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CHAPTER I HISTORICAL BACKGROUND TO THE SCULPTURE

INTRODUCTION Devon by Crediton - later still Exeter. The division between east and west of Selwood however remained important in the ninth and tenth centuries, so theAnglo­ The areac overed bythis volume completes the survey of the kingdom of : through its consideration of the Saxon Chronicle for AD 893 describes how the ealdorrnen pre-1974 historic cOWities Devon, Dorset, andking's thegnsassembled an army against the Danish of force,including men'from every borough [burh] east of (togetherwith , a county then aswell as a city), and W!ltshire (Figs.1-3, 25--8 ), which together withBerkshire the Parrett, and both west and east of Selwood' and (included in Volume South-EastEngland (Whitelock 1979, 203). The division was further N, recognisedin the reorganisation of the shires in the tenth - Tw eddle, Biddle and Kjtz�lbye-Biddle 1995), up make century when theealdormen weredivided into Western theheartland kingdom. Thewes ternpart ofSomerset of that Wessex (Dorset,Somerset and Devon) and Eastern and Devon (the old Britishterritory of the Dumnonil) may havebeen on theperipher y of the kingdom untilthe ninth Wessex (Hampshire, Berkshire and ) (Yorke century, sinceBritish rulers, based in theland of the 1995, 100, fig.24). Comovii Thesedivisions are fitfully reflectedin thesculptures of (what is now Cornwall), maintained some independence and the ability to harass the WestSaxon � until finally this volume, but the new bishoprics and the reformed monasteries of the tenthand eleventh centuriesseem to defeated by King Ecgberht in AD 838. Cornw.ill is the have shared a common Christianculture which involved subject of a latervolume inthis series. The area west of Selwood (Fig.16), which constitutes the whole of Wessex and the old kingdom of . the major part of the region covered by this volume, is Moreover, particularly in the eleventh century,the close one where there seems to have been considerableBritish political ties ofWessex and Normandy encouraged the survival into the post-Roman period, not only of adoption of new styles of art and architecture, which are population but of language and custom, and this is perhaps not as clearly demonstrated in the surviving reflected in the sculptures of the region, as is also the monuments as they mightbe ifthe legacy were not so cultural shading east and west, so that Wiltshire patchy and unrepresentative of major sites (p.27). monuments have much in common with Hampshire and the Thames Valley in the later period, and some THE ROMANO-BRITISH HERITAGE Devon monumentshave common links with Cornwall. Nevertheless the picture is not clear cut: there is good Thereis some relevance in brieflyconsidering the centres evidence fo r the survival of the British language and of Roman power, both in their relationship to one monument types as late as the seventh/eighth century at another and as foci of later settlement. The major Wareham in Dorset, and thereare exam ples in Devon of legionary fort in Devon was at Exeter, dvitas capital of monuments withanimal ornament and withplant-scrolls Dumnonia, and this has been defined also as a town which reflect fashions fo und right across the region in (Cunliffe 1993, fig. 7.1), as have Bath, llchester, and the eighth to tenth centuries (Figs.19and 21). Dorchester, which were centres in the country of the The coherence of the area west of Selwood (Dorset, Durotriges. Despite the decline of these Roman towns Somerset and Devon) was recognised in AD 705 when, theyremained as focal centresin thepost-Roman period, after the division of the huge southern diocese based on linked by major road networks. llchester and Dorchester Winchester, it became the Diocese of Sherborne with have provided evidence of late Roman Christianity and Aldhelm as its first bishop. In 909 new bishoprics were seem to have had importantpre-Conquest churches,but created, with Wiltshire and Berkshire served by withlittle surviving material remains in the post-Roman Ramsbury, Somerset by Wells, Dorset by Sherborne,and period, whilst Bath and Exeter (see below) were

