Pre-Norman Stone Crosses in the British Isles

Askham Richard is a delightful village situated just north of the A64 on the south-western outskirts of York. As one approaches the village, a large building stands out among the houses. That is Askham Grange, now one of HM's prisons. In the shadow of the prison stands a small but pretty church, dedicated to St. Mary.

St. Mary's church is now home to a number of pre-Norman artefacts. The building itself dates from Anglian times, and the renovations carried out in the 1870's brought to light an Anglian doorway and window, which were thoughtfully re-sited in the reordered church. Outside the porch is a Romano-British coffin complete with lid that was discovered in a nearby field and given to the church at the turn of the twentieth century after having been used as a cattle trough for a number of years.

The church houses the base of an ancient cross, which also came to light during the 1870's. The origins of the Christian community at Askham Richard are not known for certain, with some suggestion that missionaries from Iona having brought Celtic Christianity there. It seems more likely, however that the real date was somewhat later, once Christianity had become established in Northumbria under Oswald, who was responsible for the first stone-built York Minster, which stands only six miles away.

St. Mary's Church, Askham Richard, is tucked away near Askham Grange,
on the right of the road as it passes northwards through the village.
The county west of the yellow line is North Yorkshire.

Stone Coffins or Sarcophagi

Bakewell

Coffins

Askham Richard

Sarcophagi

Bakewell, Guiseley, Whalley

Burial customs have changed over the years. Over the past couple of centuries, it has become increasingly common for human remains to be cremated. Going back even further, towards the middle ages, the custom was for the bodies to be buried in the ground outside (or rarely inside) churches. Prior to that, the custom was to use charnel houses, which were buildings in which the bodies were allowed to decay until only the bones were left; after a suitable period, these bones would be collected and buried (sometimes in a case called an ossuary).

A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi, derived from Greek words meaning "flesh eater") is a coffin-shaped receptacle into which a corpse would be laid in a charnel house. Typically, there would be a hole in the bottom of the sarcophagus, in order to allow the escape of fluids arising from the process of decay, so that when the bones were collected after some months had passed, they would be dry. Charnel house sarcophagi would be used over and over again. (Such sarcophagi are, to all intents and purposes, not datable with any precision. They are only included in this website if they are present at the sites visited for other reasons.)

A stone coffin is different, being intended as the final resting place for a body. Often these were lead-lined, and usually, they were not reused. It seems safe to assume, given the expense of their manufacture, that only very distinguished individuals would end up in stone coffins. The lead lining often presents problems for archaeologists who excavate them in modern times: In some cases, the lead lining has been welded together, creating an airtight container. In such cases, those who open them up are at risk of encountering contents which are at their best unpleasant and at their worst potentially hazardous.

* The Ordnance Survey National Grid Reference (and corresponding Latitude/Longitude) given at the top of the pages describing individual sites usually refer to the location of the closest or most prominent entrance to the site where the monument is to be found - e.g. a gate into a churchyard. For monuments located in open country, or at a significant distance from the site entrance as just defined, the co-ordinates usually refer to the exact location of the monument.
Please allow for a small error in the co-ordinates of up to a couple of dozen metres.

Thanks to the people at streetmap.co.uk, if you click on the Grid References in the magenta boxes on the site pages,
you'll see an extract from the relevant Ordnance Survey 1:50000 Landranger map!

As the official mapping agency of the United Kingdom Government, the Ordnance Survey produces the definitive maps of the country. They contain a wealth of information.
For more details, visit www,ordnancesurvey.co.uk/leisure

Click here if you need an explanation of the terminology on these pages

Click here if you would like to see a bibliography

Click here if you would like to download the freeware "Mordred" font (in True-type for Windows)
so that the headings used on these pages will then look like the following:

Click to go to Pre-Norman crosses in:	England	the island of Ireland	the Isle of Man	Scotland	Wales	Read about the Saints
Click to go to Mediaeval crosses in:	England	the island of Ireland	the Isle of Man	Scotland	Wales

Locality maps at this web-site have been developed using Microsoft AutoRoute Express 2000 (and later editions).

This page is a part of Chris Tolley's web-site. Latest update: Wednesday, February 19, 2003 12:50
Links on my pages can point to other web-sites. If you find that the administrators of those web-sites have made changes which mean you can't access them, please let me know, so I can update or remove the links. As far as I know, none of my links point to sites likely to contain offensive material - but if you discover otherwise, please let me know, as I would like to remove such links from my pages.
return to my home page.	Frequently asked Questions	send me an e-mail
©1996 to 2003: Christopher J. Tolley


	Two views of the Romano-British Coffin in the churchyard of St. Mary's. The lid is somewhat shorter than the base, and may have been damaged during the nineteenth century. (August 2001)

Roman or Romano-British sites
Margam	Askham Richard, Ilkley, Llanddewi-Brefi, Margam, Nevern/Nanhyfer, Penmachno