I met Bonnie Hinman via the wonders of social media.  She sent photos of a very old medieval statue that she’d had in her possession for many years.

Ms. Hinman had been very careful about who to place her trust in and had been observing my actions on Facebook and my own Blog for some time.  I am grateful that I passed her scrutiny as the statue is magnificent, and his story is fascinating on many levels.

At first, I admit that I walked past the project for several months.  But something kept whispering in the back of my mind, and I could not forget the dignified statue.

I did not regret reaching out to her and asking questions – I was hooked!

Over time, I learned a great deal about Ms. Hinman and that she was a very credible, down-to-earth, supportive member of her community with a large extended family.

She had been a medical assistant for a podiatry office and a deacon of her church.  I found her to have a keen and questioning mind and a deep concern for those around the world who suffer.

I admired her sense of duty towards her elder parents and grandparents.  I also respect her passion for studying the Knights Templar, which matches my own drive to learn more about their world.

I came to trust and respect her as a colleague and friend.  I found her to be a true visionary and a modern-day Christian Mystic, a movement founded in the Middle Ages that was driven by the great abbesses of Europe.

I have spent hours talking to her about the statue and her experiences with it over the years.  Please see my YouTube Channel for a brief 30-minute interview with Bonnie and images of the statue.  Not all content shared in the interview is represented on the pages of this book, and vice versa.  The interview will broaden your understanding of the project.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teRok12xvQk&t=634s

Or visit my YouTube Channel with the search words:

Gretchen Cornwall, Henry a Templar Statue

If you are inspired by the content of my YouTube channel, please consider listening to the documentary and Subscribe to my channel.  It is a form of donation.

So much has changed in the world of media and publishing.  There was a time when a website link would never have been quoted in a book.

Ms. Hinman has since sent the statue to me for safekeeping, but we are both very much a team.

Holding an object of potentially 900 years in my hands was an experience I have not had in my life.  I’ve touched castle walls and medieval graffiti, but ‘Henry’ was the first object of great age I’ve held.  It was an awe-inspiring moment, and I could almost imagine having a fleeting connection with those who carved it, added to it, and lived around it.

Museums guard their treasures closely behind dim lights and glass.  I cannot blame them, as once a work of art is gone, it cannot be replaced. I become quite emotional when art or books of culture are destroyed or lost by accident.

We all lose a bit of our human history and ourselves through one instant act of misguided destruction, though it took centuries to build the skill sets required to create an object or a unique architectural structure.

Author Gretchen Cornwall & the medieval statue nicknamed, Sir Henry Sinclair

But who is Henry?  That is a two-part answer and a mystery we are diligently researching.  Despite the unanswered questions, Ms. Hinman’s knowledge of the statue is profound.  Ms. Hinman started calling the statue ‘Henry’ out of respect for Earl Henry Sinclair and his voyages of the 1380s to 1390s from Scotland to North America.

The name Henry Sinclair is evocative of pre-Columbian travel and has inspired countless books and documentaries.  His journey was engraved on the walls of the beautiful book in stone, which is Rosslyn Chapel.

His grandson, William Sinclair, built the collegiate church to commemorate his grandfather’s voyages.  Amongst the oddities of carvings that festoon Rosslyn are maize, aloe vera, and Templar-related symbols.

Though controversial, it is highly probable that the Knights Templar had been traveling to North America since the Vikings passed down their secrets to them, their kith, and kin.

I wrote of this at length in my first book, The Secret Dossier of a Knight Templar of the Sangreal.  (Show Cover of Book)

I also participated in a film about this episode in history:

Templars Episode 3: The Sinclair Legacy

Amazon in the USA or Amazon in the UK

For more information on the series:  https://www.templars-tv.com/

Who is Earl Henry Sinclair?  That is an emotive and complex subject, but I have concluded through my own work that he did indeed visit North America on the heels of the Knights Templar.

The statue appears to predate Henry Sinclair by two centuries, at the most two decades at the least. The name stuck, and I think the nickname honors both the statue and the surrounding conversation about the potentiality of the 3-dimensional map of Oak Island that Ms. Hinman asserts he represents.

