Where in Britain is the most impressive
collection of Saxon carvings to be found? London? No. Winchester? No. A grand
English cathedral perhaps? No.
In fact, they are tucked away in
Leicestershire, inside a small village church perched high up on a hill. They
are, without a doubt, the crème-de-la-crème of known stone work from the eighth
and 10th centuries, when the Midland counties formed the heart of Mercia, a
kingdom that had a reckoning throughout Europe. The church of St Mary and St
Hardulph, in Breedon on the Hill, stands on the top of a partially quarried
hill, a spectacular sentry standing guard on the county border with Derbyshire.
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| Church of St. Mary and St. Hardulph, Breedon |
Perhaps, from the outside, the church isn't anything remarkable; a traditional Norman design – but inside are
carvings that will take your breath away. They are believed to have been removed from
the dilapidated and now long-since vanished Anglo-Saxon church and incorporated
into a new complex of religious buildings in the 13 century. The church today is essentially the eastern
end of this extensive group of buildings, and its value to our history and
understanding of Anglo-Saxon Britain is priceless.
The carvings fall into four groups. The
first two would have had a length of 63ft and originally would have run in
parallel bands around both the inside and outside of the main Saxon church. These
were subsequently built into scattered lengths around the interior of the new
church. The first band has a width of seven-inches and shows continuous interlacing
vine scroll patterns. The second is larger with a width of nine inches and a
much more complex design of geometrical patterns. Various images are carved
within the patterns, including ornate animals such as birds and hares, strange
beasts and human figures, such as mounted huntsmen with spears. The character
of these carvings has been compared to the type of decoration found in
north-west France, and are thought to have been sculpted by Frankish stone
workers, who travelled to Breedon on the Hill from the continent. The third
group of carvings are a series of figure panels set in arches comprising mostly
of saints, an early depiction of the Virgin Mary and the unique and
fantastically-preserved Breedon Angel. The final group is a small collection of
free-standing decorated cross fragments from the Viking age of Anglo-Saxon
Britain.
An amazing angel
Set in the bell-ringing chamber of the
church tower is perhaps the most famous piece of Breedon sculpture, this is
thought to be a depiction of the Angel Gabriel. Repositioned between two late 12th century Norman windows is the
Breedon Angel, one of the finest surviving examples of Saxon figure sculpture
and perhaps the earliest known carved angel in Britain. The figure is set within an arched opening with crescent-like
capitals supported on pillars resting on a stepped base.
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| The Breedon Angel |
In one hand is held a cross-headed staff
while the other is raised to give the Byzantine-style blessing. The body is covered in robes and the
angel’s wings are clearly seen draping down his back. As the sculpture is not accessible to the general public, a
moulding of the frieze has been made and is on display in the south aisle of
the church.
Beasts on the cross
At the west end of the north aisle are
sections of free-standing crosses, which would have originally stood outside
the Saxon church. The tallest was re-used as a staircase step in the building
of the new church, before being rescued in restoration a few years ago. It has
an interlace vine scroll design. The other cross fragments are far more
interesting. Three show various dragon-like beasts, so beloved in Saxon and
Danish art. One dances on four three-toed feet with a body decorated with
crescent moons. Although its head is missing, the tongue is seen wrapping
around the beast’s neck. The next also has a large tongue but has a coiled
snake-like tail and no hind legs, looking more like a sea serpent. Such
creatures were common in early pagan-Christian myths of the Merovingian dynasty
of Frankish kings, as the first Merovingian king – Merovich – has the myth that
he was fathered by one. The third beast is too worn to see any real detail. The
most interesting and spectacular cross piece, though, depicts the Garden of
Eden scene. Adam and Eve are seen picking forbidden fruit from the Tree of
Knowledge as the evil serpent is wrapped around it. Again, the style of art
appears to be Viking in character.
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| The Merovingian Beast |
Figuring it out
Breedon also has the largest collection
of Anglo-Saxon human figure sculptures in Britain. They are set in decorative
frames with the largest behind the altar in the south aisle. The figure is
holding a book in the left hand, and like the Breedon Angel, giving a Byzantine
blessing with the other. This helps to date the sculptures to the eighth to
ninth centuries. The figure’s hair is covered, which suggests it is female and
scholars have interpreted the woman to be the Virgin Mary of the New Testament.
Flanking the central figure are two sets of three saints, with a further two
immediately to the right on the south wall.
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| Three Anglo-Saxon Saint Carvings |
Their haloed heads have the same
form and character as the Mary sculpture and are carved carrying books, scrolls
and interestingly, one carries what can only be described as a doll. They are
believed to be saints but their specific identity is all but unknown.
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| The Virgin Mary sculpture |
Further along the south wall is a large
grey slab of sandstone with the largest animal carving in the collection. A
lion-like creature with a staring owl-like face stands out prominently above
all the other carvings. It is known as the Anglian Beast, believed to be the
work of a local Mercian stone mason. But why would stone workers come from all
over Britain and Europe to decorate a Saxon church? What was so special about
Breedon? In Anglo-Saxon times, it appears that Breedon was a lot more important
than most people know.
