Iken
(Suffolk)
OS
Grid Ref: TM 41220 56635
52º09’18.88”N 001º31’29.89”E
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Iken (Suffolk) |
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OS
Grid Ref: TM 41220 56635 |
Iken has one of the most attractive churches one can imagine. On the day I visited it, the local thatcher was repairing the roof. As one enters the church, one first sees a carved stone font from the middle ages, and just beyond it, mounted on a wooden frame, is the shaft of a Saxon-Age cross, covered in interlace carvings. This cross was discovered in the 1970's, built into the structure of the church tower, during the restoration work that followed a fire that destroyed the nave roof.. Thirteen centuries previously, this may have been the place where St. Botolph (after whom this church is named) founded a monastery, as noted in the Anglo Saxon Chronicle for the year 654. None of what stands at Iken today is left from St. Botolph's monastery - the oldest part of the current church is the nave, which seems to be Norman in date.
St. Botolph's Church at Iken stands on a small promontory in the twists of
the River Alde. In Old English,
such a promontory is called a Hoo. St. Botolph is said to have founded his
monastery at Icanho (Iken-Hoo).
(Sept 2002)
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The Church building at Iken illustrates well the way in which the architecture so typical of early English churches evolved. The nave could easily be imagined on its own as a thatched cottage. At either end of it, each in their own architectural styles are the tower and chancel, and the whole picture is rounded off by the south porch. It is good to see the commitment of the folk of this parish to the traditional ways of doing things. I could have stood and watched the thatcher for a long while as he was trimming the reeds, much as his predecessors would have done for centuries. (Sep 2002) |
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| This is the view from the chancel arch back towards the tower. The
warm-coloured floor tiles and the whitewashed walls create a strong
impression of what churches looked like in the early years of their
existence, before the wall-painters got going. There are pews here, but
they have been moved back against the walls. The simplicity of the 1970's
wooden ceiling adds to the effect.
The elegantly-carved font is situated centrally in the nave, right in front of the porch door. In the corner, a simple wooden cross leans on the wall. near the foot of that cross can be seen the end of the Saxon stone cross. |
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The topmost surface of the cross as currently displayed was originally one of
the sides.
The pattern is reminiscent of vine scrolls, but contains no leaf, vine or grape
motif.
This side of the cross faces the font. The reason for the great crack across
the roundel containing the carved cross
is apparent when looking at the reverse side (below).
A huge chunk of this face has been gouged out at some stage in the history of
this stone,
and this corresponds to the crack shown above. One panel of this face contains
an interesting design (below)
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Iken, Sept 2002 - This appears to be some sort of beast coiled round itself - the head is on the right side, pointing up with jaws agape and a long tongue sticking out. It is sad that the rest of this design is missing (it's where the huge gouge is, mentioned above), because then it might have been possible to see that this creature (a dragon? a huge eel?) is contending with. |
Sinnington, Oct 2002 - this piece is built into the church interior wall. There are marked similarities between the beast depicted on the Iken cross and the "Ryedale dragons". I have oriented the Sinnington piece here so that the head of the dragon is pointing upwards as in the Iken piece. Again, the jaws are open and the snout of the dragon has a bulbous end. |
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These reduced-size version of the images above have been tinted to pick out the shape of the beast. Besides the similarities in the head of the animal on the Iken cross, the body has similar dimensions to the dragon from Sinnington, and also has the double outline that characterises "Jellinge Style." I find the similarities between these two pieces significant, yet they are 175 miles apart, and to the best of my knowledge there is nothing in the literature to connect them. |
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St. Botolph's Church is out of the village near the river.
A few miles south of Iken is the celebrated Saxon Royal Cemetery of Sutton
Hoo.
This is the new National Trust exhibition building, decorated with a sculpture based on the
helmet that was found there.
It is presumed that the person in the ship burial was Rædwald, King
of the East Angles,
and bretwalda (High King of Anglo-Saxon England) who died in about 624.
The exhibition centre is at OS Grid Ref: TM 28905 49215 (52º05’37.99”N
1º20’25.04”E)
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Related locations |
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The sites detailed below are places where one can find related
artefacts.
In some cases, these artefacts are from the same cultural period(s)/group(s) as in this location; in others, these artefacts are of the same or related form(s). |
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Anglian or Saxon sites |
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Aberford, Addingham (Wharfedale), Ashbourne, Bakewell, Bradbourne, Brailsford, Chapel-en-le-Frith, Cheadle, Checkley, Cleulow, Escomb, Eyam, Gressingham, Guiseley, Hartshead Moor, Hope (Derbyshire), Hornby, Hovingham, Iken, Ilam, Ilkley, Leek, Melling, Otley, Prestbury, Rastrick, Rolleston-on-Dove, Rothley, Sandbach, Stapleford (Nottinghamshire), Taddington, Thornton Watlass, Urswick, Whaley Bridge, Whalley, Winwick, Wirksworth |
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)
Locality maps at this web-site have been developed using Microsoft AutoRoute Express 2000 (and later editions). |
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This page is a part of Chris Tolley's web-site. Latest update: Wednesday, February 19, 2003 12:00 |
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