1

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2 CHAPTERI

important monastic and administrative centres in the the otherhand, in Wiltshire,Amesbury, Mahn esbury and Anglo-Saxon periodand both have produced sculptures. are possible developmentsfrom forts to major The extensively excavated villa at Holcombe in Devon estatecentres (Haslam 1984b).The political configuration lies on the western borders of Romano-British villa of the south-west in the fifth to mid-sixth centuries settlement (Branigan 1976, 136--41; Costen 1992a, 32- remainsdiffi cult to decipher,but it is significantthat many 42), but east of thisthe region waswell settled with villas parish boundaries of the later period do seem to enshrine which aredistributed on good agriculturalland, avoiding the boundaries of earlier estates (see Finberg 1964a or the most hilly and marshy regions, except on the top of Pearce 1982b). Nevertheless, as Pearce says, 'It is, and no the Mendips where settlement is linked to the doubt always will be, impossible to actually prove that exploitation of lead. .& has been frequendy pointed out, any given late-Roman landed estate survived more or the distribution of settlements of the Roman and sub­ less intact to become an early -English minster's Roman period is much the same as today.Notable villas endowments or a thegn's bookland ... Nevertheless the in Somerset include Banwell, Chew Stoke, Congresbury, trend of anincreasing body of evidence, and its cumulative Keynsham, and Langridge, all parishes in which Anglo­ effect point in this direction' (Pearce 1982b, 133). Saxon sculpture has been found, but how much The evidence for Christianity in this region in the continuity there was in the post-Roman British Roman and sub-Roman period (Fig. 4) is not strong in controlled areas is uncertain. relation to public buildings, although it has been The toponymy of the region in some measure reflects postulated that the late Roman temples at Lamyatt its Roman past . .& well as Devon, which ultimately Beacon and Brean Down, Somerset, could have been derives from the name of the British kingdom of succeeded by Christian churches (Leech andLeach 1982, Dumnonia, the DornsaeteofDorset derive theirname from fig;. 8.18, 8.19). The small rectangular building; with a cornbination of the Anglo-Saxon name for settlers and their associated east-west burials could however be the first element of the Romano-British name for mausolea.Neverthelessthere does seem to be increasing Dorchester, Durnovaria, whilst Somerset seemsto derive evidence for the transition from hilltop temples to its first element from the royal vill of Somerton, but this Christian foci in the way that is more clearly evidenced waswithin the bounds of the Roman town and probable just outside the area at Uley in Gloucestershire civitascapital ofllchester.It is therefore possible that the (Woodward and Leach 1993; Yorke 1995, 156--7) and three western shires are based on ancient sub-divisions, also Nettleton in Wiltshire (Rahtz and Watts 1979, 189- formed from territories dependent upon the threecivitas 90). Rahtz's excavation at Tor also capitals of Exeter, Dorchester and llchester. Wiltshire, demonstrated that the hilltop was used, possibly by a where there is greater evidence for Anglo-Saxon Christianreligious community,in the late fifth!early sixth settlement, took its shire name from the settlement of centuries (Rahtz 1970). There is little evidence for how Wilton, which was not an administrative centre in the such sites fitted into an organised Christian structure Roman period, but it was a burgal centre in the later however and also no documentation for Christian Anglo-Saxon period and the site of a reformednunnery bishops; moreover, although villas such as Frampton, (see Fig;. 6 and 7). Hinton St Mary, and Fifehead Neville have been The redistributionof land which must have takenplace suggested as providing evidence for Christian after the decline of Roman power and the economic communities (Thomas 1981, 104-6), there seems to be changes which that brought about, probably did result no continuity into later periods (see Frend 2003). in estates which can be roughly related to the territories The most positive evidence for the acceptance of of earlier villas, but re-orientatedtowards new centres,as Christianity, and its transition into the post-Roman Costen has proposed for the Brent estate (1992a, 61-2), period seems to be in burial grounds.Cannington has which in the seventh century was transferred to been mentioned above (and see p. 147), but an important Glastonbury monastery. A similar estate is postulated for Roman cemetery with evidence for Christian burial the region around Cannington, which has a cemetery practice, including mausolea, at Poundbury near that spanned the period from later Roman times to the Dorchester,Dorset, came to an end in thefourth century. seventh/eighth century (Rahtz 1977, 56--9; Rahtz et al. .& Yorke stated, 'There now seems to be evidence to 2000). In Somerset it has been suggested that authority suggest that Christianity could be found at all levels of may havepassed from some Roman centresto reoccupied society in late Roman Wessex and not just among the hillfom such as South Cadbury or Cadbury Congresbury urban and rural elites represented by the Roman villas (Rahtz etal. 1992, 230-47), but these hillforts did not in Dorset and the mausolea of Poundbury' (Yorke 1995, develop into major settlements in the later period. On 152). It is however difficult to make the transition

