‘Deep roots are not reached by the frost’: The Inklings and the Western Tradition

February 2019

The Temenos Young Scholars met at The Kilns in Oxfordshire for another day of exploration, meeting students and academics of the Humanities, and attending seminar presentations.

Temenos’ own Grevel Lindop, who is a poet, writer and former Professor of Romantic and Early Victorian Studies at Manchester university gave a seminar entitled ‘Charles Williams, The Third Inkling’

In the early afternoon, the mid-twentieth-century charms of the C.S Lewis House were explored during the tour of a building which had cradled many literary endeavors and friendships. This was followed by a walk of the nearby common. Having been the home to a small Christian community of scholars and writers, the place and its current inhabitants seemed to glow with a kinship and warmth, intimating one of the principles of The Temenos Academy, of understanding tradition as continual renewal. 

Later in the day, a speech was given on Memories of Hugo Dyson and Owen Barfield, written by Julia Cleave and Owen A. Barfield. Ms. Cleave is a Fellow of the Temenos Academy who studied with Hugo Dyson at St. Hilda’s College, Oxford. Mr. Barfield is the grandson of the Inkling of the same name and his literary executor.

Jakub Betinsky (Durham University) gave a Young Scholars’ Talk inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien, presenting on:

Right Imagination in ‘On Fairy Stories’

To echo Francis Warner’s statement from A Blessing on C.S Lewis’s Home in Oxford, The Kilns:

‘So, may the warm hospitality and environment of The Kilns bring the blessing of such union and fellowship … It is a living inspiration’

The full article is attached below.

FRANCIS WARNER Blessing on the Kilns

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