Three conjectures on the early churches

Summary. Scant early documentary evidence for the first and second cathedrals has inevitably led to speculation and wild conjecture. Two hypotheses are given which have warped our understanding of the first cathedral and a third which arises out of recent archaeological investigation.

Raising conjectures has been an interest of early historians, particularly in the late-19th century. Conjectures always have some logic, but remain ideas under empirical evidence is found.

1.     The earliest churches were built on St Michael’s hill.

Diuma, the first Bishop of Mercia died in c. 658 and the next priest (he might not have been made bishop), Coellach, lasted a few months before being removed by King Wulfhere. The next two bishops were more favourable to the Mercian people and it is presumed they now had a church within the Lichfield (Licetfelda) area, but where?

Sculptures of the first four bishops around the northwest entrance door. From the left, Diuma who was Irish, Coellach who was Irish or Scottish and is without a mitre and staff suggesting he was never formally installed, Trumhere who was English and from Ingethling (Gilling)[1] monastery, near Richmond, Yorkshire, and Jaruman, possibly Irish, who, according to the Victorian sculptors, holds the first church with a date around 666. All four bishops were acquainted with the monasteries at Lindisfarne and Iona.

 

Savage posed the question, ‘Why did Jaruman (this should be Trumhere the third Bishop of Mercia) build his church in Lichfield’ and then speculated the location as being on St Michael’s hill.[2] He cited a copy of an anonymous manuscript held in the cathedral archive (its provenance is unclear) called, ‘History of the church of Lichfield’ and dated 1575.[3] This told the legend of Romans (Savage stated it could have been the heathen Angles) slaying a thousand Christians and burying them in what is now St Michael’s churchyard. The cemetery was said to have been consecrated by Augustine, ‘The Apostle of the English’. Savage added it was ‘the tribal burying ground of the Mercians’. Evidence of an Early Medieval[4] crouched burial was revealed when excavations were made for a new vestry for the church in 1978, suggesting an earlier history to the site. Gould and Gould[5] wrote cautiously, perhaps it had early medieval origins. This tentatively points to a Roman/Early Medieval cemetery and presumably a church on the wooded hill and fits with the idea of the first churches being constructed of timber and on high, prominent ground.[6]

          If true, why did the church for Chad move across the marshy, wooded area, now Lichfield town centre, to the hillock on which now stands the cathedral? Two reasons are presented; firstly, it was nearer the stream or river for baptism and sanitation and secondly, it was on a flat Mercian sandstone outcrop lined east to west in which stone was readily available. Also, nearby clay from the stream bank could be used to mix with the clay, dry in the sun, and construct walls. It might also be that King Wulfhere and Bishop Wilfrid knew this site was spiritually untainted, unlike the Anglo-Saxon pagan burial ground.[7] It was superior topographically, practically and spiritually.

2.     The first church was said to have been built in the year 700. Was this a misunderstanding with a shrine tower around Chad’s grave.

It has been a long-standing myth that the first church was built by Bishop Headda around the year 700. This ignores Stephen of Ripon’s statement and Bede’s assertion of a church for St Chad when he arrived in 669.[8] Yet, there is an authoritative statement, “The first church definitely known to have stood on the site of the present cathedral was that built by Bishop Headda and consecrated in December 700.”[9] This unambiguous statement given in the Victoria County History, 1970, without any reference somehow has prevailed? It appears to be premised on Bede stating he was buried near the church of St Mary and then further confused by the belief from the 13th century that his burial was near the ‘monastery’ or ‘House of St Chad’ 700 m north-east of the cathedral by the east end of Stowe pool at a place called Stowe.[10] The website of St Chad’s church states there was a Christian community on this site in the 7th century. All this comes from a narrative of Lastingham monastery, Yorkshire, where Chad was the abbot before being Bishop of Mercia. From this it was taken the first cathedral came later than Chad and was built in the time of Bishop Headda’s episcopate.  

Headda holding the first cathedral; it looks like Escomb Church, Durham. The statue is on the sedilia on the side facing the north sanctuary aisle.

 

This narrative was recorded in the 14th century from a text that is wholly unreliable. The text was in the Chronicon Lichfeldense, since lost, but copied in Warton’s, Anglia Sacra – see note 3.[11]  The writer, thought to be Alan de Assheborn, wrote a very fanciful early history of Britain and added bits of Lichfield’s history to exemplify his ideas. The discovery of Chad’s grave at the east end of the nave in 2003[12] completely contradicts this medieval story. Chad was not buried at Stowe.

