0:06:51 > 0:06:56of the first recorded encounter with the fabled monster in the late 500s.
0:07:00 > 0:07:02For the people of the early mediaeval period,
0:07:02 > 0:07:07the whole of nature seemed to be imbued with spiritual powers,
0:07:07 > 0:07:12and so trees, mountains and particularly water became a kind of elemental battleground
0:07:12 > 0:07:15between the Christians and the pagans
0:07:15 > 0:07:19as they sought to capture the hearts and minds of the people.
0:07:19 > 0:07:22As to what exactly the pagans believed about water
0:07:22 > 0:07:26we can't be too sure, because they left no records of their own
0:07:26 > 0:07:30and of course history is written by the conqueror -
0:07:30 > 0:07:33in this case, the Roman invaders that came here to begin with,
0:07:33 > 0:07:36and then subsequently the Christian missionaries.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42But we do know what one of those Christian missionaries,
0:07:42 > 0:07:45St Columba, got up to when he first came to this spot,
0:07:45 > 0:07:49thanks to a monk called Adomnan who wrote a chronicle of Columba's
0:07:49 > 0:07:55life at the end of the 7th century.
0:07:55 > 0:07:58The legend as recoded by Adomnan is
0:07:58 > 0:08:02that in the 6th Century, St Columba travelled over from his native
0:08:02 > 0:08:05Ireland to save the souls of the heathen Scots.
0:08:10 > 0:08:14He arrived to find a population in thrall to pagan gods
0:08:14 > 0:08:18and living in terror of a fearsome beast that lurked in the depths.
0:08:21 > 0:08:25To enter the water was considered certain death.
0:08:34 > 0:08:37Never one to turn down a challenge, Saint Columba
0:08:37 > 0:08:40commanded one of his men to swim across the waters - and almost
0:08:40 > 0:08:45immediately the monster reappeared, swimming swiftly towards its victim.
0:08:45 > 0:08:47Everyone was terrified, but not Saint Columba.
0:08:47 > 0:08:52When the monster was but a spear's length away from its intended victim,
0:08:52 > 0:08:57he made the sign of the cross and commanded the monster to go back.
0:08:57 > 0:08:59Which is what he did.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02Terrified by the sound of the saint's voice,
0:09:02 > 0:09:06he fled more quickly than if he had been pulled back by ropes.
0:09:06 > 0:09:12And that is reputed to be the first sighting of the Loch Ness monster.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17Whether fact or folklore, the stories of this
0:09:17 > 0:09:21and other miracles performed by Columba found a willing audience.
0:09:23 > 0:09:25St Columba was shrewd.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28According to another story, when he came across
0:09:28 > 0:09:32pagans worshipping at a poisonous well, instead of destroying it,
0:09:32 > 0:09:36he simply purified its waters and claimed it for his own faith.
0:09:36 > 0:09:40Rather than destroying the old symbols of paganism,
0:09:40 > 0:09:43Christianity simply subsumed them.
0:09:43 > 0:09:48This previously pagan landscape was overwritten with a new Christian
0:09:48 > 0:09:54narrative, and water was central to that new narrative because
0:09:54 > 0:09:57not only did missionaries like St Columba miraculously
0:09:57 > 0:10:03purify water, they also used it to symbolically purify their converts
0:10:03 > 0:10:07in one of the rituals that is central to the Christian tradition.
0:10:11 > 0:10:14I want to understand the scale of the conversions
0:10:14 > 0:10:16that the missionaries undertook...
0:10:19 > 0:10:24..so I'm heading to Holystone in Northumberland, home to Lady's Well,
0:10:24 > 0:10:27one of the oldest surviving baptismal pools in the world.
0:10:31 > 0:10:35This remarkable spot can trace its origins back to late Roman times,
0:10:35 > 0:10:38and lays claim to being the most important place
0:10:38 > 0:10:42in the history of early Christianity in the Scottish borders.
0:10:42 > 0:10:45I certainly can't find the source. The outflow is there.
0:10:45 > 0:10:49My guide is Nick Mayhew Smith, a lay minister and author
0:10:49 > 0:10:53who has studied the significance of the Holystone site.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56Tell me then, what's so special about this pool?
0:10:56 > 0:10:59Well, this might be the oldest sacred pool in Britain.
0:10:59 > 0:11:00- Really?- Yeah.
0:11:00 > 0:11:04There's evidence that it's linked to Roman-era Christianity
0:11:04 > 0:11:05for two reasons.
0:11:05 > 0:11:08First is it's got an apse shape at the far end,
0:11:08 > 0:11:12which is a traditional shape for a Roman ceremonial building or space.
