Herefordshire Through Time
Herefordshire Through Time
In AD 597 an event occurred that was to change the social fabric of Anglo-Saxon England - the re-establishment of Christianity in England with the mission of St. Augustine.
England already had a flourishing church but it was mainly restricted to the area that had remained Celtic despite the Anglo-Saxon invasion, namely Cornwall. In this respect, Cornwall more closely resembled Wales, Scotland and Ireland. Britain had first been Christianised in the 3rd century, when the Romans were in occupation.
During the 4th century paganism had undergone a revival in Britain, and it became particularly strong in the years after the departure of the Romans. By the time the Anglo-Saxons reached Britain paganism was highly developed in content and mythology. Its purpose was fairly simple: to provide supernatural explanations and influences for all aspects of society, so that all events and outcomes could be associated with the relevant god, ritual or rite.
Paganism was very different to the structured belief system of Christianity in that it was based around undefined superstitions, customs and rituals - often quite personal to the believer.
Many of the elements of paganism related to the natural world, the earth, the sky and the harvest. For this reason paganism often persisted longer in rural areas, as it met the needs of the country dwellers.
Probably the most important Anglo-Saxon deity was Woden (also worshipped in Germany and Scandinavia under the name of Odin). It appears that the English thought of Woden as the God of wisdom and the dead. In Norse mythology Woden was the leader of the hunt, who flew across the sky with his hounds. Interestingly Woden is also connected with the idea of Santa Claus, as Woden too was thought to deliver gifts across the sky at the winter solstice.
Woden was also associated with the Valkyries, who were battle maidens who chose those to be killed in battle by reading bloody entrails. The slain chosen by the Valkyries were taken to Valhalla, a hall of the Gods, where they would feast by night and fight with the Gods in battle against their enemies the Giants, who represented evil.
Woden is best known as the God of War and creator of strife. It is also thought that the cult of Woden may have been responsible for the introduction of cremation burial, as in Icelandic literature it is recorded that Din (as Woden was known there) established cremation and that only those who were cremated after death could go on to join him. Sarah Zaluckyj has also suggested that this may be why the early Christian Church was so against cremation, as they saw it as a relic of paganism (see Sarah Zaluckyj, Mercia: The Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Central England, Logaston Press, 2001, p. 49).
Earthworks are often associated with Woden and named after him. Grimsditch (HER no. 30825), a curved feature situated in between Lower Broxwood and Dilwyn in the north-west of the county and shown on Isaac Taylor's 1757 map, Bryant's 1835 map and the 1840s tithe map (but not on modern Ordnance Survey maps), is thought to be named after Woden as Grim was one of his nicknames. This feature no longer exists and the area where it has previously been marked on maps is now a flat field. Try typing "Grim" into our Field Names database and see how many fields have this in their name - perhaps it is a relic of a Saxon past.
Thunor or Thor, who is sometimes represented as the son of Woden, is another important pagan deity. His name means "Thunder" and it was believed that he drove across the sky in a chariot pulled by two goats, flinging his thunderbolt down on the people below. The rumble of thunder which comes with lightning was supposed to be the sound of his chariot wheels tearing across the clouds. Thor's name is often associated with the Anglo-Saxon place name of ley or leah, which means "a clearing", suggesting that his cult was associated with worship in groves and meadows. Through his association with oak trees he also became the protector of men's homes. He was also a type of fertility god due to his connections with fair weather and crop fertility.
Thor has also been associated with cremation burials and his swastika emblem had been found on many cremation urns, due to its meaning of good health and fertility.
The god Tiw was connected with both warfare and law and order. He is thought to be of older origin than both Thor and Woden, and may once have been the supreme god. He later became associated solely with warfare. The runic symbol of an upward-pointing arrow represented his name, and many warriors would carve this symbol on their weapons to bring them victory in battle.
Another pagan deity was Frigg or Friga. In Old English sources she is often represented as the wife of Woden and the mother of the gods. Through this maternal attachment she has come to be associated with childbirth and marriage.
Unlike Christians, who act out their religion through the belief in one god who controls all that is created, the pagan Anglo-Saxons venerated objects from the natural world, especially trees, rivers, streams and pools. They believed that many of these natural items contained spirits or elves who could do good or harm - this theory of religion is known as animism, the attribution of a soul to natural objects and phenomena.
As well as the beneficial gods and spirits, the Anglo-Saxons also believed in malevolent and evil spirits that had influence over daily life. These malevolent spirits included ghosts, elves, sprites and goblins. Often place-names were connected to these devious spirits, and in Herefordshire Shucknall Hill (in Weston Beggard) is thought to mean "Hill of the Demons" or "Goblin/Haunted Hill". The prefix succa (later changed to shuck) meant "demon" or "evil spirit", and presumably frightening or unpleasant things were connected with this area to cause it to be given this name (see Sarah Zaluckyj, Mercia: The Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Central England).
Elves and dwarves were considered to be wicked, and elves in particular were thought to be responsible for bringing diseases by shooting arrows at their target. They were also thought to bring nightmares.
Dragons and snakes were potent symbols in pagan religion and were associated with guarding, especially burial mounds and treasure. The danger was thought to lie in disturbing the dragon or snake. The Old English term wynm, meaning "reptile" or "snake", may be found in the place-names of Wormhill and Wormsley in Herefordshire, meaning "Hill of the Dragon" and "Dragon's clearing" respectively.
