A Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons (73 page)

The Bewcastle Cross, Cumbria, 725–50. It now stands some 14 feet, 6 inches (4.3m). The carvings include figures of Christ and St John the Baptist. Such monuments (see
page 88
), originating in Northumbria, are found elsewhere, such as Sandbach.

Detail from the front panel of the Franks casket, (now at the British Museum) depicting the pagan legend of Weland the Smith (left) and the Magi paying homage to the Christ Child (see
pages 86–7
).

The annual Whitsuntide Dancing Procession of Echternach, Luxembourg, for centuries held to honour the Northumbrian St Willibrord (
d.
739) buried here in the church that bears his name.

The Hedda stone, Peterborough Cathedral, dates from probably the late 700s. The sarcophagus-like block with figures of Christ, his Mother and certain disciples, is some 5 feet long (1.5m).

The gold mancus of Coenwulf of Mercia (
d
. 821) was found by metal detector in 2003 and is now in the British Museum.

All Saints’ Church, Brixworth. The church was completed by 800 and, at 150 feet (about 50m) in length, it is England’s largest surviving pre-Viking church. Italian influences have been traced. Originally the arches gave onto side chapels.

Alfred the Great of Wessex, Winchester, sculpted by Sir William Hamo Thornycroft. The statue was erected in 1901 as the result of an international millenary commemoration of the great king.

Platz Bonifacius, Fulda, Land Hessen, Germany. The statue of Bonifacius (St Boniface of Wessex), ‘the Apostle of Germany’ (
b
. Wynfrith
c
.675) was erected in 1842 and was meticulously restored in 2002–3.

The lower half of the frontispiece to King Edgar’s charter for the New Minster, Winchester (dated 966). The king, between the Virgin Mary and St Peter, presents the book-like charter to Christ in Glory, above. His dance-like posture recalls how King David ‘danced before the Lord’ (2 Samuel 6, 14).

Detail from the ‘Five Senses’ on the silver and niello Fuller Brooch,
c
.850. The disc is framed by 16 roundels with figured and floral motifs. The overall diameter is 4.5 inches (11.4cm).

All Saints’ Church, Earls Barton, Northamptonshire,
c
.1000 (the battlements are post-Conquest). A nineteenth-century study of Anglo-Saxon architecture was based on similar stone ‘strap-work’ found on the tower of St. Peter’s, Barton-upon-Humber.