Herefordshire Through Time
Herefordshire Through Time
One way of researching the origins of a church is to study its history of dedications. If a church, for example, had been dedicated to a Celtic or Saxon saint, then the chances are that there would have been a church there in the pre-Norman period, even if all that remains now is a Norman church.
All medieval churches had a patron saint, which means that the church would have been dedicated to a particular saint when it was consecrated as a place of worship. Saints and the veneration of saints played an important part in bringing Christianity closer to the people. In a time when most people were illiterate, missionaries would tell stories from the Bible, but to introduce more relevant role models, stories about local saints would be recounted. If you are converting a family of Saxons, then stories about the trials and tribulations of a Saxon saint would probably be of more interest than the life of a Roman or Egyptian saint. Likewise, the Celtic Church in Wales and parts of Herefordshire revered British saints, such as Dubricius, one of the greatest of the Herefordshire saints.
[Original author: Toria Forsyth-Moser, 2002]