The statue is too expressive not to give him a name!  Henry is certainly telling us a story, but we must delve to put all available information together.  To date, this is a journey, perhaps in some small way. Through this statue, are dreams of sailing to medieval Oak Island possible?

At the time of this writing, the statue has yet to be carbon tested.  The only testing has been through the eye and photography magnification.  Application of knowledge of history, armor, and studying the symbols.  Testing needs to be done, but I am confident about the dating due to the armor that he is wearing and the obvious aging.  Testing would also help pinpoint where the tree was felled.  England?  France?  Nova Scotia?

She bought the object from an English seller in France; he, in turn, had bought it in England.  But this does not mean much considering how many European objects are scattered around the world in private homes and museums.  Had the statue been brought to England from France, or dare to think?  Oak Island?

It is Ms. Hinman’s theory that the wood may be from Oak Island by a Templar who participated in the construction of the paved road dated to 1200 by Dr. Ian Spooner.  The road was modeled on ancient Roman Roads, one of which was highlighted by Corjan Mol at the end of Season 9 in Portugal!

Wood was a precious resource in northern Scotland and the Scandinavian kingdoms.  Both wood and fur had been brought back to Europe for many centuries than is given credit for today.  These two resources were often as valuable as gold.

Bonnie and I both agree that this theory would be akin to finding a Holy Grail!  But what a find it would be to discover the wood was felled on Oak Island, brought back to the British Isles to be carved by a hand that was working on that paved 800-year-old road!

The Curse of Oak Island, S9E23 Follow the Cobblestone Road, Air Date April 19, 2022

The History Channel

Keep in mind that the ore from the Smith Cove Cross, found on Oak Island by metal detectorists Gary Drayton and Rick Lagina, hails from Gard, France.  The mine in the south of France was in use between the Roman era and closed in the mid-1300s in the post-Templar era.  Gary expressed that he thought the cross was dropped by its owner in centuries past and was not brought over during the colonial period or by pirates as part of a larger hoard.

It is highly possible that the cross was dropped by a Templar working on the massive stone road found on Oak Island.

If you would like to financially participate in dating the statue, please get in touch with me through my website:

gretchencornwall.com

Due to the lack of carbon testing to date, I wish to introduce ‘Sir Henry’ to you but not explain him completely as that would be irresponsible.  But I will convey what we do know about him to date as much as space in this book allows me to do, considering the other subjects that I cover in this small space held in your hands.

Earl Sinclair was active in the later part of the 1300s and into the early 1400s. There are no known depictions of him that deepen our understanding of his physical characteristics.  Of course, there is his Norse parentage with a foothold in Scotland, which gives us an idea of what he may have looked like.

He’d have to have been healthy and a strong knight to have risen high in the ranks, as only capable and certainly martial souls became nobles and royals during the pre-democracy upheavals of Europe.

Intelligence would have also been part of his makeup and the capacity to lead.  The King of Norway trusted him with the land defense of the realm due to Sinclair’s loyalty and ability to produce a profitable result!

The statue exudes all these qualities…

In my estimation, the statue dates back to the 12th or 13th century, based on its appearance and the style of its carving.

His exact identity is difficult to ascertain, and we may never know who he represents.  But he is certainly noble and perhaps royal.

He is seated on what appears to be a trunk or chest. There are no chair legs or backing, and it is certainly not a throne.  He is seated on a slope but leaning towards a felled tree trunk.

Is he a forgotten Grand Master of the Templar Knight Order from a required noble house?  Sitting nobly outside his tent near a felled tree?

He is not an example of high art, and perhaps the carver was a carpenter or ship joiner by trade and not an artist.  I have seen finer pieces of the same age that were beautifully done with great skill.  This could be qualified as ‘folk art,’ and this aspect may give greater credence to it being an object for a specific purpose, such as a 3-D Map, as Ms. Hinman has put forward.

The statue has been damaged over the centuries and is suffering from cracking.