11 11- _jl I I_

J-llSTORICAL BACKGROUND TO 11-IE SCULPTURE 3 between Roman and Anglo-Saxon organisation. in this region for which such a claim has been made is Settlements at Bath, Camerton and Shepton Mallet are Glastonbury; and the name was certainly known in Irish all on Roman roads, and the cemetery at Shepton Mallet tradition (Thomas 1994, 44-6) as well as English, but indicates a transition from pagan to Christian burial the evidence is debateable (Costen 1992a, 77-8). And practice (Leach with Evans 2001, 312-13), but like the there is nothing in the area so far excavated which is extensive burial groundat Camerton {Rahtz and Fowler unambiguously Irish in type. On the evidence recovered 1972,200), comes to an end in the sixth/seventhcentury. fromthe excavationsat Glastonbury Tor,h owever (Rahtz Nevertheless, as Rodwell has suggested in relation to 1970; id. 1993, 51--65), the occupation on that site is the Roman mausoleum at Wells (Rodwell 2001a, 40-- earlier than at the Abbey in the valley. The nature of this 50), even ifthere seems to be a hiatus atthat site between occupation,as Rahtz has said, is debateable although he the Roman and Anglo-Saxon Christian activity,it is would incline to see it as an early eremitical site (1993, possible that there was a continuity in the knowledge of 59--61) of c. sixth--<:entury date, followed by an Anglo­ certain holy places, that could be transmitted and Saxon monastery in which the tenth--<:entury cross was transmuted through British intermediaries. Moreover, a feature (ibid., pi. 7; and see cataloguep. 158,Ills.255-7). knowledge of pagan holy places was not necessarily At Glastonbury To r, then, thereis no suggestionthat the obliterated by themore general acceptance of Christianity earliest occupation could have been Irish rather than after the period of the Anglo-Saxon conquest and British.At anotherdependency of theAnglo-Saxon and settlement;'holy trees' are mentioned in charters into medieval abbey - Beckery- there is a tradition,first the ninth/tenth century and Costen has suggested that recorded in the twelfth century, which links Beckery the place-name Batcombe (see p. 97) which is fuund in wit h the Irish saint Bridget. She is supposed to have both Somerset and Dorset, could be derived from the visited the site in AD 488 and to have left behind some Old English bata, a dub or phallus (Costen1992a, 100--1). of her possessions which were display ed there. Rahtz's The evidence of Christian practice and continuing excavations and his analysis of the evidence do not literacy in the post-Roman period is most dearly support thisclaim (ibid.,119-22,fig. 89; Rahtzand Hirst provided by the inscribed pillar stones which exist in 1974), and the cemetery and timber chapel he revealed Devon and Somerset (Okasha 1993, fig. 1.1; Thomas have been assignedto theAnglo-Saxon period, probably 1994, 328-31). These monuments (see Fig. 4, and John originating from Cenwalh's grant of c. 670 {Scott 1981, Higgitt's commentary in Chapter VIII and Appendix 90--1, 98--9). H, p. 245) are to be seen as 'outreach' from the British Neverthelessthere is a persistence about the claims for Church in the west which did develop and put down Irish presence in this area,which may be indicative; and rootsin what is now Cornwalland Wales. Severalstrands the fact that the Lift of St Dunstan records that he was of influence have been suggested for the Category 1 instructed at Glastonbury by Irish teachers at a period stones: standing Roman memorials, direct Gaulish when regular monastic life was in decline amongst the influence to be seen in script and formulae, and direct Anglo- could point to an earlier and continuing Irish influence seen in ogham script and primitive Irish contact. Scott cautiously says, 'The great Irish saints are personal names (Okasha 1993, 41-2). The coasts of the not thought to have been associated with Glastonbury three western shires,as well as Cornwall,could all provide ... but it seems likely that there were Irish scholars there easy access to Gaul and the western seaways,and along in the tenth century and there is no doubt that as early the sea routes missionaries as well as merchants could as that Glastonbury wasvenerating Celtic saints'{1981, 2). have visited the south-west. There were indeed isolated An Irish monk Maildub is however reliably attested at pockets of Christians who apparently retained into the Malmesbury, and according to William of Malmesbury eighth century a tradition of insular British inscriptions (1870, 333-5)was the first educator of Aldhelm, but his and grave-markers of a type which I have suggested are presence may represent a post-Roman initiative.Yorke derived from contact with Merovingian Gaul- contact makes the interesting suggestion that 'the contacts seen which begins in western Britain in the sub-Roman in Aldhelm's letters between his circle and Ireland may period (see Wareham catalogue pp. 116-24). well continue links first established before the Anglo­ Thereis little firm evidence for Britishmonastic centres Saxon take-over of the south-west and its churches' in this area of the south-west in the fifi:h/sixthcenturies (Yorke 1995, 162). as there is in Cornwall and Wales, although claims that Nevertheless in comparison with areas further west, Irish monks were establishedby theseventh century may wit h the exception of Congresbury there are no major be true and represent a later missionary activity churches dedicated to Celtic saints. The picture seems independent of theBritish Church. The main monastery to be of a wholesale re-establishment of ecclesiastical

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4 CHAPTERI

organisation under the Anglo-Saxon rulers, and Hall's given estates in reward for their support of the West conclusion for Dorset concerning the relationships Saxon kings' (ibid., 41-2), but many of the incomers bet\veen villa estates and minster sites seems to apply to may have adopted the customs - and religion- of the the whole region: examination of the evidence shows Christian Britons. 'that there are few ifany examples'definite (I-b112000,83).

