But…over the centuries the waters receded. The springs re-emerged, and out of the sodden wasteland rose another holy place . .this time sacred to a different God… the One God of the Christians..
Because those springs are so close to the River Avon, the border between Wessex and Mercia, Bath was a significant place in the middle ages at which it was important to have a great religious centre…and when the country was unified, how better to dissolve that border by crowning the first King of All England, Edgar, in the Saxon Abbey in Bath?
And, after the Coronation, King Edgar, so legend has it, was transported up the flowing river in a ceremonial barge to Chester… which brought us back to the water again..
CORONATION MUSIC
A thousand candles flicker
A thousand voices lift;
The glory of a new beginning
Shines through stone.
Water ripples spreading..
The royal vessel slips its moorings,
slides into the current,
Takes the stream.
All hail, Edgar, King of all England!
All Hail, Edgar, King of all England!
All Hail, Edgar, King of all England!
All Hail, Edgar, King of all England!
The new king sits triumphant
The new crown on his curls,
Hand raised,
To the crowds who
Throng the shore.
All hail, Edgar, King of all England!
All Hail, Edgar, King of all England!
All Hail, Edgar, King of all England!
All Hail, Edgar, King of all England!
The great flotilla, surging
And dipping in his wake,
Rides the river;
Rides the river
To Chester!