Sacred Landscapes and Deep Time: Mobility, Memory, and Monasticism on Crowland

ABSTRACT

Excavation of a postulated early Medieval hermitage near Crowland, England, identified a site with a long and complex chronological sequence. During the Neolithic or Early Bronze Age, a monumental henge was built, among the largest so far identified in the Fens of eastern England, probably later adapted into a timber circle. After a period of apparent abandonment, the interior of the henge was reoccupied around the 7th century a.d. and, after further early Medieval phases, was transformed by the abbots of Crowland through construction of a high-status hall and chapel complex in the later 12th century a.d. While no conclusive evidence was found for an early hermitage that local tradition associates with the eremites Guthlac and Pega, Anchor Church Field offers an exceptional case study of an evolving sacred landscape in a deep-time perspective, culminating in its redevelopment by the Anglo-Norman monastery to claim legitimacy from illustrious saintly forebears.

KEYWORDS:

• hermits
• saints
• henge
• church
• monastery
• grange

Acknowledgements

Sincere thanks are expressed to John and Mark Beeken and their family, who supported our work throughout. We are also hugely thankful to Matthew and Helen Alcock and all the staff at Crowland Caravans and Camping, the generosity of whom made the project possible. Thanks are offered to John Blair, Michael Chisholm, Mark Gardiner, Sue Greaney, Martin Huggon, Edward Impey, Avril Lumley Prior, Michael Shapland, and Sam Turner for sharing their thoughts on the interpretation of the site and suggesting useful comparators. David Stocker generously provided his expertise in identifying and dating the worked stone and suggested parallels for the chapel. We are also grateful to Steve Ashby for identifying the two bone combs. Both reviewers were constructive in their feedback, and their suggestions have undoubtedly improved the paper. Our final thanks goes to the teams of students and volunteers who worked in challenging early post-pandemic conditions on the excavation and whose effort is the reason we now understand the archaeology of Anchor Church Field more fully.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Duncan W. Wright

Duncan W. Wright (Ph.D. 2013, Exon) specializes in medieval settlement and landscape archaeology and has a particular interest in the articulation of elite power. Duncan has published widely on both sides of the “early-late” medieval divide and is an active field archaeologist with an extensive background in landscape survey and excavation. He is the Principal Investigator of the AHRC-funded research project Where Power Lies: the archaeology of transforming elite centres in the landscape of medieval England c.AD800-1200. Duncan is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Archaeologists, a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and Deputy Editor of Medieval Archaeology. Orcid: 0000-0002-1793-7428

Hugh Willmott

Hugh Willmott (Ph.D. 1999, Dunelm) has research interests in the medieval and early modern periods in Europe and the archaeology of monasticism in particular. He has published on diverse topics such as glassmaking, dining, early ecclesiastical settlements, and the Dissolution of the Monasteries. In the past, Hugh has served on the committees of The Finds Research Group, the Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology, and The Royal Archaeological Institute. He is currently the chair of the Society for Church Archaeology and the archaeological advisor to the Diocese of Sheffield. He was elected a full member of the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists in 2002 and a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London in 2005. In 2017, Hugh was featured as one of the University of Sheffield’s Inspirational Academics. Orcid: 0000-0002-7945-7796