Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-qsmjn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T18:35:33.978Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Early Medieval Ecclesiastical Sites in South-western Britain: their dates, characters and significance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 August 2012

Susan Pearce
Susan Pearce*
Affiliation:
Susan Pearce, FSA, 7 Sackville Gardens, Leicester LE2 3TH, UK. E-mail: smp14@leicester.ac.uk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper considers the historical, topographical, and morphological characteristics of burial sites in south-western Britain between ad 400 and 1000, looking for evidence of patterns of Christian development across the region. The study concludes that there is no one simple set of characteristics that exclusively identifies sites of this period. It demonstrates the very considerable complexity of the long, slow cultural shift that turned a pagan society into a Christian one, and it draws attention to the range of place names, morphologies, dedications and traditions that mark the surviving evidence.

Résumé

Ce document examine les caractéristiques historiques, topographiques et morphologiques des sites funéraires du Sud-ouest de la Grande-Bretagne de l'an 400 à l'an 1000 de notre ère, en recherchant des traces d'implantation chrétienne dans la région. Cette étude conclut qu'il n'existe pas un ensemble de caractéristiques uniques qui identifieraient exclusivement les sites de cette période. Elle attire l'attention sur la complexité considérable du changement culturel long et très lent qui a transformé la société païenne en société chrétienne, et attire également l'attention sur la diversité de noms de lieu, de morphologies, de consécrations et de traditions qui marquent les preuves ayant survécu.

Zusammenfassung

Dieses Referat behandelt die historischen, topografischen und morphologischen Charakteristiken von Grabstätten aus der Zeit von 400 bis 1000 n.Chr. im Südwesten Großbritanniens, wobei Nachweise für Strukturen einer christlichen Entwicklung in der Region gesucht werden. Die Studie kommt zu dem Schluss, dass es keinen einfachen Zusammenhang von Charakteristiken gibt, die allein ausreichen um Grabstätten aus dieser Periode identifizieren zu können. Dabei wird die Aufmerksamkeit auf die beträchtliche Komplexität der langwährenden und langsamen kulturellen Verlagerungen gelenkt, mit der die Umwandlung einer heidnischen in eine christliche Gesellschaft erfolgte, und es wird darin auch auf die verschiedenen Ortsnamen, Morphologien, Widmungen und Traditionen verwiesen, die die überdauernden Nachweise kennzeichnen.

Type
Research papers
Information
The Antiquaries Journal , Volume 92 , September 2012 , pp. 81 - 108
Copyright
Copyright © The Society of Antiquaries of London 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Published sources