The Templar cross on the back of his cape may not be original to the statue.  The carver took care to place the Templar Cross Pattee’ at an angle to suggest movement and reiterate the angle of the sitter as being very important.

This suggests care and thought so that we may see that action is apparent through the stiff quality of the carving. This quality can’t tell us if the cross is original.  Just that the carver was observant of the overall intention to portray the sitter outside in a natural environment.

The tool marks around the cross appear to be lighter than the patina of the rest of the statue, forgiving damage to the statue where it may have been dropped, knocked, or other wear and tear.  It does not show in photos easily, but looking at it physically, this does appear to be the case. The cross was added at a later date.

This is my assessment, and I may not be correct, and it could have been created ‘in one go’ as a stand-alone piece.  But I am leaning towards it being a repurposed piece that’s been successively added to over many years.

He may have been the decorative end piece of a pew in a church or a rood screen.  Perhaps a fireplace decoration in a private well-to-do home?  It could have been part of a larger decorative structure containing many different figures that had been cut out of its place but maintaining the support of the felled tree stump for the upper figures.  Regardless, the artist wanted to preserve the felled tree aspect as a key to the meaning of the statue.

The cross is certainly a Pattee – The Templar cross varied over the centuries and initially was a simple equilateral cross.

Continued Incomplete Excerpt From Chapter Fifteen

A Medieval Depiction of Oak Island

Ms. Hinman hopes to encourage the Oak Island team to continue to explore the base of Nolan’s Cross at the intersections of the following lot of 8, in particular, where many medieval artifacts have been found.

She is also highly interested in lots 9 – 27 & 28 –

The inverted blade at the base of the sitter appears to be pointing to a cave/shaft – or what oddly looks like an oak on land or on a representation of an island.  Bonnie views it as a pit, which is a strong perspective.

There appears to be remains of red paint on his left shoulder as well.

The axe is intriguing and may have been used in battle and or meant to cut down a tree.

Earl Henry Sinclair

Notice the shield carved onto the tree stump – Is it the heraldic helm of Earl Henry Sinclair, as Ms. Hinman states?  She has spent seven years with the statue.

Sinclair was born in approximately 1345 and apparently died in 1400.  He was the Lord High Admiral of Scotland under the king.

In my 20 years of living in the UK and traveling in Europe – Exploring museums and archives – As a member of the British Archaeology Association, I have never seen a carving of this nature of a Knight Templar, let alone one with Hebrew lettering – As a stand-alone object, ‘Henry’ is a phenomenon.

He was a dangerous object to own.  Heretical imagery in a post-Templar world?

Just having this object with the Templar Cross on its back would have raised more than eyebrows for centuries to follow.  Let alone potential Hebrew lettering. (Excluded from this excerpt) Even if the lettering is Latin, why hide the message?

The statue of the dignified, lordly knight is an ongoing project.  He needs to be carbon-dated, regional testing on where the oak came from, and assistance in reading any potential remains of the phrase on top of his helm.  Not all that is known of him to date is represented in this chapter.  If you’d like to partner with Ms. Hinman and me and assist with information gathering, contributions for testing the statue and further information can be found at:

YouTube Channel Gretchen Cornwall:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI-1Gpe2GJSDTZdJaYDvDvQ

As I finished writing this section on the statue, Henry, Ms. Hinman brought up a very good point.  One of the difficulties in dating him is that Templar symbols were in use from the inception of the order and used by their descendants long afterward.  Henry represents all Templars and their iconography.

The statue is contemporary in age based on his armor and clothing, with the stone road and wharf on Oak Island, and dated to 1200 AD, it was built by Templars on a secret mission of great import.  The iconography that Ms. Hinman found was added successively over the years, including the voyages of Earl Sinclair in the latter half of the 14^th century.

Ms. Hinman understands the one-on-one nature of the statue.  It was carved during an era when its secrets had to be shared directly with a trusted initiate.

Chapter Fifteen

Oak Island’s Mysteries of the Map, House of Rochefoucauld, Templar Statue, & Royston Cave

By Gretchen Cornwall

ISBN: 979-8211792043

gretchencornwall.com