Church Archaeology 16

It is argued that conversion and Christianisation in the late and post-Roman West were complex and variegated processes that involved the reception, internalisation and institutionalisation of Christianity within a variety of socio-political contexts. These processes were simplest where accommodations between Christian and secular ideologies, traditions, attitudes to power and authority could be achieved without causing significant upheaval. The Christianisation of the Roman aristocracy was facilitated by its framing within the traditional imperial and military idioms of the late-Roman West, but less Romanised areas, such as the west of Britain, were not so conducive to this form of Christianisation. Moreover, the collapse of the imperial system in Britain in the early 5th century deprived evangelists of this important ideological and institutional framework. Thus Christianity had comparatively little impact in western Britain throughout the 4th and into the 5th century, and evangelists were faced with a difficult task. It is suggested that it may have been the encroachment of the pagan Anglo-Saxons that instigated the widespread adoption of Christianity amongst the post-Roman British. Nevertheless, Christianisation was a slow and complex process, and it took several generations for Christianity to become firmly established throughout western Britain. The British aristocracy are likely to have been Christian by the time that Gildas was writing in the middle of the 6th century, but forms of paganism persisted throughout this century and beyond.

Since 2008 extensive archaeological excavations have been conducted at the former hospital and leprosarium of St Mary Magdalen, Winchester, Hampshire, England. This work represents the first wide scale excavation of an English leprosarium and cemetery dating to the later 11th century. Research at Winchester has allowed for the cross-comparison of different forms of archaeological data, including cemetery, artefactual and structural material, and provides an important insight into the origins and development of one of the earliest excavated hospitals in the country. This paper provides the first detailed interim report of the results of these important excavations to date. Little is known about the form of early leprosaria, and despite limited documentary references, there is no archaeological evidence for such institutions prior to 1100. This paper also considers the importance of such research in its wider context.

Architectural design inscriptions from the Middle Ages are rare survivals in England. Whilst the country may contain some of the finest monuments to ecclesiastical architecture in Western Europe, this lack of information concerning the design process may be regarded as a significant vacuum in our understanding of medieval architectural processes and construction. In early 2010 a project began to undertake the first large-scale and systematic survey of early graffiti inscriptions in England. The Norfolk Medieval Graffiti Survey has, to date, surveyed over two hundred of the county’s 650 medieval churches, recording many thousands of graffiti inscriptions in the process (WS1). In addition to the recording of more mundane graffiti inscriptions, the survey’s close study of all surfaces within the churches, including stonework, surviving plaster surfaces and woodwork, has resulted in the discovery of a large number of previously unrecorded architectural inscriptions – more than doubling the number of extant examples previously known in England. Many of these inscriptions appear to relate to alterations to the church fabric, in particular the creation of windows and tracery work. Others, however, relate to the design and construction of church fixtures and fittings, such as the monumental rood screens that still dominate many East Anglian churches. This article documents the new discoveries and makes them available for further study and analysis. While some analysis and interpretation of the techniques used to create the designs is presented, it is clear that further in-depth scrutiny would be worthwhile.

Richard Buckley is co-director of University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS) and the lead archaeologist for the Richard III and Greyfriars project. The post-excavation research continues, and no doubt the media storm generated by the discovery and identification of England’s last Plantagenet king will also continue. Here, we give Richard Buckley the opportunity to reflect on these events, and also to tell us some more about the medieval religious house – the Franciscan house founded c1224–1230 – in which the discovery was made. The interview was conducted in December 2013, before the conclusion of the judicial review, which ruled in favour of Richard III’s reburial in Leicester.