Nave excavation 2003 showing the position of Chad’s grave. The grave is marked in red, a foundation to a shrine tower in blue and the midline of the cathedral in yellow.

So why did medieval writers believe there was a first church on the cathedral site, but 30 years later than Chad? Maybe they saw the foundation of the shrine tower when retrieving Chad’s relics around the time of building the current cathedral, early 13th century. They noted the foundation, but did not notice the grave. They presumed the foundation was the first cathedral. Its wall size, around 1 m thick, indicated a date of around the beginning of the 8th century. Perhaps, they saw this foundation earlier since a King Edgar silver penny was found in a pit during the 2003 excavation and was dated to the 10th century.

^{King Edgar silver penny. Obverse has +EADGAR RE around a small cross pattée within an inner circle. Reverse has INGEL-RI for the moneyer Ingelrics based at Derby. He minted coins showing a rosette and with MO in the field which means money, coin or die and is a feature of Mercian mints. Little is known on this moneyer which makes it unusual. Thanks to Dane Kurth of wildwinds.com.}

The two records of Stephen of Ripon’s biography of Bishop Wilfrid and Bede’s history book are relatively clear the first church was built around 667‑9 when Bishop Wilfrid joined King Wulfhere to provide a site for the new ecclesiastical centre of the kingdom of Mercia. It would be odd that Chad, who had been the Bishop of Northumbria for three years based at Lindisfarne, arrives at Licetfelda and does not have a church-cathedral. Medieval and Victorian writers chose to ignore this and later writers never questioned the notion.

3.     The second cathedral would have had a tower for keeping treasure and had sections to separate worshippers, king and clergy. Its nave extended into the current cathedral nave, and was slightly narrower.

A massive foundation for the second cathedral was revealed in 1854 under the choir and presbytery floor.[13] It has been argued with some evidence it is Early Medieval and is best seen as being built by King Offa for his archbishopric, but until it is carbon-dated this remains speculative.[14]

 

Plan of the second cathedral and abutting rectangular chamber superimposed on the plan for the current cathedral.

If it was the east end of Offa’s basilical cathedral, what would the rest of this cathedral, particularly the west front, look like? There are few cathedral foundations existing for the late 8th century to give guidance. However, in 2003 at the east end of the nave a very early wall on the inside of the nave columns indicated an earlier nave. Rodwell (2004) described it as a late Saxon or Norman nave wall foundation.¹¹ It could also have been the nave of Offa’s second cathedral. If so, it was slightly narrower than the current nave.

Stone wall (red) on inside of columns. It had very little masonry. It was a mortared construction using mixed rubble which has a similarity to the basilical foundation in the choir and presbytery.

 

It has been argued the church was similar in time and structure to Brixworth, Northamptonshire.[15] The west end of this church has undergone much change, but some detail is known, so if it is used as a model, remembering Offa attended both churches, then it is possible to guess what the second cathedral looked like.

 

Imagined Offa’s second cathedral using Brixworth as a guide.

Externally, might the second cathedral have looked like this? 

Or this? Chad’s shrine tower would stand alone away from the west end,

 

One reason for having a tower was to securely hold the treasures and artefacts of the cathedral. With Lichfield that could have included everything found in the Staffordshire Hoard.[16] It could also have had a secure meeting room. This was also the time churches were sectioned internally to serve various functions. The nave could have had procession, the king and family might have sat separated from others, perhaps in the presbytery/choir area, and the clergy would be in the apse. The altar could have been in the presbytery. The church is now a line from the public entrance at the west end to the high altar and clergy at the east end. The three arches separated the secular from the sacred areas.

 See also the posts, 'Chad, fantasy folklore and maybe'.

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[1] Bede, Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum. J. McClure and R. Collins, The Ecclesiastical History of the English People, (Oxford: 2008) 132.

[2] H. E. Savage, The church heritage at Lichfield, St Chad’s Day address 1914. Unpub. Article held in the cathedral library, 3. J. Britton, The history and antiquities of the See and Cathedral Church of Lichfield. (London: 1820), 24, referred to William Dugdale knowing of a document that claimed Jaruman had a church in the Close in 666.