Aston, M 1986. ‘Post-Roman central places in Somerset’, in Central Places, Archaeology and History (ed E Grant), 40–77, Sheffield: University of Sheffield Google Scholar
Aston, M Leech, R 1977. Historic Towns in Somerset, Gloucester: CRAGS Google Scholar
Attenborough, F 1922. The Laws of the Earliest English Kings, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Google Scholar
Blair, J 1992. ‘Anglo-Saxon minsters: a topographical review’, in Blair and Sharpe 1992, 226–66Google Scholar
Blair, J Sharpe, R 1992. Pastoral Care before the Parish, Studies in the Early History of Britain, Leicester: Leicester University Press Google Scholar
Brook, D 1992. ‘The early Christian Church, east and west of Offa's Dyke’, in Edwards and Lane 1992a, 77–89Google Scholar
Bruce-Mitford, R 1997. Mawgan Porth: a settlement of the late Saxon period on the north Cornish coast, London: English Heritage Google Scholar
Campbell, E 1991. ‘Imported goods in the early medieval Celtic West, with special reference to Dinas Powys’, unpublished PhD thesis, University of Wales, College of CardiffGoogle Scholar
Clark, R 1992. ‘The dedications of medieval churches in Derbyshire; their survival and change from the Reformation to the present day’, Derbyshire Archaeol J, 111, 48–60 Google Scholar
Copplestone-Crow, B 1989. Herefordshire Place-Names, BAR Brit Ser 214, Oxford: British Archaeological Reports Google Scholar
Doble, G H 1965. The Saints of Cornwall. Part Four: Newquay, Padstow and Bodmin district, Truro: Cathedral Dean and Chapter Google Scholar
Doble, G H 1970. The Saints of Cornwall. Part Five: saints of mid-Cornwall, Oxford: Holywell Press Google Scholar
Doble, G H 1997a. The Saints of Cornwall. Part Six: saints of north Cornwall, Truro: Cathedral Dean and Chapter Google Scholar
Doble, G H 1997b. The Saints of Cornwall. Part Two: saints of the Lizard district, Truro: Cathedral Dean and Chapter Google Scholar
Doble, G H 1997c. The Saints of Cornwall. Part One: saints of the Land's End district, Truro: Cathedral Dean and Chapter Google Scholar
Doble, G H 1997d. The Saints of Cornwall. Part Three: saints of the Fal, Truro: Cathedral Dean and Chapter Google Scholar
Duffy, E 2001. The Voices of Morebath: Reformation and rebellion in an English village, London: Yale University Press Google Scholar
Edwards, N Lane, A 1992a. The Early Church in Wales and the West, Oxford: Oxbow Google Scholar
Edwards, N Lane, A 1992b. ‘The archaeology of the early Church in Wales: an introduction’, in Edwards and Lane 1992a, 1–11Google Scholar
Electronic Sawyer. Sawyer's Anglo-Saxon Charters Online, 〈http://www.trin.cam.ac.uk/chartwww/eSawyer.99/eSawyer2.html〉 (21 Feb 2012)Google Scholar
Fawtier, R 1912. La Vie de Saint Samson, Paris: Champion Google Scholar
Foot, S 1992. ‘Anglo-Saxon minsters: a review of terminology’, in Blair and Sharpe 1992, 212–25Google Scholar
Fox, H 1972. ‘Field systems of east and south Devon. Part 1: east Devon’, Trans Devonshire Ass, 104, 81–136 Google Scholar
Gelling, M 1982. ‘Some meanings of stow’, in Pearce 1982, 187–96Google Scholar
Gittos, H 2002. ‘Creating the sacred: Anglo-Saxon rites for consecrating cemeteries’, in Lucy and Reynolds 2002, 195–208Google Scholar
Gould, J 2004. ‘Heritage management in the planning process’, Cornish Archaeol, 39, 193–195 Google Scholar
Gover, J, Mawer, A Stenton, F 1931–2. The Place-Names of Devon, Engl Place-Name Soc 8 and 9, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Google Scholar
Hall, T 2000. Minster Churches in the Dorset Landscape, BAR Brit Ser 304, Oxford: Archaeopress CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hanham, A 1970. Churchwardens’ Accounts of Ashburton 1479–1580, Devon and Cornwall Rec Soc, new ser 15, Exeter: Devonshire PressGoogle Scholar
Henderson, C 1953–6. ‘Cornish parish churches’, J Royal Inst Cornwall, new ser, 2, 1–210 Google Scholar
Henderson, C 1957–60. ‘Cornish parish churches’, J Royal Inst Cornwall, new ser, 3, 211–497 Google Scholar
Herring, P 2000. St Michael's Mount Archaeological Works 1995–8, Truro: Cornwall Archaeological Unit/Cornwall County Council Google Scholar
