Shropshire's Holy Grail story to be TV show
A film crew is coming to Shropshire to investigate a visitor attraction's claim to be the true home of King Arthur's legendary Holy Grail.
In 1920 a cup was discovered inside a statue in the grotto at Hawkstone Park and a history detective, Graham Phillips, has argued in a book that it could be the Marian Chalice – the grail of which King Arthur was the appointed guardian.
It is one of a number of candidates which claim to be the true Holy Grail.
"Some people say the Holy Grail is the cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper. Some people believe it's a cup in which Mary Magdalene collected Christ's blood when he was on the cross. The Hawkstone Cup is said to be the latter," said Bruce Burgess, who is producer and director of "The Real Holy Grail".
It is part of a series called Forbidden History. Presented by Jamie Theakston, it will be filmed at Hawkstone on March 9 and will air some time in the autumn on the Yesterday Channel.
In the documentary Theakston will investigate the four "grail cups" that all claim to be the authentic one – the Hawkstone Cup, the Nanteos Cup in Wales, the Santo Caliz in Valencia, and the Antioch Chalice in New York City. Each one is said to have healing, even miraculous powers.
Theakston is travelling to all the locations to see the grails for himself, meet their guardians talk to the experts who believe they have the answers to one of history's most enduring mysteries.
The Hawkstone Cup has also featured in a documentary by Time Team presenter Tony Robinson, which was called The Real Da Vinci Code.
He was investigating aspects of the Holy Grail legend, which has captured the imagination of people for generations and been popularised by Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code.
Robinson filmed at Hawkstone to unravel the mystery of the chalice which, the story goes, was found by a Roman empress, brought to Britain and kept by Shropshire's Hill family until it was hidden and rediscovered in Hawkstone Grotto by Walter Langham.
Hawkstone Park is closely linked to the legend of King Arthur and itsRed Castle is claimed to be the king's final resting place.
