World Timelines- Early Christian art in central England

British Isles > England > Central England AD 410-1066 Early medieval

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Tau crozier of walrus ivory Plaster copies of stone sculpture from Breedon church Plaster copies of stone sculpture from Breedon church Plaster copies of stone sculpture from Breedon church

<i>Tau</i> crozier of walrus ivory

<i>Tau</i> crozier of walrus ivory	Plaster copies of stone sculpture from Breedon church


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	AD 1000-1050 Warwickshire, England A crosier is a bishop’s staff. A tau staff is shaped like the letter T and is named after the word for the Greek letter T. This example has the crucifixion carved on one side and the risen Christ on the other. Such beautiful objects, along with embroidered vestments and fine metal liturgical vessels, show what powerful artistic patronage the church could exercise. AD 700-1050 From the Church of St Mary and St Hardulph, Breedon on the Hill, Leicestershire The church was founded on top of an Iron Age Hill fort in the late 7th century, and rebuilt many times. It contains one of the finest collections of Anglo-Saxon architectural carvings in Britain. These 9th-century friezes show the range and energy of the subject matter, which includes birds, animals, people and decorative scroll work and interlace patterns. AD 700-1050 From the Church of St Mary and St Hardulph, Breedon on the Hill, Leicestershire The church was founded on top of an Iron Age Hill fort in the late 7th century, and rebuilt many times. It contains one of the finest collections of Anglo-Saxon architectural carvings in Britain. These 9th-century friezes show the range and energy of the subject matter, which includes birds, animals, people and decorative scroll work and interlace patterns. AD 700-1050 From the Church of St Mary and St Hardulph, Breedon on the Hill, Leicestershire The church was founded on top of an Iron Age Hill fort in the late 7th century, and rebuilt many times. It contains one of the finest collections of Anglo-Saxon architectural carvings in Britain. These 9th-century friezes show the range and energy of the subject matter, which includes birds, animals, people and decorative scroll work and interlace patterns.

	Height: 515 mm; Width: 143 mm
	The British Museum PE MLA 1903,0323.1 British Museum: Tau crozier of walrus ivory

Anglo-Saxon women

Early Christian art in central England

Early Anglo-Saxon jewellery

The kingdom of Mercia

	Early Christian art in central England The influence of Christianity reached central England from Northumbria in the 7th century AD. Soon after the death of the pagan king Penda (655), the first bishop was consecrated among the Mercians. Important monasteries were founded at Breedon-on-the-Hill, Repton, and Deerhurst. By the time of Offa (reigned 757-96), the Church in Mercia was rich and well-established. Offa himself took a close interest in its affairs: in 786 he held the only Church Council in the Anglo-Saxon period to be attended by papal legates. He also managed, for a short time, to have Lichfield recognised as an archbishopric. One of the most striking features of Christianity in this region is the great number of stone crosses produced between the 9th and 11th centuries. It may be that churches were not established as quickly as elsewhere and that they served as preaching crosses. The crosses are most numerous in the hilly north, where stone was readily available. Bakewell, in Derbyshire, is one example of a local centre of production. After the Danish invasion of 865 the influence of Northumbria was cut off and in the half of Mercia under Danish rule Scandinavian influences prevailed. However, in buildings like Earls Barton church and in the great sculptured pre-Viking friezes at Breedon, many fine examples still survive of the flourishing Christian culture of Mercia. View this article in the Timeline Viewer (requires Flash Player 7)

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