Mercia: The Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Central England

324 Pages·2002·56.052 MB·English

by  Sarah Zaluckyj

MERCIA
T ht Anglo-Saxon
I ngdom of
Ce tral England
To
John Zaluckyj, Stanley and Pauline Coleman,
Helen and Fali Mistry
with much love as always, Sarah
and in loving memory of
Percy & Tristan
who died in 2002
MERCIA
The Anglo-Saxon Kingdom
of Central England
by
Sarah Zaluckyj
with a chapter on Off a ’s Dyke by
Marge Feryok
and other contributions by
John Zaluckyj
Logaston Press
LOGASTON PRESS
Little Logaston, Logaston,
Woonton, Almeley, Herefordshire HR3 6QH
First published by Logaston Press 2001
reprinted in 2002
Copyright © Author(s) of each chapter as stated 2001
All rights reserved. No part of this publication
may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording
or otherwise, without the prior permission,
in writing of the publisher
ISBN
1 873827 62 8
Set in Times by Logaston Press
and printed in Great Britain by
the Bath Press Group
Contents
page
Acknowledgments vi
A Note on the Written Sources by Sarah Zaluckyj ix
1 Roman Departure and Anglo-Saxon Arrival by Sarah Zaluckyj 1
2 Mercia: The Beginnings by Sarah Zaluckyj 13
3 Cearl, Penda and Wulfhere by Sarah Zaluckyj 25
4 Pagan Mercia by Sarah Zaluckyj 43
5 Christian Mercia by Sarah Zaluckyj 59
6 The Sub-Kingdoms of the Magonsaete and the Hwicce by Sarah Zaluckyj 85
The Magonsaete 85
The Hwicce 101
7 The Age of Mercian Supremacy by Sarah and John Zaluckyj 129
8 Offa’s Dyke by Marge Feryok 163
9 The Development of Towns in Mercia by Sarah Zaluckyj 193
London 194
Northampton 202
burhs 207
Stafford 214
Tamworth 217
Anglo-Saxon Church Architecture in Mercia 223
10 Decline by Sarah and John Zaluckyj 227
Anglo-Saxon Carving in Mercia 251
11 The Twilight Years by John and Sarah Zaluckyj 257
References 275
Index 295
Please Note
I have used Dorothy Whitelock’s main chronology for the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as shown in her trans­
lation in English Historical Documents c.500-1042. A variance of several years can exist for the same
event in the different versions of the Chronicle.
The reader should assume all dates are A.D. dates unless bearing the suffix B.C.
There are often several ways of spelling Anglo-Saxon personal names. For the sake of clarity I have
used those spellings used in A biographical dictionary of Dark Age Britain - England, Scotland & Wales,
c.500 - c.1050 by A. Williams, A.P. Smyth & D.P. Kirby, (Seaby, 1991), but the reader should be aware
there can be quite significant variations on how a name is spelt depending on the source, ancient or
modem.