CONVERSION TO CHRISTIANITY THE ANGLO-SAXON IMPACT The first Christian king of the Gewisse was The Anglo-Saxon conquest and settlement of thisregion (611-42), baptised with the Northumbrianking Oswald was effected against a background not only of resistance as his sponsor. Oswald's subsequent marriage to Cynegils' from Britons in the west, but from more powerful rulers daughter brought about a link which continued through of other tribes,notably the Mercians and the , as the contacts of his sons Cenw.Uh and Centwine - the well as the fragmented allegiances of those who were last married a sister of King Ecgfrith of . later to call themselves West Saxons. It is generally Later,King Aldfrith of Northumbria {686-705)married accepted that conquests by the rulers of the Gewisse Cuthburgh, the sister of Ine of Wessex, and was the during the seventh and eighth centuries brought about godson of Ab bot Aldhehn ofMalmesbury,the first bishop the formation of the West Saxon kingdom,but ahnost of the area west ofSelwood where therewas a substantial all the details of these events, as recorded in the ninth- British population whose legal rights and status are fully century compilation of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle have set out in Ine's Law Code (688-726) (Whitelock 1979, been subject to debate (see Yorke 1995,52-84for a useful 398-407). By this time the kings were no longer styling summary). The legendary founders of the dynasty.Cerdic themselves'of the Gewisse' but 'of the Saxons' and by the and , seem to have had anglicised British names, second half of the eighth century,commonly, of the'West and this extended to later members of the royal house: as Saxons'. This contact with Northumbria at the level of Yorke says,'The WestSaxon dynasty was not the only rulers and high ecclesiastics at a time when Christian one to claim ancestors wit h British names, but the use culture there was at its zenith is important in explaining of Brittonic name-elements seems more pervasive than some common themes discernible in the sculptures of anywhere else' (Yorke 1995, 49, fig. 22). Securing the the two areas. It is also interesting that the expansion right to landthrough intermarriage into a ruling British westwards into the old British territories coincided in family, as was claimed in folk tradition for Hengist of the twokingdoms atthis time (no doubt bringing similar Kent, is a possible explanation,but the adoption of new problems), and both kingdoms established public names to accommodate to a largely Britishpopulation is monuments with their distinctive form and decoration also possible. The Gewisse had established themselves first in the newly controlled areas.Monasteries, some of which in the Thames valley, but Mercian power kept their may have been British,were also recorded as under West expansion to the south of the Thames and around the Saxon patronageat a comparativelyearly date: Cenw.Uh Avon. Battles in the mid seventh century at sites such as (642-73) was traditionally a benefactor ofSherbome in Bradford- on- Avon (652) and Penselwood (658)may have Dorset, and Centwine (6 76-85) of Glastonbury (Edwards secured much of western Wessex into Anglo-Saxon 1988, 15-17, 65-6, 243-53). Indeed the possession of control,and parts of the area to the west (notablyExeter such sites on royal estates seems to have been important where Boniface was educated c. 680) must have been in for roy.Uprestige, and the Mercian kings could also hold their control,but their hold on lands to the west of the power in key ecclesiastical centres such as Bath and river Parrett was precarious until, during the eighth Glastonbury (see Fig. 5). Indeed through much of the century,they secured land aroundand westof the Parrett. early history of these sites, both the Mercian and West During the seventh century there is evidence for elite Saxon kings included them in their itineraries and used burials according to Anglo-Saxon custom in Wiltshire them as centresfor councils (Hill 1981, figs. 14>-6). In such as Roundway Down (Yorke 1995, 175), and further the later period different sites were part of the royal west in Dorset there is a little evidence for similar itinerary,both manors and monasteries (see Fig. 6). King furnished burials, inserted into a Bronze Age barrow at Centwine retired to a monastery c. 685 and other West Launceston Down, Long Crichel, or in small groups as Saxon kings are distinguished by their independent at Hambledon Hill (Hinton 1998, 38). Hinton's opinion interest in Rome from the time of Caedwalla to King is that 'the wealth and location of these graves suggest Alfred. Caedwalla went to Rome as a pilgrim and died aristocrats moving into the Dorset heartland, perhaps there in 689 aftera lifetime of ferociousfighting to enlarge

11 11- _j[ I I_

J-llSTORICAL BACKGROUND TO 11-IE SCULPTURE 5

N W essex K:ingll'Itinerary • MercianItinerary K:ingll' X t\ Chippenham X

Amesb' Glastonbury W • Somerton •

• Sherbome

n:aester

FIGURE5 Sites mentionedin the intinenries of the kingsofMercia md W essexbefore 871 (afterHill 1981)

N

• t\ Chippenham + The ltine=y of Adtelmn

Amesbury •

Do1chester

FIGURE6 Sites mentioned in theitinerary of Athelstm (after Hill1981)