Hobhouse, E 1890. Church-wardens’ accounts of Croscombe, Pilton, Yatton, Tintinhull, Morebath and St Michael's, Bath, ranging from AD 1349 to 1560, Somerset Rec Soc 4, London Google Scholar
Humphrey-Smith, C 2003. The Phillimore Atlas and Index of Parish Registers, 3rd edn, Chichester: Phillimore Google Scholar
James, H 1992. ‘Early medieval cemeteries in Wales’, in Edwards and Lane 1992a, 90–103Google Scholar
James, J 1997. ‘Medieval chapels in Devon’, unpublished MPhil thesis, University of ExeterGoogle Scholar
James, M R 1901–2. ‘St Urith of Chittlehampton’, Proc Cambridge Antiq Soc, 10, 230–234 Google Scholar
Jones, G 1985. ‘Forms and patterns of medieval settlement in Wales’, in Medieval Villages: a review of current work (ed D Hooke), 155–170, Oxford Univ Comm Archaeol Monogr 5, Oxford Google Scholar
Jones, G 2007. Saints in the Landscape, Stroud: Tempus Google Scholar
Kain, R Oliver, R 2001. Historic Parishes of England and Wales: an electronic map of boundaries before 1850 with a gazetteer and metadata (computer file), 〈http://www.ahds.ac.uk/history/collections/historical-maps.htm〉 (12 Dec 2011)Google Scholar
Kenyon, D 1991. The Origins of Lancashire, Manchester: Manchester University Press Google Scholar
Lucy, S Reynolds, A 2002. Burial in Early Medieval England and Wales, Soc Medieval Archaeol Monogr 17, London Google Scholar
Markham, C 1930. ‘The churchyards of Northamptonshire’, Trans Northampton Oakham Architect Archaeol Soc, 39, 133–140 Google Scholar
Mills, A 1991. A Dictionary of English Place-Names, Oxford: Oxford University Press Google Scholar
Okasha, E 1993. Corpus of Early Christian Inscribed Stones of South-West Britain, Leicester: Leicester University Press Google Scholar
Olsen, B L 1982. ‘Crantock, Cornwall, as an early monastic site’, in Pearce 1982, 177–86Google Scholar
Olson, B L 1989. Early Monasteries in Cornwall, Woodbridge: Boydell Google Scholar
Olson, B L Padel, O J 1986. ‘A tenth-century list of Cornish parochial saints’, Cambridge Medieval Celtic Stud, 12, 33–71 Google Scholar
Orchard, N 2002. The Leofric Missal, Henry Bradshaw Soc 113, Woodbridge: Boydell Google Scholar
Orme, N 1996. English Church Dedications, Exeter: University of Exeter Press Google Scholar
Orme, N 2000. The Saints of Cornwall, Oxford: Oxford University Press Google Scholar
Osborne, F 1979. The Church Wardens’ Accounts of St. Michael's Church, Chagford, 1480–1600, Chagford: privately published Google Scholar
Padel, O J 1976–7. ‘Cornish Language Notes 5. Cornish names of Cornish churches’, Cornish Stud, 4, 15–27 Google Scholar
Padel, O J 1979. ‘The text of the Lanlawren Charter’, Cornish Stud, 7, 43–44 Google Scholar
Padel, O J 1985. Cornish Place-Name Elements, Engl Place Name Soc 56 and 57, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Google Scholar
Padel, O 1988. A Popular Dictionary of Cornish Place-Names, Penzance: A Hodge Google Scholar
Padel, O J 1999. ‘Place-names’, in Historical Atlas of South-West England (eds R Kain and W Ravenhill), 88–94, Exeter: University of Exeter Press Google Scholar
Padel, O J 2002. ‘Local saints and place-names in Cornwall’, in Thacker and Sharpe 2002, 303–61Google Scholar
Padel, O 2005. ‘The charter of Lanlawren (Cornwall)’, in Latin Learning and English Lore: Studies in Anglo-Saxon Literature for Michael Lapidge (eds K O'Brien O'Keeffe and A Orchard), ii, 74–85, Toronto: University of Toronto Press Google Scholar
Pearce, S 1973. ‘The dating of some Celtic dedications and hagiographical traditions in south-western Britain’, Rep Trans Devonshire Ass, 105, 95–120 Google Scholar
Pearce, S 1978. The Kingdom of Dumnonia: studies in history and tradition in south-western Britain AD 350–1150, Padstow: Lodenek Press Google Scholar
Pearce, S 1982. The Early Church in Western Britain and Ireland, BAR Brit Ser 102, Oxford: British Archaeological Reports Google Scholar
Pearce, S 1985. ‘The early Church in the landscape: the evidence from North Devon’, Archaeol J, 142, 255–257 Google Scholar