[3] It is difficult to know the origin of this reference. It is said to be a copy made by Canon Whitlock made in 1569 of a previous lost ‘Chronicle’ manuscript. It is likely the story was taken from the ‘Book of Alan of Ashbourne, Vicar of Lichfield’ written in the 1320s, which has been lost, but a copy was made by Canon Thomas Chesterfield, mid-15th century and then repeated by H. Wharton, Anglia Sacra, (London: 1691). The manuscripts are in the British Museum and Bodleian Library, Oxford.

[4] Early Medieval has replaced the term Anglo-Saxon

[5] J. Gould and D. Gould, ‘St Michael’s churchyard, Lichfield’, Trans, South Staffs. Archaeological and Historical Society, (1975), 16, 58‑61.

[6] William of Malmesbury wrote, ‘Lichfield was a tiny village in the midst of a woody district on the banks of a brook’, William of Malmesbury’s ‘De Gesta Pontificum Anglorum’, written early in the 12th century (Hamilton 1870, 307).

[7] See the post, ‘Reasons why Lichfield (Licitfelda) had approval.’

[8] See the posts, ‘Wulfhere and Wilfrid, and later Bede, name Lichfield’ and ‘Wilfrid founder of church of Mercia.’

[9] M. W. Greenslade and R. B. Pugh, House of secular canons - Lichfield cathedral: To the Reformation, A History of the County of Stafford: Volume 3. Originally published by Victoria County History, London, 1970, 140‑166.

[10] It has been suggested the location of Stowe was more likely to be at the west end of Stowe pool. It cannot be assumed it is where his well and 13century church are now located.

[11] Originally it was titled ‘The book of Alan de Assheborn, Vicar of Lichfield’ and dated in 1320s. Alan of Ashbourne wrote a tangled history full of fabled beliefs from c.1323 until his death in 1334.

[12] W. Rodwell, ‘Archaeological excavation in the nave of Lichfield Cathedral’, (unpublished report held in Lichfield Cathedral Library 2003) 1–17.

[13] See the post, ‘The incomparable apse of the second cathedral.’

[14] See the post, ‘Why the second cathedral must be Early Medieval.

[15] See the post, ‘Second cathedral has a short perch layout. It is Early Medieval.’

[16] See the post, ‘It has to be the Lichfield Hoard.’

A bishop's handbell?

A bishop’s handbell?

Summary.  Three pieces found in the Staffordshire (Lichfield) Hoard connected together and labelled mysterious. They form a handle to a handbell. Such a liturgical object was essential for the early church to call for prayers or signal a death. It supports the conjecture the hoard was an archive from the second cathedral.

     Three items in the Staffordshire (Lichfield) Hoard^[1] connected together and gave a single object initially described as a mystery that elicited fanciful suggestions as to its purpose.^[2] A top button, 27 mm wide, has a black and white squared millefiori glass pattern in the shape of a Greek cross.^[3] A Greek cross is one of the most common Christian symbols in common use by the fourth century. It should have invalidated all secular and Jewish suggestions for the object’s function. The button had holes which matched the top of a cylinder, 18 mm long. The bottom of the cylinder connected to a base plate 60 mm long, that was circular, domed and compressed. When all were combined it was less than 200 mm long. The base plate has holes all around the edge suggesting rivets connected the entire handle to the cup of a bronze or iron bell.^[4]

 

Reconstructed handbell with a large incised plate identical to a panel on the gold cross. Several plates show a cloisonné arrangement resembling an early Celtic handbell. A copy of St Patrick’s bell, c. seventh century, known as the Cloc ind Édachta, is shown below for comparison. It was said the bell was part of the relics removed from Patrick’s tomb sixty years after his death.

 

 

 

There are few references to early handbells[5], but a bell was used to call to prayer, during a baptism, and for assembly at a shrine or at the time of dying. Foot thought a bell summoned the devout to prayer^[6] and quoted a poem in which men hastened from outside to the summons of ringing.^[7] Columba ran to the church when called by a bell, but died soon afterwards.^[8] Chapter 43 of the Rule of Benedict, c. AD 530, starts with, ‘On hearing the signal for an hour of the divine office’ with the signal possibly being a bell. Chapter 47 mentioned a signal announcing the hours and this would also apply to the time of someone dying. Bede described Nuns called to prayer with a bell at Whitby, AD 680, and again at the death of Abbess Hild.^[9] Wilfrid of Ripon introduced Benedictine rule to many minsters^[10] and Stephen’s biography of Wilfred has an occasion when a bell was rung at Ripon to call all the community together to hear Bishop Wilfrid.^[11] Wilfrid could have repeated this at Lichfield when helping Wulfhere to set up the first cathedral. This evidence for the existence and use of small bells is sparse, but enough references show they were being used at different locations for diverse purposes.