Sarah Zaluckyj, July 2001
Illustrations
All the photographs used in this book have been provided by Sarah Zaluckyj and remain her copyright,
with the exceptions as noted below. In addition, thanks are due to a number of individuals and organiza­
tions for some of the illustrations as follows (where not credited in the caption) and with whom copyright
remains: Cover figure: Regia Angolorum; Chap.l, Fig.2 & Chap.9 Fig.4: English Heritage; Chap.2, Fig.l
& Chap.4, Fig.2: Phaidon Press for permission to base the map on that in J. Campbell’s The Anglo-
Saxons', Chap.2, Fig.2: Cyril Hart (for whom also thanks to base Chap.8, Fig.2 on his work); Chap.3,
Figs.2 & 3 and p.254 (bottom) and p.255 (top right and bottom) : Jane Potts; Chap.3, Fig.4 & Chap.5,
Fig.16 & Chapter 6, Figs.15, 16 & Chap.8, Figs.15, 16, 17, 18: Logaston Press; Chap.5, Fig.6: Bruce
Coplestone-Crow (and for basing Chap.6, Fig.2 on his work); Chap.5, Fig. 19: Dean and Chapter of
Lichfield Cathedral; Chap.6, Fig. 10: Joe Hillaby; Chap.6, Fig. 13 & Chap.9, Figs.9, 10: Ron Shoesmith;
Chap.6, Figs. 17-19, 21: County Archaeological Service, Worcestershire County Council; Chap.6, Figs.20
& 23: John Chaluk; Chap.6, Fig.37 & Chap.7, Fig.6: photos by Chris Guy, Cathedral Archaeologist,
Worcester, reproduced by permission of the Dean and Chapter of Worcester; Chap.7, Fig.3: Martin
Biddle, © The Repton Project; Chap.8 Fig.3: The Radnorshire Society and David Allen; Chap.8, Figs.6
& 7: The National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth; Chap.8, Figs: 9, 10, 11, 13, 14 & 23: Marge Feryok;
Chap.8, Fig. 12: Chris Musson; Chap.9, Fig.2: Alan Vince & Nick Griffiths; Chap.9, Figs.5, 8: English
Partnerships; Chap.9, Fig.7: The Royal Archeological Institute and Archaeological Journal', Chap.9,
Figs. 12,13: The Field Archaeology Unit of the University of Birmingham; Chap.9, Fig. 14: Dr. John Cole.
VI
Acknowledgments
I would like to express my deep gratitude to my husband, John, for his unwavering interest and support
throughout the writing of this book, especially for his help in the groundwork for chapters 7, 10 and 11.
My very warm thanks to my parents, Stanley and Pauline Coleman, and friends for their interest shown
throughout this project, and a particular mention to Bob Jenkins of Arrow Books, Kington for his
generous loan of books and unstinted help.
I owe a particular debt of gratitude to Andy Johnson and Ron Shoesmith of Logaston Press for their
extraordinary patience and help, and also their consistent kindness and consideration. Their commitment
to this book has been greatly appreciated.
I am indebted to Jane Potts for her help, not least in taking me to many places in the east midlands
and Derbyshire and helping me to photograph various Anglo-Saxon sites.
To John Charuk who very kindly photographed Droitwich and Hanbury, my sincere thanks too.
I have been very fortunate in having the help of several archaeological departments and individuals:
Andy Chapman, Senior Project Officer, Northamptonshire Archaeology, Northampton; John Clark,
Medieval Curator, Early London History and Collections, Museum of London; Margaret Gelling for
comments on early draft of parts of the text; Chris Guy, Cathedral Archaeologist, Worcester; Bob Meeson,
Historic Buildings Consultant, of Tamworth; David Wilkinson, Borough Archaeologist, Stafford Borough
Council, all of whom read through my drafts on their areas of expertize and corrected my errors and gave
invaluable suggestions for improvements. My very sincere thanks are extended to them. Any mistakes
and/or misinterpretations that exist are, of course, entirely my responsibility.
I would also like to thank most sincerely the staff of the Worcestershire Archaeological Service,
Worcester: Malcolm Atkin, Victoria Buteux, Derek Hurst and Hal Dalwood, and James Dinn, Worcester
City Council Archaeology Officer, for their invaluable help in answering several pages of questions.
Again any misinterpretation falls squarely at my door. I am very grateful to the Reverend Canon Iain
MacKenzie, Worcester Cathedral, and the Dean and Chapter of Worcester for making my visit to the
cathedral library such an interesting and rewarding experience and for their subsequent assistance.
I would also like to thank Roger White of the Birmingham Field Archaeological Unit for sending
information concerning Wroxeter; and my warm thanks to Judy Stevenson, Collections Officer for
Human History of Hereford Museums, for making available Anglo-Saxon finds for me to photograph.
To Dr. Keith Ray, Dr. Rebecca Roseff, Tim Hoverd and Julian Cotton my thanks for their help on
my visits to the Herefordshire Archaeological Unit at Leominster, and to Dr. Ray for checking through the
section on Offa’s Palace.