Unlike the Christian church, Anglo-Saxon paganism did not take serious issue with other forms of religion and did not try to suppress them. From an organisational point of view Anglo-Saxon paganism lacked structure, and we know very little about how rituals were performed or how religious sites would have looked. The religion was very personal to the devotee, with prayers being made to certain gods at particular times of the year to guarantee a good harvest or victory in battle. The lack of universality and structure in the religion meant that it was not easy for Christianity to stamp it out completely, as at times of trouble pagans who had converted to Christianity would often find themselves going back to the old religious roots in the hope of achieving the result that they desired.
As mentioned above, the re-establishment of England as a Christian country came about in AD 597 with the mission from Rome of St. Augustine to Kent. Augustine came as a missionary to the king of Kent, knowing that it would easier to convert the populace if he had first converted someone with power and influence. However, a king had to have the support of his thegns before he could convert to Christianity.
The missionaries used promises of fame and glory to increase interest in Christianity and encourage the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons. To the Anglo-Saxons living in England the missionaries, with their strange ceremonies and apparently luxurious lifestyle, would have appeared quite enigmatic and enthralling. The missionaries also emphasised the fact that having one god meant that you were always certain to be praying to the right god, whereas with the Anglo-Saxon religion you had more than one god to appease to ensure things went the way you wanted. To persuade the pagans that their gods were not the best gods they also reminded the Anglo-Saxons of the fact that their gods had let them live a difficult existence in the cold north of Europe, while the Christians lived in the warm fertile lands in the south.
Many people were converted to the Christian religion, but it was not possible for it to completely stamp out the old pagan style of religion and worship. In times of particular hardship or trouble many of the pagans who had converted would return to their pagan roots and pray to the old gods for the help that they needed. As Christianity had not forced the pagans to give up their religion, and there had been no particular event or trouble that had caused them to convert, it was easy for them to use paganism when it appeared that Christianity was not working.
Most of the early work of spreading the Christian Gospel was done from the monasteries, however the monks of the 7th and 8th centuries would often travel (on foot) to the surrounding villages and preach to the inhabitants in an attempt to convert them. In the mid 7th century there were approximately 12 monasteries in England. A century later there were at least 200, showing how Christianity had spread. As more and more books in Latin were brought in by the missionaries writing became popular, and many of the monasteries began to produce their own religious books.
A book at this time was a very valuable and precious object which was copied by hand, and was often beautifully and intricately decorated with hand-drawn images and designs. There were books about the lives of saints, translations of the Bible, rules for monasteries and books of law.
Monasteries began to grow rich through donations of land and money given by followers, and they also had the right to claim one-third of any treasure a king won in war.
The use of elements of both religions - and the crossover between the two - is evident in burial practices after the mission of St. Augustine. A burial without an east-west alignment but with burial goods is pagan, whereas a burial on an east-west alignment but without burial goods is Christian. The Anglo-Saxons would bury personal items with the dead so that they were equipped for the afterlife. These goods included jewellery, weapons and money. Many 7th century graves have been found that have a Christian orientation but also contain grave goods. This indicates that there was a fear of letting the old religion go completely and an attempt at covering all options - appeasing the Christian god with the alignment of the grave but keeping in mind the pagan gods with the grave goods. Death was the time at which you were going to meet your god, whoever it might be, and so they were keeping all possibilities in mind.
In the 8th century grave goods begin to disappear but the east-west alignment remains. From this we can deduce that pagan burial rites had begun to disappear and be taken over by Christian ones.
As Herefordshire was on the border of Anglo-Saxon England and Celtic Britain (which remained largely Christian), there is place-name evidence that attests to the survival of Christianity after the Romans' departure. The place-name element eccles derives from the British word egles, which means "church" or "Christian centre". In Herefordshire we have Eccles Green in Norton Canon (HER 9006), Eccleswall Court (HER 803) to the south-east of Ross-on-Wye, and Eccleswall (HER 21372) in Linton, where there is also thought to be a Dark Age settlement. However, some place-names are thought to derive from personal names, such as Eccles Alley near Almeley, which is thought to mean "Ecca's Wood or clearing" (see Sarah Zaluckyj, Mercia: The Anglo-Saxon Kingdom in Central England).
The strength of the British Church in western England can be seen in Archenfield, a small British enclave on the edge of Mercia. Archenfield was created out of the British kingdom of Ergyng in the south-west of the modern county of Herefordshire. In AD 740 political control of Ergyng passed to the English: some of the territory became English and part of Mercia, while some remained British and came to be known as Archenfield. Welsh (or British) law was allowed to continue in this area, and as Mercia became more powerful the semi-Anglicised area of Archenfield acted as a safety zone between the Celts and the Anglo-Saxons.
The principal Celtic saint in Archenfield was St. Dubricius. Dubricius is the first bishop recorded as holding the see at Llandaff (although it was actually built before his time). The Llandaff Charters also record grants of land given to him by the reigning kings of Ergyng to enable him to found monastic enclosures, or llans as they would have been called.
Dubricius's earliest religious foundation was at Hentland in south-east Herefordshire. The origin of this name also has Celtic religious connotations, with Hen meaning "Welsh" and land coming from the word llan, which means "old church".
Llanfrother Farm, one mile north of Hentland, also has claims as the site of a monastery of Dubricius founded in the 6th century. The foundations of this possible monastery were allegedly still visible as late as 1633. Some writers have reported that the monastery housed 1,000 monks in training for the priesthood.
[Original author: Miranda Greene, 2005]