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6 CHAPTERI

his kingdom, and asuccessor, Ine (688--726), also travelled abbot ofMalmesbury, obtained a grant of privileges from there after his abdication in 726. Pope Sergius I which he got both Ine of We ssex and Ine's Law Code has been mentioned above, and this is lEthelred of to ratify and further secured their important in demonstrating not only the relative social agreement that Malmesbury should not suffer in wars positions of his subj ects but also the measures needed to between the twokingdoms' (Yorke 1995, 61). Ine was a enforce Christian practice such as infant baptism. It was patron ofMalmesbury,Muchelney andalso Glastonbury, Ine who created the new see fo r the areawest ofSelwood where he is credited with building the first stone church in 705, basing it at Sherborne with Aldhelm its firstbishop c. 700 (Rahtz 1993, 31, ill.45), and this clearly did starnp (Anglo-Saxon Chronicle:Whitelock 1979, 170). The choice the authority of the We st Saxon kings on that place. Ine of Sherborne so near to the eastern edge of the diocese wash owever on good terms with the leading churchmen has beenmuch discussed, but there seems general consent of his age and acknowledges the help of his bishops in that there must have been there, or nearby, an existing the Prologue to his Laws {Whitelock 1979, 399); and ecclesiastical fo undation - either a British monastery according to the Life of St Boniface, "Wynfrith, later (the elusive Lanprobt} or one fo unded in the mid�eventh known as Boniface, monk ofExeter and later missionary century in the reign ofCenwalh, when his bishop Wine to Germany, served as the king's envoy to the archbishop worked closely with British bishops {for a discussion of of ( Vita Bonifatii, eh. 4: Levison 1905, the problem see O'Donovan 1988, 83--8). For whatever 13-14).Kirby sums up his reign in the fo llowing terms: reason the site was chosen, its establishment must have 'There can be no doubt that it was Ine who set the seal been accepted by the British population and itsexistence on the creation of the historic kingdom ofWessex and created some sort of unity fo r the area fo r the next two defined its horizons as a Christian realm in which hundred years, until 909. It was then {see below, p. 9) monasticism and men of letters flourished amid active that the independence of the shires wasrecognized, and involvement in an overseas mission' {Kirby 1991, 126). Sherbome became the bishopric only fo r the people of After Ine's death the Mercian king lEthelbald not only Dorset, whilst the people ofWiltshire and Berkshirewere invaded Somerset and occupied the head settlement of served by the bishopric based on Ramsbury, the people Somerton, but seems to have reasserted control over of Somerset by We lls, and of Devon by Crediton, later Glastonbury and Malmesbury. His powerful successor Exeter {see Fig. 7). King Offa, in 781, took back Bath into his control (Edwards 1988, 122) and it became a royal proprietary monastery, and, despite the winning back of territory by l.\1ERCIAN AND WEST SAXON ROYAL the We st Saxon king Ecgberht in the opening years of INTERESTS the ninth century, which successfully put an end to Mercian control of Glastonbury, Bath remained a place During the eighth century, plausibly in the reign ofIne, where the Mercian kings held their court into the mid­ the many sub-kingdoms ofWessex, which are hinted at ninth century. Ecgberht's reign consolidated We st Saxon by (H.E.,IV.12:Bede 1969,368--9) werereorganised power, and he received the temporary submission of into shires, and although this did not put an end to Mercia in 829 (Anglo-Saxon Chronicle:Whitelock 1979, strugglesfor power between the royal kin, the importance 186), but it wasnot until thereign ofhis son .A<:thelwulf of lordship stressed in his laws should not be (839-858) that all the southern shires in the south-east underestimated. Ine's political strength wasconsiderable: which had been claimed by Mercia came under We st he extended the boundaries of We ssex to the west of Saxon control. Greater co-operation between We ssex the Ta mar {Finberg 1964a, 95-1 15) and established firm and Mercia came about however by the mid ninth relations with the East Saxon and Kentish kings as well century, partly as a result of intermarriage (Burgred, king as maintaining his borders against the most powerful of of Mercia married King lEthelwulf's daughter the South Humbrian kings, ..43.thelredMerc of ia. At that lEthelswith, in 853 {ibid., 189)), and partly by thegrowing time, as noted above, the patronage of monasteries is threat from the Vikings and the unrest of the western probably to be seen as an essential element of royal power. British. From the period ofKing Alfred's reign onwards Bath and Malmesbury were both patronised by Hwiccean English Mercia and We ssex had to make common cause and Mercian potentates as well as We st Saxon. AsYo rke against external threat, and the eventual union ofWessex says, 'Although Malmesbury's position in a border zone and western Mercia came about by the marriage of meant that it might benefit from the patronage of both Alfred's daughter .A<:thelfla:d to the ruler of western sides,there were clearly potential dangersas well.Aldhelm, Mercia (see below) .