I am particularly grateful to Rev. John Woods of Much Wenlock for his generosity in allowing me
to use his thesis ‘Through the Needle’s Eye: Comovian Place-Names in Shropshire’.
I must also thank the Sisters of the Society of the Precious Blood in Peakirk, Lincolnshire for a fasci­
nating visit in May 1999; and Norman Reeves B.A. for a fascinating correspondence concerning Holy
Wells, especially that of Saints Cosmas and Damian at Stretford in Herefordshire.
My special thanks are also due to Irene and Steve White of Printex, Kington for their help over the years,
and to John Wilson for his help in preparing the index. 1 am also most grateful to David Swinscoe for his help
in tracking down books on Anglo-Saxon history.
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To Don Mackreth, Cathedral Archaeologist at Peterborough, sincere thanks for checking my photographs
and captions on Peterborough Cathedral and the Monk’s Stone and for providing extra information.
I would also like to express my special gratitude to Miargaret Bowdler and Peter Holliday, of Kington
and Leominster libraries for their help over the last five years in providing a host of books concerning
Anglo-Saxon England from a wide variety of sources.
Special thanks to Peter Freeman of Woodbridge for sending Norman Scarfe’s article on Iken and St.
Botolph—it was much appreciated!
Finally I must thank Percy, Tristan, Benjy, Kay and Jacob for keeping me firmly grounded in reality!
Sarah Zaluckyj, August 2001
I would like to acknowledge first and mainly the help ahd support of my writing partner Sarah Zaluckyj
throughout the creation of this book, and also Bob Jenkins for many useful conversations and loan of
many books, especially the long loan of Sir Cyril Fox’s Offa’s Dyke, a book that is not easy to come by.
I thank Andy Johnson and Ron Shoesmith for entrusting and guiding me through the writing of my
chapter, a process that is new to me.
I deeply appreciate the knowledge and guidance of Margaret Worthington, David Hill and others of
the Offa’s Dyke Project. It was while participating in their excavation of the Dyke at Chepstow that I
began to realize some of the difficulties involved in the study of the monument.
Ian Bapty of the Offa’s Dyke Initiative was very helpful for the interest he took and for information
he gave me, some of it timely. I am grateful to the other staff at Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust as
well for allowing me the facilities to study Early Medieval Wales, Offa’s Dyke and the many short dykes
in Wales. Rebecca Roseff of Herefordshire Archaeology assisted by sending me an archaeological report
on the section of Offa’s Dyke on Gamon’s Hill, Herefordshire. Several other archaeologists from county
departments have also contributed key information: Hugh Hannaford of Shropshire County Council on
his excavation of Wat’s Dyke; Roy Canham, Wiltshire County Archaeologist for some advice about Wan’s
Dyke; and Jon Hoyle of Gloucestershire County Council for kindly sending me his survey of Offa’s Dyke
in the lower Wye valley. I am also indebted to all those who sent their work to me which in the end was
not used.
I would like to thank Steve Clarke of Monmouth Archaeology for listening to my ideas about Offa’s
Dyke in the lower Wye valley, as well as three other residents of the lower Wye area: Rosamund Skelton
of Ross, Ron Whittle of Walford, and Roz Lowe of Goodrich, all of whom gave me key bits of local
knowledge. Others whose contributions were helpful include Roger White for information about King
Offa and Wroxeter and Chris Dyer for some advice on parish boundaries, both from the University of
Birmingham. Beryl Lewis kindly gave me the use of her unpublished manuscript ‘Boundary Landscapes’;
Geoff Ridyard allowed me to use the facilities of the library of the Radnorshire Society in Llandrindod
Wells as well as copying many articles for me.
Finally I owe a debt of gratitude to my daughter Laura for her patience and support and for putting
up with my lack of attention throughout the writing of this chapter.
Marge Feryok, August 2001
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