0:11:12 > 0:11:15The second thing is a Roman road used to run directly
0:11:15 > 0:11:18- alongside this part of the pool. - Oh, really?- Yeah.
0:11:18 > 0:11:21So what other traditions are there, to...
0:11:21 > 0:11:25That attest to its use in that early period?
0:11:25 > 0:11:27Well, there's a very early tradition
0:11:27 > 0:11:29that St Ninian came here
0:11:29 > 0:11:31and converted the people north
0:11:31 > 0:11:33of the border of the Roman Empire.
0:11:33 > 0:11:36He was active in the early 5th century so the time
0:11:36 > 0:11:39that the Roman Empire was falling in on itself,
0:11:39 > 0:11:42and the Romans left Britain for the last time in 410 AD.
0:11:42 > 0:11:48So round that period, the last flourish of Roman Christianity
0:11:48 > 0:11:52was pushing the faith north of the borders of the empire.
0:11:52 > 0:11:55I don't think I've ever seen one quite as big as this.
0:11:55 > 0:11:58Well, if you had a large number of people to convert as St Ninian
0:11:58 > 0:12:01no doubt did, you'd probably need as much space as you could get.
0:12:01 > 0:12:05I'm sure the mass baptisms would have taken several days to perform.
0:12:05 > 0:12:08And also the early baptismal rite would require
0:12:08 > 0:12:10quite a lot of outdoor water.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15The notion of full immersion would no doubt have struck the pagan
0:12:15 > 0:12:18tribes as a strange rite of passage.
0:12:18 > 0:12:21But it was introduced to them by a missionary from the Roman Empire,
0:12:21 > 0:12:25a superior society with advanced technologies.
0:12:25 > 0:12:29Baptism provided a psychologically compelling route into this
0:12:29 > 0:12:33new way of living as the old life was metaphorically washed away.
0:12:35 > 0:12:39So this place could be the birthplace of Christianity in the Border region?
0:12:39 > 0:12:44Yes. This is where the border country can claim it was first baptised.
0:12:44 > 0:12:47The little dab of warm water that we now give to
0:12:47 > 0:12:51an infant in our church is a descendant of the ritual.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54But when you look at a place like this, you realise just how primal
0:12:54 > 0:12:57and how psychological the whole rebirth experience would be out here in creation
0:12:57 > 0:13:03with this beautiful natural chapel of trees closing in over the scared space below.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08I'd like to try and understand what this ritual
0:13:08 > 0:13:11would have entailed, and Nick has offered to show me.
0:13:11 > 0:13:15Much as I'd like to get into the pool, it's now a protected site
0:13:15 > 0:13:17and we're not allowed to disturb the water.
0:13:17 > 0:13:20These days, it seems, we are encouraged to look
0:13:20 > 0:13:23but not touch when it comes to our spiritual heritage.
0:13:23 > 0:13:27However, as Nick explains, this will at least save my modesty
0:13:27 > 0:13:30and your blushes.
0:13:30 > 0:13:33So if we were doing this in a really authentic Roman manner
0:13:33 > 0:13:34you would now be naked
0:13:34 > 0:13:37- and indeed you would have even had to take your wedding ring off for this. - Really?
0:13:37 > 0:13:40As a sign that you've divested yourself of your past sinful life
0:13:40 > 0:13:44and you are about to enter the healing waters of baptism and be born again.
0:13:44 > 0:13:47I'll ask you to kneel, and then I'll scoop up water
0:13:47 > 0:13:49and pour it over your head three times
0:13:49 > 0:13:52and each time I'll ask you part of a creed,
0:13:52 > 0:13:56"do you believe in the Father, the do you believe in the Son, do you believe in the Holy Spirit?"
0:13:56 > 0:13:57It'll be in Latin,
0:13:57 > 0:14:01- but when I pause, you'll know to answer "I believe" or in Latin... - Credo.- .."credo".
0:14:01 > 0:14:04- So if you'd like to kneel... - Right.
0:14:07 > 0:14:09It's been years, if not centuries,
0:14:09 > 0:14:12since there's been a full baptism at this pool.
0:14:12 > 0:14:16Nowadays, holy sites like this are protected and conserved,
0:14:16 > 0:14:18rather than used.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21It's a shame. Full immersion in this freezing water
0:14:21 > 0:14:24would be a incredible experience.
0:14:24 > 0:14:27Even so, just to hear the Latin creed echoing around the pool
0:14:27 > 0:14:30in the same way it would have done for whole tribes of Picts
0:14:30 > 0:14:341,500 years ago, is inspiring.
0:14:34 > 0:14:36And that is you baptised.