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J-llSTORICAL BACKGROUND TO 11-IE SCULPTURE 7

WALES

N

• A Congresbury • Banwcll • Cheddar w.;,ns ;;wtonbury Beckery Athjney • • Milbome South Taunton Mu�ey Port • Molton + ShaftsburY Shemome

• • • +crediton Beaminster Ceme Milton + Exeter �botsbury

Major Ecclesiastical Sites + Episcopal Sites • Other Sites

FIGURE 7 Major ecclesiastical sites in south-west Engbnd

11 11- _jl I I_

8 CHAPTERI

THE WEST SAXON HEGEMONY AND THE Scandinavian army at the battle of Edington, Wiltshire, ESTABLISHMENT OF ECCLESIASTICAL in 878, and the subsequent treaty ofWedmore (Dumville CENTRES 1992, 1-23) which included the conversion to Christianity of their leader, Guthrum, brought about a The establishment of a see at Sherborne W

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J-llSTORICAL BACKGROUND TO 11-IE SCULPTURE 9

even ifthe picture was not as bleak as he painted in the as a major port and tradingplace, with a mint as well as introduction to the Cura Pastoralis (Whitelock 1979, an ancient Christian centre, caused Bishop Leofi:ic to 888-90) there is no doubt that regular religious move his see there from Crediton. organisation had been disrupted. From the mid 880s he Significant of the new world thatwas to take shape in was able to import learned ecclesiastics from western the tenth century was the fact that the fr rst bishop of Mercia, and this link with western Mercia is apparent Ramsbwy,Oda, wasa monk who hadmade his profession also in the art of the period, and I would suggest in the of obedience to the Benedictine monastery ofFleury­ animal ornament on We st Saxon crosses (see Chapter sur-Loire. He, together with Bishop Alfheah of VI, p. 42). His efforts at the revival of regular monastic Winchester and his kinsman Dunstan, had benefitted life were less successful, however. He had significantpower from the fo reign travels and contacts provided by royal over ecclesiastical sites, as his will demonstrates, and he marriages with fo reign princes and the appointment of 'gave'the twomonasteries ofBanwell and Congresbury fo reign churchmen to positions in Wes sex during the to Asser, bishop of Sherborne, as well as Exeter 'with all early tenth century. Such contacts had been actively the diocese belonging to it' {Life, eh. 81: Whitelock 1979, promoted byAlfred, but now gathered momentum under 297; see Fig. 7). He also fo unded a new monastery in his grandson Athelstan {Dumville 1992, 159-161). Shafresbury as a nunnery to be presided over by his Equally important fo r the revival of the arts in his reign daughter lEthelgifu (ibid., 300), which augmented the was the king's interest in the acquisition of manuscripts small group ofWessex nunneries in late Saxon England, and relics, and his re-distribution of them throughout two of which in this region,Wimborne and Wa reham, his kingdom, thus disseminating new styles of ornament had survived from the period of double monasteries and iconography. In We ssex his patronage was extended {Yorke 1995, 206, fig. 53). But he could not encourage to Bath and Malmesbury but he also fo unded two new the Englishnobles and freemento undertake the monastic monasteries at Milton Abbas and Muchelney (Fig. 7), life. Having therefore constructed a monastery in the and in his works not only continuedthe reforms ofAlfred sw.unps of Athelney, he collected together monks and but laid the fo undation fo r the revival of regular postulants of various races and set in charge John the monasticism and the cultural revival promoted by his Old Saxon, adding many from overseas of the Gallic race successors, in particular Edgar. (Whitelock 1979, 299-300). The attack by some ofthe Athelstan's immediate successor, Edmund, was not monks on theirabbot with the intention ofkilling him distinguished by any outstanding patronage of the was perhaps not an unexpected outcome from this Church, but his appointment ofDunstan to be abbot of isolated multi-ethnic group. Many of Alfred's initiatives Glastonbury set in train the Benedictine reforms and were in advance ofhis time and were developed later by established that house as the major monastery ofWessex his successors who were to become kings ofall England -a position which it held untilthe Norman Conquest. not just of We ssex, but there is no doubt that his reign In another move which could be seen as encouraging a was a turning-point in the history of the kingdom. variety of religious practice, but which must have produced a direct Continental influence at an important centre, he introduced to the church at Bath a group of REFORMS AND REVIVALS IN TIIE TENTI-1 exiles fleeingfrom the Benedictine reforms at St Bertin. TO ELEVENTI-1 CENTURIES Ye t these reforms of the religious life to achieve a degree ofuniformity, which hadbeen accepted on the Continent The power of Alfred's successors to shape ecclesiastical in the ninth century but further reformed in the tenth, provision in western We ssex is demonstrated by Edward were soon promoted in We ssexunder the three influential the Elder's division of the extensive sees of Winchester monk-bishops, Dunstan, Oswald, and lEthelwold, and and Sherborne in 909. Now Wiltshire (with Berkshire) wereactively encouraged by KingEdgar. Thismovement had a new see atRams bury,Somerset at We lls, and Devon culminated in 970 with the national agreement to adopt (and Cornwall) at Crediton (see Fig. 7), whilst Sherborne an code of monastic law based primarily on a version of remained with Dorset although shorn of many of its the rule ofSt Benedict, which wasknown as the R.egularis earlier landholdings (O'Donovan 1988, xxiHv, figs. 2, 3). Concordia {Symonds 1975). Concurrently with the The choice of Crediton rather than Exeter may be adoption of a stricter adherence to a common rule,the because the monastery there, which wasfo unded in 739, monasteries set about attempting to recover lands fo r was already well endowed, the tenth-century bounds their economic support. In the chaos of the Viking Age outlining an area calculated as being about 50,000 acres wars many of the land-holdings supporting religious (ibid., xlviii). By 1050, however, the advantages ofExeter establishments had passed into lay hands, and now the

