J Brit Archaeol Ass 160

The recent excavation of what is thought to be the shrine of St Chad, including the carefully deposited remains of an imposing sculptural slab depicting an angel, has contributed to the evidence pointing towards Lichfield being a centre of religious culture during the Anglo-Saxon period.. The angel probably formed half of an Annunciation panel which acted as a gable end from a stone house-shaped tomb, for which formal and stylistic parallels are adduced. These would suggest a date for the piece of the late-eighth or early-ninth century. The angel retains much of its original polychrome pigmentation and the unusual palette, consisting of shades of purple, white and black, suggests connections with two manuscripts that have been associated with early Lichfield: the Lichfield Gospels and the Book of Cerne. The paper explores the relationship between these works and concludes that the Lichfield Gospels were made during the mid-eighth century, probably at Lindisfarne but for another centre, possibly Chad of Lindisfarne's shrine at Lichfield. The book features a palette of purples and white. The Book of Cerne, probably made for Bishop Aethelwald of Lichfield (818-30) also features these colours among others, and its St John Evangelist symbol offers the closest analogy for the treatment of the angel's plumage, further reinforcing the likelihood of a Lichfield origin for the prayerbook.

At the church of St Michael, Horwood, North Devon, the north aisle and chapel of c. 1400 can be firmly associated with the patronage of the Pollard family, in particular John Pollard and his wife Emma. This includes the north arcade of five bays with its four freestanding and two engaged columns, all of which bear carved capitals. It is likely that the building of this extension was intended to establish the Pollard family at Horwood as well as to commemorate the patrons. Thus the work carries a funereal/monumental air that is reflected in the choice of sculptural imagery which includes a skull, angels and hybrid monsters. It is argued that this context provides new insight into the ways in which architectural images were perceived and used in the later Middle Ages, particularly with regards to the image of the mermaid.