0:14:38 > 0:14:40Thank you.
0:14:40 > 0:14:41My pleasure.
0:14:45 > 0:14:48Discovering one of the world's oldest baptismal pools
0:14:48 > 0:14:51situated in a field in Northumberland is one thing,
0:14:51 > 0:14:56but the next stop on my watery pilgrimage is even more striking.
0:14:56 > 0:14:59I'm in the town of Holywell in Flintshire,
0:14:59 > 0:15:02home to a healing pool whose history stretches back
0:15:02 > 0:15:08to the 7th century, making it 1,000 years older than Lourdes in France.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12The site attracts 30,000 visitors a year from across the globe.
0:15:14 > 0:15:17So, how did this small site near the Welsh border
0:15:17 > 0:15:20acquire such world-wide prominence?
0:15:21 > 0:15:24'It's all down to the legend of a woman called Winifred,
0:15:24 > 0:15:29'a woman who was determined not to give up her chastity without a fight.'
0:15:29 > 0:15:33Gwenffrewi or "Winifred" in English, was a young woman of the 7th century
0:15:33 > 0:15:37who had already decided to devote her life to a life of chastity.
0:15:37 > 0:15:40But one day, a local nobleman called Caradog
0:15:40 > 0:15:43decided he wanted to have his evil way with her,
0:15:43 > 0:15:48and when she repelled his advances and ran for sanctuary to her
0:15:48 > 0:15:52uncle's church, Caradog pursued her and cut off her head with his sword.
0:15:52 > 0:15:56Her head fell at that very spot there and immediately
0:15:56 > 0:15:59a well gushed forth miraculously.
0:15:59 > 0:16:03Her uncle Beuno, hearing the commotion, rushed out of his church
0:16:03 > 0:16:07and by a second miracle, re-attached her head to her body.
0:16:07 > 0:16:10And if you look at her statue, you can still see the circular scar
0:16:10 > 0:16:14around her neck. And thus was established, in some style,
0:16:14 > 0:16:17this place's reputation for miraculous cures.
0:16:21 > 0:16:23Now, that might seem a far-fetched tale,
0:16:23 > 0:16:25but it has stood the test of time.
0:16:25 > 0:16:28Visitors to the site have included Richard the Lionheart,
0:16:28 > 0:16:32Queen Victoria, and King Leopold of Belgium.
0:16:35 > 0:16:38The building that stands over the pool was reputedly built
0:16:38 > 0:16:41by Henry VIII's grandmother, and it may have been this
0:16:41 > 0:16:46royal connection which saved it from destruction during the Reformation.
0:16:47 > 0:16:52Whilst Henry was happy to risk war with the Catholic Kings of Europe
0:16:52 > 0:16:54and even ex-communication by the Pope himself,
0:16:54 > 0:16:58he was not prepared to upset his dear old gran.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01If it's good enough for the crowned heads of Europe,
0:17:01 > 0:17:03maybe it's time for me to take the plunge
0:17:03 > 0:17:07and find out what the restorative powers of this pool can do.
0:17:09 > 0:17:10And what a prospect!
0:17:10 > 0:17:15It's November, the leaves have fallen and rain is on its way.
0:17:15 > 0:17:18This may indeed take some kind of leap of faith.
0:17:21 > 0:17:22It's cold.
0:17:33 > 0:17:36I'm not sure exactly what effect this is having,
0:17:36 > 0:17:39but it's certainly having an effect.
0:17:48 > 0:17:51So far, the only thing I can say for certain is that
0:17:51 > 0:17:53it has totally cured me of being warm!
0:18:27 > 0:18:31Well, I'm sure that the water has a purifying effect.
0:18:32 > 0:18:38But perhaps even more than that, is the effect of the cold.
0:18:38 > 0:18:43Because obviously it wouldn't be seemly to warm up a bit
0:18:43 > 0:18:46by doing a front crawl up and down the pool.
0:18:46 > 0:18:51And so you have to suffer a little bit
0:18:51 > 0:18:56and, erm, there's something quite...uplifting about that.
0:19:02 > 0:19:06Others profess the effect to have been far more pronounced.
0:19:06 > 0:19:07Life-changing, even.
0:19:10 > 0:19:12I'm meeting Lolita l'Aiguille
0:19:12 > 0:19:15who now helps run the well's information centre.
0:19:16 > 0:19:20The discarded crutches belong to those who claim to have been healed
0:19:20 > 0:19:22after plunging into the sacred pool.
0:19:22 > 0:19:27Just as Lolita says SHE was after her first visit.
0:19:27 > 0:19:30What brought you to Holywell in the first place?