 Cardonagh stone, Northern Ireland, c, 700 showing a figure holding a bell.

The squashed dome has two incised plates with zoomorphisms. One plate is larger and a little more elaborate. It is identical to the small panel above the central garnet on the gold cross, apart from the rings being reversed. This indicates the bell was sacred. The zoomorph consists of sinuous arms with two rings, whereas the small panel has only one ring; both end with three-digit hands. A separate panel (included in Catalogue number 541) only 17 mm long, has two zoomorphs ending in three-digit hands and biting each other. Having three similar panels in which two are almost identical to the gold cross panel is signicant. The panels could mean the same as on the cross, namely, an Anglo-Saxon enigmata for the name of Christ entombed and therefore suggests a passing bell. Tatwine’s riddle 7, early eighth century, concerns a bell with the line, ‘I am forced as the stricken widely to release mournful things’.^[12]

Most of the known early bells (95) belonged to Celtic Insular churches.^[13]  Handbells are frequently mentioned in Irish written sources from the 7th to the 9th centuries. There are several garnet arrangements on the squashed plate in the shape of a Celtic bell and this must be significant. The early bishops with connection to Ireland must have favoured having a handbell. If ‘Patrick’s bell’^[14] was his own, then it would be plausible for Northumbrian bishops with Irish influence like Aiden, Cedd, Chad and Wilfrid to possess one. It would be their emblem of office; the priest being figuratively a bell calling to prayer ^[15] especially for a passing life. A small bell with a straight handle would be fitting for ringing on a life passing; a gentle tinkling sound and not a loud gong. After the death of the owner the handbell would become a relic.

 

It is plausible the handbell pieces in the hoard belonged to a Mercian bishop with deep Irish, Celtic affiliations and this must include Chad. Its rich, elaborate structure suggests Wilfrid.

 

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[1] Catalogue No. 541 (K130, K545 and K1055). Other isolated pieces were also added to this collection.

[2] Suggestions included saddle fitting, shield boss, drinking horn stopper, parchment roll stopper, lid to a ciborium, helmet decoration, mirror handle, part of a sceptre and a tefillin. Part of a Jewish priest’s headdress is a frequently given purpose.

[3] The north side of the Bewcastle cross has a panel with a millefiori pattern. Is this an interchange of design from the metalworker to the stoneworker? Similarly, it is in the cross page of the Book of Durrow, fol.1v, so has it been adopted by a scribe of manuscripts?

[4] R. Sharp, The hoard and its history, (Studley: 2016),73.

[5] The earliest mention of a handbell used for worship was in a letter written from Carthage in 535.

[6] S. Foot, Monastic life in Anglo-Saxon England c.600–900 (Cambridge, 2006), 192.

[7] ibid. 200 From De Abbatibus by Æthelwulf, c. AD 800–825, 20, 613–614.

[8] I. Bradley, Columb. Pilgrim and Penitent (Glasgow, 1996), 62.

[9] J. McClure and R. Collins, Bede. The Ecclesiastical History of the English People, (Oxford: 2008), 213.

[10] J. Blair, The Church in Anglo-Saxon Society, (Oxford: 2005), 97.

[11] B. Colgrave, The Life of Bishop Wilfrid by Eddius Stephanus, (Cambridge: 1927), 138.

[12] M. J. B. Allen and D. G. Calder, Sources and Analogues of Old English Poetry. The Major Latin texts in translation (Cambridge, 1976), 56.

[13] 127 bells are known from c. 500 to 1100. Ireland has 95, Scotland 19, Wales 6 and England 2. Only a few bells still exist in western Europe. Most have four sides, see C. Bourke, ‘Early ecclesiastical handbells in Ireland and Britain’. J. of the Antique Metalwork Soc. 16 (2008), 22. Most handbells have clappers, but some were intended to be struck with a hammer.

[14] In the National Museum of Ireland, Dublin.

[15] J. H. Arnold and C. Goodson, ‘Resounding Community: The history and meaning of medieval church bells Viator, (2012), 20.