11 11- _jl I I_

10 CHAPTERI

reformed establishments needed the generosity of the badly as the east, and in 1011 after a series of disastrous laity to win land back. In the reign of Edgar the king's battles and political decisions by the English the Danes promotion of the reform movement was obviously of had occupied the kingdom south of the Thames as fa r great importance and many institutions were west as part of Wiltshire (ibid., 244). It was not until conspicuously successful in gainingendowments. There Cnut succeeded to the English throne in 1017, a year must have been extensive rebuilding although the after King iEthelred's death, that stability was restored. evidence in this region is woefully sparse, but it is clear In Cnut's division of the kingdom into four he kept from Glastonbury (the one monastic site in the region We ssex for himself,but there is littleto see in the surviving which has been extensively excavated) that there was sculpture of the western area that illustrates Scandinavian expansion and reordering (Rahtz 1993, figs. 42-5 and taste, in the marmerfor example ofthe slabs from London 67). Unfortunately the series of excavations which have St Paul's or Rochester in Kent (Tweddle et al. 1995, ills. taken place on this site (ibid., 67--82) have not left a clear 351 and 147). Perhaps the clearest evidence of picture of the site's development, and it has not been Scandinavian influence in thisregion may be seenin the possible to assign any of the sculptures to the period of rider figure on the Copplestone cross (lll. 12), but that Dunstan's reforms. Nevertheless the new styles of monument could be earlier. ornament, in particular the acanthine (p. 51), and the The reshaping of Cnut into a credible pattern of a more humane figure styles which are to be fo und both perfect Christian king was substantially effected by in the manuscripts and sculptures, were widely churchmen such as Archbishop Wulfstan, and the disseminated (see Chapters VI and VII) . The figure patronage of the king and Queen iElfgyfuis manifest in carvings such as the Bradford or Winterbourne manuscripts such as the New MinsterLiber Vitae (Temple Steepleton angels, the Christ figures at Congresbury and 1976, no. 78, ill.244). The artofWessex that emerges in Bristol or the fragment of a rood from Muchelney are the eleventh century appears then to derive seamlessly random survivals and not always in the most influential fr om the styles laid down in the later tenth. This is not of the reformed centres, but their grand scale and easy to illustrate from sculpture however (see Chapter refmement of carving provide one with some idea of IX), although it is possible to see the foreign influences the achievement of the movement by the end of the which were introduced to England by Cnut's successor tenth century. Edward the Confessor. As Stenton said, 'Between the Nevertheless the close dependence of the reformed accession of Cnut and the Norman Conquest political houses on royal and noble patronage and support, the exchanges between the English court and fo reign powers limitations of the monks' intellectual achievements, as were more frequent than at anyperiod since the reign of well as theirinvolve ment in regional and fa mily politics, Athelstan' (Stenton 1971, 463--4). In 1033 Cnut gave were weaknesses whichhave often been pointed out as a the bishopric ofWells to a Lotharingian priest, and the source ofdecline (Farmer 1975, 15-19). Inthe immediate appointment of Norman clerics to major English sees aftermath of Edgar's death, in 975, the Anglo-Saxon such as Robert of Jumieges to Canterbury, although Chronicle D, E, F records that Ealdorman iElfhere unpopular in many quarters, must have opened up the destroyed many monastic fo undations which Edgar had English Church to Continental influence. ordered Bishop iEthelwold to institute (Whitelock 1979, From the time of iEthelred II the English kings seem 229), and iEthelwold wasalive until 984. But in the reign to have spent less time in western We ssex, which fo r of iEthelred more problems arose, in the probing attacks iEthelred and his son Edward the Confessor, as well as of Scandinavian fleets: in 982 the Chronicle C records the Dane Cnut, had never been the dynastic homeland that 'three ships of vikings arrived in Dorset and ravaged and haven that it wasfo r Alfred and hissuccessors in the in Portland' (ibid., 232); in 988 (the year in which Dl.IIlStan tenth century. Yo rke notes that 'By the middle of the died) Watchet wasravaged and many men ofDevonshire eleventh century-that is before the Norman Conquest were killed (ibid., 233). In 997 the Danish army again - the six We ssex shires had lost the distinctiveness they attacked Watchet, having entered the mouth of the had enjoyed in the tenth century', but she concludes Severn, and having inflicted damage there entered Devon that the shift of attentiontowards London was inevitable from the mouth of the Ta mar on the south 'and went since its good communications to allparts of the country inland until they reached Lydford, burning and slaying made it a desirable centre of government (Yorke 1995, everything they came across, and burnt down Ordwulf's 147). It was the burial place of h:thelred, and also of monastery at Tavistock and took with them to their ships Edward, whose major building programme was centred indescribable booty' (ibid., 236). In1001 and 1003 Devon on his palace and abbey at Westminster. After the was again attacked but western We ssex did not fa re as Conquest Norman clerics fo und much to criticise in