0:19:30 > 0:19:33Illness. Looking for healing.
0:19:34 > 0:19:40I had thyroid, I had a lump that needed to be removed.
0:19:40 > 0:19:44And I also had a hip inflammation, the bones,
0:19:44 > 0:19:46because I suffer from osteoporosis.
0:19:46 > 0:19:51I didn't realise what it was all about until I arrived on Saturday morning.
0:19:51 > 0:19:56And fully dressed, no changing clothes, just fully dressed as I was,
0:19:56 > 0:19:59I went into the well, I laid into it.
0:19:59 > 0:20:03And I asked her, "Help me." I didn't even have time to pray.
0:20:03 > 0:20:06When you're actually in agonising pain, you don't think about prayers.
0:20:06 > 0:20:08You just ask for help.
0:20:08 > 0:20:12I said, "Please help me." And I stayed in there for a few minutes.
0:20:12 > 0:20:18About five minutes or more. And I came out like I was in a trance.
0:20:20 > 0:20:22I could see people, I could hear them.
0:20:22 > 0:20:26I could see them looking at me down in the well, in the water.
0:20:26 > 0:20:28They were looking at me down in the water.
0:20:28 > 0:20:30And I walked out of there with no pain.
0:20:30 > 0:20:33And I had to go back to the doctor that next morning,
0:20:33 > 0:20:36thinking, "Oh, how embarrassing, I'm having to go to the doctor
0:20:36 > 0:20:38"saying I have no pain. He's going to think I made it all up."
0:20:38 > 0:20:42So they took the blood tests for my thyroid. That was cleared,
0:20:42 > 0:20:45the lump had gone, I'd had no op.
0:20:45 > 0:20:50And they just said they had no explanation and if I had no pain,
0:20:50 > 0:20:54then you don't need any painkillers. And I've been like this ever since.
0:20:58 > 0:21:00Lolita is not alone in claiming a miracle cure
0:21:00 > 0:21:02from her time in the pool.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07Carved into the walls of the shrine are names stretching back
0:21:07 > 0:21:11hundreds of years. Names of those who have put their faith
0:21:11 > 0:21:14in the goodness and chastity of St Winifred.
0:21:20 > 0:21:23The final part of the tradition here at Holywell is to bottle
0:21:23 > 0:21:26some of the water to sustain you on your journey.
0:21:27 > 0:21:31Now, it may seem slightly peculiar to take a plastic bottle
0:21:31 > 0:21:37and to fill it with holy water, in order that you can take it away
0:21:37 > 0:21:38and drink it at home.
0:21:41 > 0:21:45But believe it or not, we've all done this.
0:21:47 > 0:21:49Or at least, we have done indirectly.
0:21:52 > 0:21:5530 years ago, buying water like this would have seemed
0:21:55 > 0:21:56faintly ridiculous.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59Paying for something that you can get for next to nothing
0:21:59 > 0:22:01from every tap in the land.
0:22:01 > 0:22:06But with this brand, it turns out that's not as mad as it seems.
0:22:06 > 0:22:09- 60, one pound.- Thanks very much.
0:22:11 > 0:22:15This water has a sacred pedigree longer even than that of Holywell.
0:22:23 > 0:22:26I'm in Derbyshire heading for the source of this water.
0:22:30 > 0:22:31The setting for Buxton Spring
0:22:31 > 0:22:34does not at first seem obviously spiritual.
0:22:36 > 0:22:40Rather than an ancient chapel or shrine, the water arrives
0:22:40 > 0:22:43at the surface through a brass fountain on a street corner
0:22:43 > 0:22:46in the centre of the town.
0:22:46 > 0:22:51But this unprepossessing setting masks a long and proud spiritual history.
0:22:59 > 0:23:04Buxton Spring delivers over one million litres of water a day.
0:23:04 > 0:23:06It comes up over half a mile from the rocks beneath,
0:23:06 > 0:23:10and in fact this water is thought to have fallen as rain
0:23:10 > 0:23:13the best part of 5,000 years ago.
0:23:13 > 0:23:15This spring was known to the Celts.
0:23:15 > 0:23:17It was dedicated to the goddess Arnemetia,
0:23:17 > 0:23:23The Romans then appropriated it and called it Aquae Arnemetiae.
0:23:23 > 0:23:26Then in Mediaeval times, the Christians appropriated it.
0:23:26 > 0:23:30It was dedicated to Saint Ann. After the Reformation,
0:23:30 > 0:23:34this spring became the focus for a spa town.
0:23:34 > 0:23:38All these buildings grew up around it, the pump room next door.
0:23:38 > 0:23:43In its most recent reincarnation, Buxton water has become a major brand.
