- King Wulfhere of Mercia and Bishop Wilfrid of Ripon and Hexham ‘prepared’ a site for a church at Lichfield.[1] Wilfrid’s involvement with Mercia and his understanding of churches in Italy, Ripon and Hexham indicate he planned a sacred landscape at Lichfield.[2] Hill titled her paper on Wilfrid’s build of Ripon as, ‘Rome in Ripon: St Wilfrid’s inspiration and legacy’[3] and would also have applied to Lichfield.
- Chad was buried near the church of St Mary on the site of St Peters.[4] Paired churches dedicated to a major apostle and St Mary occurred at Canterbury, Glastonbury, Hackness, Lastingham, Lindisfarne, Malmesbury, Monkwearmouth and Whitby.[5] This appears to be the conventional layout.
- Rodwell excavated Chad’s shrine at the east end of the nave (2003) and surmised whether Early Medieval (Anglo-Saxon) walling found in the north (1994) and south (1992) choir aisle was an early church. He said these foundations fall into a pattern of churches, chapels, tombs, standing crosses, wells and other liturgical features and have a near alignment.[6] He did not state what this alignment was.
- Notable kings and saints were generally buried east of the main church and in a line. This is known at Bradford-on-Avon (possibly), Glastonbury, Gloucester, Hexham, Repton, Wells (probably), Whithorn, Winchcombe and Worcester. Blair identified that where a church was dedicated to an apostle and paired with St Mary, the lesser St Mary church often stood due east of the apostolic church and this followed Continental practice.[7] Gittos expressed it as many chapels were situated in an easterly position when within a group.[8]
- Early medieval liturgy was performed in a sequence of small compartments (churches, chapels and shrines) around holy sites.[9] Churchmen, especially Northumbrians who had visited Rome, were interested in processions between buildings as part of their liturgical practices.[10] This procession followed a ‘Sacred Landscape’.
Evidence from elsewhere.
Adomnán (Adamnán), born c. 625 in Donegal, probably a relative of Columba, joined the monastery at Iona c. 669, and ten years later became the ninth abbot. Around 680, he wrote De Locis Sanctis,[11] ‘On the Holy Places’, describing Jerusalem, Bethlehem and other holy cities. He was impressed by the layout of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem constructed by Emperor Constantine, c. 325.[12]
Reconstructed sketch of Adomnán’s layout for the church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem, taken from a 9th century drawing in Paris. There are similar drawings archived in Vienna, Brussels and Zurich. It has 4 circles representing the rotunda; the Vienna drawing has 5. The church of St Mary was at the end of the Via Dolorosa; the path Jesus took to his crucifixion.
Route of
pilgrims through Constantine’s church of the Holy Sepulchre. Note this route is
from East to West. The courtyard was at the foot of a rock of Golgotha which
held a large silver cross.
Adomnán gave his book to the king of
Northumbria who wanted it circulated in his kingdom. In 702‑3, Bede wrote on
the Holy Sepulchre complex,[13]
using the same title as Adomnán’s book, but with changes, and later adding a
description in his Historia Ecclesiastica, book 5 chapter 16.[14] The
ground plan of the church, though inaccurate, must have become familiar to many
throughout northern Europe;[15] it was now a model for emulation.[16] Centres in Ireland[17],
on Iona and at Lindisfarne have been cited as good copies. Possible sites in
England have been reviewed.[18]
1. Iona
A sacred landscape at Iona was
first suggested in 2001.[19]
Adomnán, when the abbot of the monastery, listed the buildings and recent archaeology
has revealed such a landscape[20]. On
the day before his death, Columba compared Iona to Jerusalem.[21]
Pilgrims arrived on the east
shore of the island and entered a southern gate through the double vallum
boundary, simulating the walls of Jerusalem. They entered the early monastic
church (thought to be under the Nave of the Benedictine Abbey, but still has to
be located). From here, they moved westwards to the plateola, equivalent to the
Jerusalem courtyard, in which stood high crosses, prayer stones and a well that
might have been used for baptising. The south side was connected to a 7th or
8th-century paved roadway known as the ‘Street of the Dead’ linking three
chapels and having alongside at least 7 standing crosses. Finally, the pilgrim
reached Columba’s shrine chapel, of which only the lower courses have survived,
reminding them of Christ’s tomb. Pilgrims who visited several times saw it as equal
to a journey to Jerusalem.
2. Lindisfarne
A similar sacred landscape is
thought to exist at Lindisfarne substantiating its name of Holy Island. Pilgrims
arrived by boat on the east side of the island and then moved to the church. Isolated
sculptured stones found in and around the remains of the Norman priory (1080)
could mean the early St Peter’s church is located within or by the priory.[23]
This church built by Finan, 651 x 661, held the relics of Aidan and Cuthbert.
To the west of this possible church now stands the parish church of St Mary and
perhaps this is over the earlier church that held Cuthbert’s relics. Between
the two churches is an early cross base within an open place. This is fragmentary
evidence for two churches, holding important saint’s relics being in an east-west
alignment with an open place (plateola?) possibly containing standing crosses.