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| Amazing animal scuptures |
Major settlement
Since the dawn of civilisation, Breedon
has always been a major settlement. A polished stone axe of the new Stone Age
or early Bronze Age, some 4,000 years ago, was found in the village showing a
truly ancient origin, and we know for a fact that the hill was occupied in the
Iron Age. Impressive ditches and rampart banks surrounded the hilltop and vast
amounts of pottery shows us that from the first century BC into the Roman age,
Breedon was a major, fortified settlement known as a hill fort. When the Romans
invaded, the area gradually became depopulated. A Roman villa was erected less
than a mile south of the hill, suggesting this became the main populated site
in the area in Roman times. It is believed, however, that a Romano-British
temple or shrine was erected on top of the hill, as was frequently occurring
elsewhere. The ancient British often associated prominent natural features with
spiritual and supernatural forces and Breedon certainly fitted the bill.
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| Breedon church has a strategic location high on a hill |
Christians return
Since the early fourth century,
Christianity had become the official religion of the Roman Empire, so the
inhabitants of Roman Britain were essentially Christian. As the Roman Empire
collapsed and as Germanic people brought their traditional beliefs to Britain,
paganism became popular across the country. By the turn of the seventh century,
Breedon lay in the land of Tomseti, bordering the kingdom of the Middle Angles
to the east. Both soon became part of the kingdom of Mercia with its important
southern centre by the River Trent, at Repton, seven miles west of Breedon. Between
626 and 654, King Penda, one of the most powerful warriors of his day, ruled
Mercia. He was a staunch follower of the old gods of northern Europe. Evidence
for these old beliefs often survive in place and field names. Breedon has
Thunderbush Meadow and Thunderbush Flat. Thunder refers to Thunor, or Thor, son
of Odin. By this time, Christianity had begun to re-establish itself in
Britain. In the kingdom of Northumbria it resurfaced via Ireland and in the
south and east it was reintroduced by St Augustine’s Mission from Rome.
In 653, Peada, son of Penda, married
Elfleda, a daughter of King Owsy of Northumbria, on the understanding that he
became a Christian. He obliged and was baptised by Finan, Bishop of
Lindisfarne. Peada returned to Mercia with four priests – Cedd, Adda, Betti and
Diuma – and after the death of his father in 654, he became the first Christian
king of Mercia. On taking control of the Midland lands, he sought to establish
Christianity as the state religion. His first act was to build a monastery
dedicated to St Peter at Peterborough. Peada only reigned for a year, but his
work was continued by his brother Wulfere who succeeded him. In 676, Aethelred,
third son of Penda, became king, ruling until 704 when he himself became a
monk, dying in 716. Before his death, he dedicated great swathes of land to the
monastery of Peterborough, which included the lands of Breedon. These lands
were given to a powerful patron called Friduricus, “for the foundation of a
monastery to further spread Christianity”. A priest of Peterborough called
Hedda was appointed as the first abbot.
Monastery is made
The monastery of Breedon was
established right in the heart of Mercia, inside the defences of the old Iron
Age hill fort. The king granted Breedon Monastery much of the surrounding land,
and it was to play a highly influential role in over a century of powerful
Mercian expansion, making the kingdom the most powerful in the country.
By 669, Breedon was in the diocese of
Lichfield, which also included Leicester, until it had a more permanent
separate Bishopric from 737. Breedon’s importance is noted in the Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle and also by the Venerable Bede who records that in 731 a priest at
Breedon called Tatwin was made Archbishop of Canterbury. Many notable people of
the day were also buried there such as St Aerdulfus rex, St Cotta, St Fretheric
and St Benna. Their lives are unknown to us now but their status as saints
probably made Breedon a place of pilgrimage. St Aerdulfus rex is a name that
suggests a king made saint and could be a variation of St Hardulph – whom the
current church at Breedon is named after. St Fretheric may be Friduricus who
was granted the lands of Breedon for the construction of the monastery.
What Breedon may have looked like in
Saxon times needs some imagination compared with what it looks like today. The
grand monastery stood high on a hilltop, at this time unaffected by quarrying. It overlooked the surrounding land and could
be seen from miles around, in every direction. To make it even more impressive,
it was encircled by the renovated Iron Age bulwarks and ditches, topped by a
‘precinct wall’ or timber palisade.
Decline and revival
Later in the ninth century, Mercian
power went into decline with ever increasing raids by the Vikings. In 874, the Danish army, who were
still pagan, advanced from the north, setting up a base at Repton before
sacking the Midland counties and forming the Five Boroughs. The Bishop of Leicester fled south to Dorchester and Burhed, King
of Mercia was expelled. One imagines the monks at Breedon also fled and what
they left would have certainly been looted. However, the monastery wasn’t
destroyed. The fragments of Viking carved crosses of the late ninth and 10th
centuries, after the Danes had become Christian, show that the church, if not
the monastery, became active again. It
is believed the monastery was revived to all its pomp late in the 10th century
as some of the surviving sculptures are thought to have parallels with
illustrated work of this period.
How well the monastery survived the
turbulent century up to the Norman Conquest is unknown, but the old Saxon
church building did survive the conquest as William the Conqueror granted it to
Robert de Ferrers, first Earl of Derby.
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