The Royal Charter of King Oberon VII
Fairy Realm Of Warkworth
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"Fierce war, and faithful love, and truth severe, by fairy fiction drest".
From "The Bard" by Thomas Grey
There was a door to which I found no key:
There was a veil past which I could not see:
From "Rubiáyát of Omar Khayyám"
Within the sleepy village of Warkworth, Northumberland fairies have set up home. Did you also know fairy houses are cute and cosy and in front of each fairy home is a tiny door? I wonder if you have you noticed any of these doors for there are at least fifty for you to discover. But here I suppose, I am really getting ahead of myself, first let me explain how all this started..........
Once upon a time during the human pandemic of 2020 a royal fairy charter was granted. For any readers that are new to this magic realm I shall try to explain exactly what that means and how all these strange happenings first came about.
If an area is frequented by rats, crows, magpies or (as in lesser cases) by weasels the immediate fairy population will suffer unless their home is firmly secured. A fairy door is the only safe measure in preventing pest infestation. Fairy doors are locked by magic and therefore cannot be opened by humans, rats or birds.
As a craftsman I was asked if I could make such a door. The woodworking skills were within my capabilities however as a human , I leave the magical locking device to be completed by the fairies themselves.
The fairies call me Stanley as they saw the inscription on my woodworking tools and erroneously attributed myself with the name.I am happy to continue with this error for the sake of anonymity however this in some way should explain why a different monogram is embossed on the reverse side of my fairy doors.
I should also point out that a Royal Fairy Charter does not, in any way say my doors are superior to any work produced by other craftsmen only that his majesty approves of the product.
Since embarking on this undertaking not only have I found the work very satisfying but in the process I have also learnt a great deal about local fairy culture. So, on reflection I have been compelled to include some of this cultural background into the study so that the reader can fully understand the back story behind these fairy doors.
As I said there are now about fifty such fairy doors hidden around Warkworth perhaps you and your friends may be lucky enough to find some.
The map on the Fairy Realm page may help.
And so let us begin.
Once upon a time........