Pilgrimage route at Lindisfarne
3. Ripon and Hexham
The crypts at Ripon and Hexham were
the work of Bishop Wilfrid.[24]
They are said to resemble catacombs in Rome seen by Wilfrid on his pilgrimages,
but there is another explanation. They allude to the rectangular tomb of Christ
in Jerusalem;[25]
Adamnan’s drawing has a rectangular grave surmounted by a rotunda. The crypt
could have been entered from either the west or the east. There is a first room
and then a main chamber. This chamber is vaulted, big enough to hold nine
people, and has a low roof. Wall to wall dimension is c. 7 feet and this
is the attested length of Christ’s tomb.[26]
Bishop Wilfrid when in Rome between 703 and 705, had every opportunity to
participate in the new papal processions across a sacred landscape
Wilfrid’s
shrine at Ripon is thought to have been at the east end of the church. The
relationship of the crypts to the early church at Ripon is unknown.[28]
Consequently the pilgrimage route, whether starting from the east or west end
is unknown. It is much the same at Hexham. It is possible Wilfrid ignored the
direction of travel in Jerusalem (east to west) and instead built his linear
churches to accommodate the conventional travel of west to east in England.
So
how does this impact on the layout at Lichfield
If each of the first eight
bishops at Lichfield and Bishop Wilfrid were connected with and familiar with
Lindisfarne, Iona, Ripon and Hexham,[29]
then a similar layout would be plausible. Did Wilfrid arrange a sacred landscape numinous
to pilgrims and ensure the enduring cult of St Chad?
In 2003, archaeological excavation in the nave revealed foundations to three sides of what appeared to be a shrine tower and inside which offset to the north was the grave of Chad. It has a similarity to Christ’s tomb within its rotunda. For evidence this was almost certainly Chad’s grave see the post ‘Making sense of Chad's grave, St Peter's cathedral, St Mary's church and a shrine tower’. The findings in 1992 and 94 of early medieval walling in the choir aisles might be remnants from elaborate graves; a tiered grave was found close-by in the south choir aisle. In 2000, a 2m wide band of mortared rubble was found between the pillars at the west end of the nave.[30] Some have conjectured whether this is a floor or foundation to the main church of St Peter, that is to the west of the shrine.
Speculative
layout of a ‘sacred landscape’ at Lichfield.
The great difficulty is not knowing whether early medieval pilgrims entered the minster complex in the 7th and 8th century from the east end, like Jerusalem, Iona and Lindisfarne, or from the west end like many church complexes in England. This means there are two alternatives.
- Entry from the east end.
2. Entry from the west end.
This
layout chimes with the layout for the following two cathedrals. It also accords
with the main thoroughfare being along St John and Bird Street. It does not fit
if the entry to the shrine tower was on the east side; Rodwell thought the east
wall could have had steps. It means the second cathedral could be built on the
cemetery ground whilst the first cathedral is still available for continuing
worship. It has been suggested St Mary’s church could have been an annexe on
the south side of the second cathedral.[31]
The position of a well is not far from where it is thought one once existed.
It is now thought a sacred landscape
was relatively short-lived and probably discontinued with the building of the
second cathedral, if undertaken by King Offa, c.770. Offa vigorously
promoted and paid for pilgrimage to Rome and Jerusalem.
[1]
Described in the biography of Bishop Wilfrid written by a monk at Ripon called
Stephanus and published 712–3. Title was Victa Sancti Wilfridi I. Episcopi
Eboracensis.
[2]
See the post ‘Wilfrid of Ripon and Mercia’.
[3]
J. Hill, Rome in Ripon: St Wilfrid’s Inspiration and Legacy, History,
The Journal of the Historical Association, (2020), 105, issue 367, 603‑25.
[4]
Bede’s Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum published in 731, Book 4, Chapter
3. See J. McClure and R. Collins, The Ecclesiastical History of the English People. (Oxford: 2008) 178.
This translation has been explained in the post, ‘Two churches in 672 and a
shrine.’
[5]
H. Gittos, Liturgy, architecture and sacred places in Anglo-Saxon England
(Oxford: 2013) 94‑7.
[6]
W. Rodwell, Archaeological excavation in the nave of Lichfield Cathedral. (Unpub.
report held in Lichfield Cathedral Library) (2003), 6. Also W. Rodwell,
J. Hawkes, E. Howe and R. Cramp, ‘The Lichfield Angel: A spectacular
Anglo-Saxon painted sculpture, The Ant. J. (2008), 88, 50–1.
[7]
J. Blair, The church in Anglo-Saxon society (Oxford: 2005), 200.
[8]
See note 5. H. Gittos, (2013), 100.
[9]
See note 6. J. Blair (2008), 201.
[10]
See note 5. H. Gittos, (2013), 107.
[11]
British Library, Imago mundi (part II, 1r–78r); Adomnán, De Locis Sanctis (part
II, 78v–93v). It is part of Cotton MS Tiberius D V, part II, ff 1–93 and was
copied in the 4th quarter of the 14th century.