0:23:43 > 0:23:45The bottling rights have been acquired
0:23:45 > 0:23:49by a major multi-national company and there's a huge bottling plant
0:23:49 > 0:23:51just over the other side of the hill.
0:23:51 > 0:23:56But the canny locals still come here to fill up for free.
0:23:56 > 0:23:58Because this is exactly the same stuff.
0:24:03 > 0:24:07Nothing is more fundamental to life than water.
0:24:07 > 0:24:11Before utility companies and sewage works, springs became holy,
0:24:11 > 0:24:15because they were guaranteed sources of pure water.
0:24:15 > 0:24:18They were life-giving in the most literal sense.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22Despite the advances of modern life,
0:24:22 > 0:24:24many of us would still rather drink bottled water
0:24:24 > 0:24:27than trust what is coming out of the tap.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30We crave exactly what our forefathers held dear,
0:24:30 > 0:24:34something purer, something life-giving.
0:24:37 > 0:24:41People have been taking the waters here for thousands of years.
0:24:41 > 0:24:43It's an act of faith.
0:24:43 > 0:24:47These days, we take it in a plastic bottle and we drink it,
0:24:47 > 0:24:50thinking that it's purer than what we can get out of our taps.
0:24:50 > 0:24:53But indeed, that's just as much of an act of faith
0:24:53 > 0:24:57as people who in former eras have turned to water
0:24:57 > 0:25:00as an agent of spiritual rebirth,
0:25:00 > 0:25:02or turned to it for its healing properties
0:25:02 > 0:25:06when they felt that all other hope had gone.
0:25:06 > 0:25:09Holy water, we believe, can make us healthy.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12Be that spiritually or physically.
0:25:12 > 0:25:14"Holy" and "wholesome" are two words that share the same root,
0:25:14 > 0:25:18so holiness and healthiness are in fact not that far removed from each other.
0:25:18 > 0:25:22But there is one other way in which water has shaped
0:25:22 > 0:25:24and defined our spiritual history.
0:25:30 > 0:25:34From Derbyshire, I'm travelling south to Essex.
0:25:36 > 0:25:39But in a way, I'm actually going back to where I began.
0:25:41 > 0:25:47My journey started by the sea and now it's ending back by the sea.
0:25:51 > 0:25:55Britain is an island nation and long before we had a network
0:25:55 > 0:25:59of trains and motorways, water was the easiest way to travel.
0:26:03 > 0:26:06My final stop is a remarkable church in Essex.
0:26:08 > 0:26:12This lonely sentinel on the coast at Bradwell-on-Sea
0:26:12 > 0:26:14marks the point where Christianity first arrived
0:26:14 > 0:26:16in this part of the country.
0:26:18 > 0:26:21And it's one of the oldest churches in the land.
0:26:23 > 0:26:27This is St Peter's. It was built in 654,
0:26:27 > 0:26:29using materials from an earlier Roman fort.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32And its coastal location is key,
0:26:32 > 0:26:35because for the seafaring monks of the 7th century,
0:26:35 > 0:26:38that was the surest way to carry the Gospel
0:26:38 > 0:26:40around the island of Britain.
0:26:50 > 0:26:51Wow.
0:27:09 > 0:27:11This place is incredible!
0:27:16 > 0:27:18This church has a unique atmosphere.
0:27:19 > 0:27:22It is simple, peaceful,
0:27:22 > 0:27:26and its antiquity seems to seep out of the very walls of the place.
0:27:28 > 0:27:31It was built by St Cedd, a Celtic missionary who travelled
0:27:31 > 0:27:35around the coast of Britain, spreading Christianity in the south.
0:27:38 > 0:27:41Bradwell was once a gateway for a new belief system
0:27:41 > 0:27:46which arrived from across the water, to change our society for ever.
0:27:47 > 0:27:51Now, it's a forgotten place on the margins of the country.
0:27:54 > 0:27:56The sea has always been a powerful metaphor
0:27:56 > 0:27:58within the Christian tradition.
0:27:58 > 0:28:02Its turbulence and unpredictability mirror our own lives.
0:28:02 > 0:28:06But here, the sea is the reason for the existence
0:28:06 > 0:28:08of this fantastically atmospheric church.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13You don't need to be a believer to fall for the simple peace
0:28:13 > 0:28:15and calm of this place.
0:28:17 > 0:28:19Like the sea that surrounds it,
0:28:19 > 0:28:23Bradwell's appeal is timeless, universal.
0:28:23 > 0:28:27Making this the perfect place for my watery pilgrimage to end.
0:28:35 > 0:28:38Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd