CHANGING BELIEFS THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE EAST ANGLIAN CONVERSION by Richard Stuart Hoggett being a Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the School of History, University of East Anglia January 2007 © This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with the author and that no quotation from the thesis, nor any information derived therefrom, may be published without the author’s prior, written consent. ABSTRACT This thesis explores the historical and archaeological evidence for the coming of Christianity to Anglo-Saxon East Anglia. In particular, it examines the mechanisms by which the new religion may have spread and assesses the speed and scale of its adoption. Part I of the thesis provides a broad context for the questions being asked of the East Anglian material, presents a critique of archaeological approaches to the study of religion and pays particular attention to the ways in which the emergence of Christianity might be recognised in the archaeological record. Part II presents the pertinent data from Anglo-Saxon East Anglia. First, a detailed examination is made of the historical evidence, primarily the material presented by Bede in the Historia Ecclesiastica. Secondly, an exploration is presented of the various ways we might combine documentary, architectural and archaeological sources to identify Anglo-Saxon churches founded as a part of the conversion process. Finally, the East Anglian burial record, comprising some 200 Early and Middle Saxon cemeteries, is presented and analysed. Part III of the thesis synthesises these data and uses them to give an account of the East Anglian conversion. Attention is paid to the missionary stations established by the early churchmen, many of which were sited within disused Roman enclosures or in topographically distinct locations. Of the burial rites practised during the conversion period, the cessation of cremation and the changing use of grave-goods are both shown to be particularly strong indicators of conversion, while broader consideration of the conversion-period landscape demonstrates that the conversion caused a great upheaval in the sites chosen for Anglo-Saxon cemeteries. Part IV demonstrates that, far from being the preserve of the upper classes, the adoption of Christianity throughout the East Anglian kingdom was rapid, widespread and popular. i ii CONTENTS List of Figures v Acknowledgements ix Abbreviations and Acronyms xi A Note on Terminology xi Chapter 1: Introduction 1 PART I: CONTEXT Chapter 2: The Archaeology of Religion 17 Chapter 3: Religious Conversion 45 PART II: DATA Chapter 4: The Historical Sources Examined 73 Chapter 5: Identifying Anglo-Saxon Churches 125 Chapter 6: The Anglo-Saxon Burial Record 181 PART III: SYNTHESIS Chapter 7: Burial as a Barometer of Belief 221 Chapter 8: The Landscape of Conversion 271 PART IV: CONCLUSIONS Chapter 9: The Conversion of East Anglia 321 Bibliography 331 APPENDICES Appendix I Relevant Letters of Pope Gregory 371 Appendix II Domesday Churches of Norfolk and Suffolk 373 Appendix III Church Dedications of Norfolk and Suffolk 397 Appendix IV Anglo-Saxon Finds from Churchyards 409 Appendix V Anglo-Saxon Cemeteries of Norfolk and Suffolk 411 iii iv LIST OF FIGURES 1.1 The Post Office’s Missions of Faith commemorative stamps 1 1.2 The burial mounds at Sutton Hoo 3 1.3 The location of Norfolk and Suffolk within southern England 4 1.4 Norfolk and Suffolk showing land over 60m OD and alluvium 5 1.5. Principal archaeological sites referred to in this thesis 8 1.6 Ipswich Ware vessel-forms 10 2.1 The Gallerus Oratory, Dingle 24 2.2 David Clarke’s integrated social subsystems 27 2.3 The excavated plan of Building D2, Yeavering 32 2.4 Religious iconography, as explained in Gary Larson’s Far Side 36 3.1 The evangelisation of Europe c.400–post-1000 46 3.2 A syncretic fusion of Aztec art and Christian iconography 56 3.3 Augustine’s probable route to England 64 4.1 Place- and area-names in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 410–949 75 4.2 An annotated genealogy of the East Anglian royal dynasty 84 4.3 The episcopal lists of Dommoc and Elmham 95 4.4 Ninth-century seal-matrix of Bishop Æthilwald 99 4.5 Walton Castle in 1766 by Francis Grose 102 4.6 The ‘Old Minster’, South Elmham, in 1863 105 4.7 North Elmham from the north-east 107 4.8 The church and ploughed-out enclosure at Burgh 114 4.9 Iken church on its promontory 116 4.10 The Iken cross-shaft 118 5.1 The number of Domesday churches by county 126 5.2 The Domesday churches of Norfolk and Suffolk 128 5.3 The number of churches in East Anglian Domesday hundreds 131 5.4 Bequests made in the tenth-century Suffolk wills 134 5.5 The frequency of church dedications in Norfolk and Suffolk 136 5.6 East Anglian churches dedicated to royal saints 138 5.7 East Anglian churches dedicated to regional evangelists 139 5.8 The Anglo-Saxon churches discussed by the Taylors 143 5.9 All Saints’ church, Newton-by-Castle Acre 144 5.10 East Anglian churches with Anglo-Saxon architectural features 145 5.11 Round-towered churches in Britain 150 5.12 The distribution of round towers in Norfolk and Suffolk 151 5.13 Anglo-Saxon woodworking tools from Thetford 154 5.14 The Late Saxon timber church from Thetford 156 5.15 The Late Saxon timber church from Norwich castle bailey 157 5.16 The Middle Saxon timber church from Brandon 158 5.17 Trenches inside and outside Iken church 160 5.18 Early structural phases at St Martin-at-Palace, Norwich 161 5.19 Churchyards where Anglo-Saxon artefacts have been discovered 164 5.20 The Middle Saxon brooches from Pentney 165 v 5.21 The fieldwalking surveys discussed in the text 167 5.22 Fieldwork in the Launditch Hundred 169 5.23 Foundation dates of churches in the Launditch Hundred 170 5.24 Fieldwork in the Deben Valley 171 5.25 Foundation dates of churches in the Deben Valley 172 5.26 Areas of Norfolk studied by the Fenland Project 174 6.1 The 208 locatable cemetery sites of Norfolk and Suffolk 182 6.2 Cemetery discoveries in Norfolk and Suffolk by decade 183 6.3 Cemetery discoveries in Norfolk and Suffolk by discovery method 184 6.4 The opening pages of Sir Thomas Browne’s Hydriotaphia (1658) 185 6.5 Cemetery discoveries resulting from agricultural practices 189 6.6 The Eriswell Anglo-Saxon cemeteries 192 6.7 Cemetery discoveries resulting from building work 194 6.8 A sketch of the Eye cemetery excavation dated 21 October 1818 196 6.9 Cemetery discoveries resulting from mineral extraction 197 6.10 An earthwork plan of Sutton Hoo 201 6.11 Cemetery discoveries from barrow-digging and other excavations 203 6.12 Cemetery discoveries resulting from modern burials 204 6.13 Cemetery discoveries resulting from ‘unknown’ causes 205 6.14 Oxborough: excavation plan 208 6.15 Cemetery discoveries resulting from metal-detecting 209 6.16 Categorising the Anglo-Saxon cemeteries of Norfolk and Suffolk 210 6.17 The distribution of cemeteries by classification 211 6.18 The ratio of cremations to inhumations at mixed-rite sites 213 6.19 The distribution of Early and Middle Saxon cemeteries 214 7.1 Cremation urns in situ at Spong Hill 222 7.2 The stages of the Anglo-Saxon cremation process 223 7.3 A toilet set from Spong Hill cremation 1824 226 7.4 An artist’s reconstruction of a cremation pyre 229 7.5 Urns from Spong Hill stamped with the runic name Tiw 233 7.6 A selection of East Anglian cremation urns bearing swastikas 234 7.7 A selection of East Anglian cremation urns bearing wyrms 235 7.8 A selection of East Anglian cremation urns bearing the t-rune 236 7.9 Bronze hanging-bowl from the Sutton Hoo Visitors’ Centre 238 7.10 A ‘sand-body’ from Sutton Hoo 242 7.11 The female inhumations at Westgarth Gardens 246 7.12 The male inhumations at Westgarth Gardens 247 7.13 The excavated graves at Westgarth Gardens 250 7.14 A typical jewellery assemblage from Spong Hill Grave 37 254 7.15 A weaponry assemblage from Spong Hill Grave 36 255 7.16 A neutral assemblage from Spong Hill Grave 16 256 7.17 A ‘Final Phase’ burial assemblage from Harford Farm Grave 11 261 7.18 The spoons and silver bowls from Mound 1 at Sutton Hoo 264 7.19 The coin pendant from Coddenham 265 7.20 The brooch and pendants from Boss Hall Grave 93 265 7.21 The front and rear of the Ixworth Cross 266 7.22 The front and rear of the Wilton Cross 267 vi 8.1 John Sheppard’s East Prospect of Walton Castle 273 8.2 Burgh Castle from the east 277 8.3 Earthworks and excavations at Burgh Castle 278 8.4 The Burgh Castle cemetery 279 8.5 The Roman fort at Caister-on-Sea 281 8.6 The Area 4 cemetery at Caister-on-Sea 282 8.7 The cropmarks of Brancaster Roman fort 284 8.8 The rectified plan of the Thornham enclosure 285 8.9 The earthwork and parish church at Tasburgh 290 8.10 Bawsey from the west 294 8.11 Excavation plan of the Middle Saxon settlement at Brandon 296 8.12 The gold St John the Evangelist plaque from Brandon 298 8.13 The landscape context of East Anglia’s Early Saxon cemeteries 300 8.14 Venta Icenorum from the south-east 307 8.15 Venta Icenorum and its environs 309 8.16 The Whitehouse Industrial Estate Middle Saxon settlement 314 9.1 Middle and Late Saxon pottery scatters in Mileham 328 vii viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am indebted to my supervisors, Tom Williamson and Stephen Church, without whose faith and guidance this work would never have been started, let alone finished.