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J-llSTORICAL BACKGROUND TO 11-IE SCULPTURE 11 the English Church, not least its architecture, and a 1982,216-34);fo r example, 'At Glastonbury,twenty-six massive programme of building began (Gem 1988). In crosses or Crucifixes, an altar, a censer "of wonderful the destruction of pre-Conquest buildings,much of the size" and other objects of gold or silver were stripped panel sculpture which is a characteristic fe ature of the down' (ibid., 218). Nevertheless the new building; were sculpture of We ssex in the pre-Conquest period must on a much grander scale and not all of the Anglo-Saxon have been lost, but that provoked less contemporary traditions were lost in the new fo rms. In this region comment than the large-scale removal to Normandy of outstandingarchitectural sculpture as is tobe fOund at Knook the objects of gold and silver which had enhanced the or Milbome Port (see Ills. 556--62, 563--5) demonstrates interiors of the Anglo-Saxon churches (see Dodwell not only new ideas but a continuing English tradition.

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WALES

SOMERSET • TAUNTON

DEVON DORSET • • EXETER DORCHESTER

FIGURE 1 Thecounties included inVo lume Vll, &uth-�st England

Thevolume coveiS the pre-1974 counties of Devon, DoiSet, SomeiSet md Wiltshire. Bristol at that period was both a city md m administrativecoun ty, but for convenience, the singlepiece of sculpture fiom Bristol hasbeen placed herein the SomeDet part of the catalogue.The borders shown in solidlines are co=on to both the pre-1974 md modemadministrative counties. The broken lines show the modem administrativebonl.en.

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WALES

AN

•Puddlctown

'liT� .. �� W',..h"""�""

• Sites: MainCatologuc .. Sites:Appendix A

FIGURE 2 Sites withAnglo-Saxon sculpture insouth-west England

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AN

• Sites: Maincu..Iague .t. Sibeo:�A Height§ Above Sea{met=) Level Omto50m 50mto100m lOOmto tSOm D 150m to 300rn - 300m to 501)m - SOOmandAbove

FIGURE3 Sites withsculpture insouth-west England,with topognphy

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N A

Sh� Glast<>nbury & Tor �tt & Beai:on ...

Dort:hesterAA. l'oundbuiy • WARJlHAM

lDrubr Ston...... tl: • Britishlnlc:ripd.oftl • Inscriptionswith Irish fealum • British(no wctiption)

FIGURE 4 Sites md monuments inthe �gion during thesul>-Romm period

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12

Cl Upper Greensand (Shaftesbury Sandstone) PUibeck stone • ... Upper Building Stone A Portland Stone A Tisbury stone Litt!cton IJ Osmington Oolite/Todber fi:eestone o Imw 0 Bradford stone • Ta ynton stone Bristol 0 Colcmc 0 Bath stone e Doul� stone? 8Keynotwn (Dorset acies) 0 OCeJston OHazdbu.ty 0 Doulting stone + Blue Lias Con 0 ChewStoke BathOJ 0 Lim toke() Ham Hillstone * Gr anite IJ? plcy S �radford-on-A 0 B . 0 Rowberrow 0 Otterne * unidentified calcareous sandstone *Uphill • unidentified non-calca.IeOus sandstone Holcombc 0 ,QLullin&toa 6. ()Fromc Wells8 0 Sh�!O0 n Nunncy0 tJ

ss ST sx SY

owlc

0 50km

FIGURE S

Distrib ution of stone types usedfor Angl�Saxon sc\llptmes insouth-west England

11 11