Pearce, S 2003. ‘Saintly cults in south-western Britain: a review’, in Saints of Europe: studies towards a survey of cults and culture (ed G Jones), 261–279, Donington: Shaun Tyas Google Scholar
Pearce, S 2004. South-western Britain in the Early Middle Ages, Leicester: Leicester University Press Google Scholar
Petts, D 2002. ‘Cemeteries and boundaries in western Britain’, in Lucy and Reynolds 2002, 24–46Google Scholar
Petts, D 2009. The Early Medieval Church in Wales, Stroud: History Press Google Scholar
Preston-Jones, A 1984. ‘The excavation of a long-cist cemetery at Carnanton, St Mawgan, 1943’, Cornish Archaeol, 23, 157–179 Google Scholar
Preston-Jones, A 1987. ‘Road widening at St Buryan and Pelynt churches’, Cornish Archaeol, 26, 153–160 Google Scholar
Preston-Jones, A 1992. ‘Decoding Cornish churchyards’, in Edwards and Lane 1992a, 71–95Google Scholar
Rahtz, P, Hirst, S Wright, S 2000. Cannington Cemetery, Britannia Monogr Ser 17, London: Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies Google Scholar
Rahtz, P, Woodward, A, Burrow, I, Everton, A, Watts, L, Leach, P, Hirst, S, Fowler, P Gardner, K 1992. Cadbury Congresbury 1968–73. A Late/Post-Roman Hilltop Settlement in Somerset, BAR Brit Ser 223, Oxford: Tempvs Reparatvm Google Scholar
Rodda, A 2009. ‘Time Team's excavations at Lellizzick Farm, Padstow’, Cornish Archaeol News, 106, no paginationGoogle Scholar
Sharpe, R 2002. ‘Martyrs and local saints in Late Antique Britain’, in Thacker and Sharpe 2002, 75–154Google Scholar
Sims-Williams, P 2003. The Celtic Inscriptions of Britain: phonology and chronology, c 400–1200, Publ Philological Soc 37, Oxford: BlackwellGoogle Scholar
Smith, A H 1987. English Place Name Elements. Part II, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Google Scholar
Thacker, A 1987. ‘Anglo-Saxon Cheshire’, in Victoria County History of Cheshire I (ed B E Harris), 237–292, Oxford: Oxford University Press Google Scholar
Thacker, A 1992. ‘Monks, preaching, and pastoral care in early Anglo-Saxon England’, in Blair and Sharpe 1992, 137–70Google Scholar
Thacker, A Sharpe, R 2002. Local Saints and Local Churches in the Early Medieval West, Oxford: University Press Google Scholar
Thomas, C 1961. Phillack Church, Gloucester: British Publishing Co Google Scholar
Thomas, C 1968. ‘Merther-Uny, Wendron’, Cornish Archaeol, 7, 81–82 Google Scholar
Thomas, C 1980. ‘Hermits on islands or priests in a landscape?’, Cornish Stud, 6, 28–44 Google Scholar
Thomas, C 1988. ‘The archaeology of Tintagel parish churchyard’, Cornish Stud, 16, 79–91 Google Scholar
Thomas, C 1994. And Shall These Mute Stones Speak, Cardiff: University of Wales Press Google Scholar
Thompson, V 2002. ‘Constructing salvation: a homiletic and penitential context for Late Anglo-Saxon burial practice’, in Lucy and Reynolds 2002, 230–40Google Scholar
Trudgian, P 1987. ‘Excavations of a burial ground at St Endellion, Cornwall’, Cornish Archaeol, 26, 145–152 Google Scholar
Turner, S 2006. Making a Christian Landscape, Exeter: University of Exeter Press Google Scholar
Watts, L Leach, P 1996. Henley Wood, Temples and Cemetery Excavations 1962–69, CBA Research Report 99, London: Council for British Archaeology Google Scholar
Weddell, P 2000. ‘The excavation of a post-Roman cemetery near Kenn’, Devon Archaeol, 58, 93–126 Google Scholar
Williams, I 1972. ‘The personal names in the early Anglesey inscriptions’, in The Beginnings of Welsh Poetry (ed R Bromwich), 16–24, Cardiff: University of Wales Press Google Scholar
Wood, I 2002. ‘Constructing cults in early medieval France: local saints and churches in Burgundy and the Auvergne 400–1000’, in Thacker and Sharpe 2002, 155–88Google Scholar
Zadora-Rio, E 2002. ‘The making of churchyards and parish territories in the early-medieval landscape of France and England in the 7th to 12th centuries: a reconsideration’, Medieval Archaeol, 67, 1–19 Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Pearce Supplementary Material

Appendix

Download Pearce Supplementary Material(File)
File 2.9 MB