[12]
Thought to have been described to Adomnán
by a Gallic bishop, Arculf or Arculfus, from his pilgrimage to the Near East,
679–682. Hundreds of pilgrims set out from Europe to the Holy Land between 385
and 1099 AD, but of these only eighteen wrote descriptions which have survived.
[13]
G. H. Brown, A companion to Bede (Woodbridge: 2009),71. Also P. Darby
and D. Reynolds, Reassessing the ‘Jerusalem Pilgrims’, the Case of Bede’s De
locis sanctis, Bulletin for the Council for British Research in the Levant,
(2014), 1, 27-31,
[14]
J. McClure, and R. Collins, Bede. The ecclesiastical history of the English
People (Oxford: 1994), 264. Bede’s abridged account had a few minor
differences with Adomnán’s version, see P. P. O'Neill, 'Imag(in)ing the Holy Places: A comparison
between the diagrams in Adomnan’s and Bede's De Locis Sanctis', Journal of
Literary Onomastics.(2017), 6, 1, 42–60.
[15]
T. O'Loughlin, Adomnán
and the Holy Place (London: 2007), 175–203.
[16]
See note 6. J. Blair, (2005), 201.
[17]
D. Jenkins, Holy, holier, holiest. The
sacred topography of the early Irish Church. In Studia Traditionis
Theologiae. (2010) Brepols Publishers,
claimed at least four early Irish monasteries resembled Jerusalem.
[19]
A. MacDonald, 'Aspects of the monastic landscape in Adomnan’s Life of Columba',
in J. Carey, M. Herbert and P. O' Riain (eds.) Studies in Irish hagiography:
Saints and Scholars (Dublin: 2001),15–30.
A recent Statement of Significance for Iona Abbey given
by Historic Environment Scotland 2019, states Adomnán’s work provides a
framework for understanding how the planning and development of Iona and its
liturgical landscape was conceived as a reflection of the heavenly Jerusalem.
[20]
E. Campbell and A. Maldonado, ‘A new Jerusalem 'at the ends of the earth':
interpreting Charles Thomas's excavations at Iona Abbey 1956—63’, The Ant. J.
(2020),1–53.
[21]
ibid. T. Ó Carragáin (2003), 144.
[22]
ibid. 20. It has been suggested Columba’s shrine chapel was the first of its
kind and built mid-8th century, see T, Ó Carragáin, 'The architectural setting of the cult of relics in
early medieval Ireland', The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of
Ireland, (2003), 133,130–176. This date could indicate the time of
construction for Chad’s shrine.
[23]
D. Petts, D. ‘A place more venerable than all in Britain: The archaeology of
Anglo-Saxon Lindisfarne', in R. Gameson (ed.) The Lindisfarne Gospels: New
perspectives (Leiden, 2017), 7.
[24]
T. H. Turner, ‘Observations on the crypt at Hexham Church, Northumberland’, Archaeol.
J. (1845), 2, 240–1. J. Walbran,
‘Observation on the Saxon crypt under the Cathedral Church at Ripon, commonly called St Wilfrid’s needle’, Royal
Archaeological Institute, York Meeting 1846 (1848), 4.
[25]
See Conant (1956), Krautheimer (1971), Biddle (1994) and Wilkinson (2002) all
quoted by R. N. Bailey, ‘St Wilfrid – a European Anglo-Saxon’, Wilfrid
Abbot, Bishop, Saint. Papers from the 1300th Anniversary Conferences, ed.
N. J. Higham (Donington, 2013), 120.
[26]
Ibid. Bailey (2013) 121–3.
[27]
É Ó Carragáin and A. Thacker, ‘Wilfrid in Rome’, Wilfrid
Abbot, Bishop, Saint. Papers from the 1300th Anniversary Conferences, ed.
N. J. Higham (Donington, 2013), 227–8.
[28]A.
Clapham, English Romanesque Architecture, Vol. 1. Before the Conquest.
(Oxford: 1930), 156.
[29]
Diuma (Irish), Ceollach (Irish or Scottish), Trumhere or Trumheri (Yorkshire),
Jaruman or Jurumannus (possibly Irish), Chad or Caedda (Northumbrian), Wynfrith
(Chad’s deacon and probably from the same background), Headda (associated with
Yorkshire), Wilfrid (Northumbrian), see R. Sharp, Drawn to the light. A
history of dark times, (Studley: 2018),109, 113.
[30]
W. Rodwell, Revealing the history of the Cathedral: 3. Archaeology in the nave.
Unpub. paper in the Cathedral Library, (2000), 23.
[31]
M W Greenslade, ed. 'Lichfield: The cathedral', in A History of the County
of Stafford: Volume 14, Lichfield. (London: 1990). The funerary church may
have stood where there was later a side chapel on the south side of the Early
Medieval (Norman) presbytery; that chapel was replaced in the earlier 13th
century by one with an altar dedicated to St. Peter.
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