The Guardian of the Gates
Altrincham, Greater Manchester 8th Century
“this monk of Bowdon held an important post, known as The Guardian of The Gates according to the old Legend, at Bowdon being the only Gates leading to Hades, through which the Devil was wont to pass carrying in the Mortal Souls he captured” - Altrincham Heritage
We’ve covered the Devil a far amount in the Archive, but did you know that Bowden in Altrincham was believed the be the only gateway to Hades and was used by the Devil in the 8th century?!
Bowden Church, originally about a third of its present size and D-shaped (indicating a Celtic origin), opened as a church in 1860. However, there is evidence that religious happenings have occurred in the area that the church now sits back in the 8th Century. A manuscript in Altrincham Heritage’s archives titled: The Guardian of the Gates: Being an Old Monkish Legend of the Founding of the Church of the Holy Virgin, Bowdon, anon, n.d. details the legend of the ‘Guardian of the Gates’ and the supposed gateway to Hades.
In the year 765, Offa King of Saxon Mercia constructed the Offa Dyke between the Rivers Dee and Wye, to keep off the encroachments of the Welsh Britons. According to ancient Monkish Legend this Dyke was Blessed by three Saxon Monks one of whom declared, " As long as one stone of the Dyke should remain Christianity should never depart from England"
After blessing this Dyke, the three mentioned monks travelled to Bowden to meet with a ‘wise and Holy Brother of their Order’ to discuss matters of the Holy Church. The monk they met with explained that he had an important role in Bowden… the Guardian of the Gates. An old legend detailed how Bowden was the only gateway, that the Devil frequently used, to access Hades.
‘The Devil was wont to pass carrying in the Mortal Souls he captured, it was the mission of The Church's "Guardian of The Gates " to save as many of these Souls as possible’, the monk explained. During the meeting, the Guardian told the three travelling monks that it was becoming almost impossible to keep tabs on the Devil, and that for ‘every three score souls carried in, it only being possible to save two or three’. After a long time debating what could be done, and failing to think of a suitable method of deterring the Devil, the monks decided it was time to invoke the help of the Blessed Virgin herself. The Holy Mother ordered the monks to go into the forest about a mile outside of Altrincham. Beneath a specific oak tree, there would lay a key made from the wood of the Holy Cross that the monks could use to lock the Devil into the passageway towards Hades and prevent him from returning to our Earth.
The Monks obeyed the Holy Virgin's commands, the key was found, and on midnight of November 25. 768. hid in the thicket of the forest, the four monks waited for the Devil to return.
As predicted, the Devil came huffing and puffing, carrying a great sack of human souls. The rocks guarding the passage to Hades flew open in smoke and flame, but unfortunately the monks were a little to eager and sprung out of hiding too soon, alerting the Devil to the monks’ scheme. The Devil injured his leg in his hasty retreat, and limped off into the forest.
Mortified by their defeat the monks picked up the bag of Souls which somewhat consoled them when they found in it no less than three score and five souls some of most consequential persons.
When the Holy Mother heard of this incident, she ordered the monks to build a church for her on the hill where these souls were found. This manuscript does indicate that a church was build in Bowden as far back as the 8th Century, despite the current church of Bowden being constructed in the 1800s
