Not resting in peace.

Sussex has a handful of its own saints, but I suspect you won't be surprised to hear of those only one is female. We were near her base on my big recent birthday so I went to pay homage.

This is Saint Lewinna whose feast day is 24th July and as far as I am aware nobody marks it. She is said to have been a young virgin who was murdered in the 7th century by a heathen and at a time when Sussex was still transitioning to Christianity. Ours was the last county to be converted. Upon her burial accounts began to emerge of all sorts of miracles being attributed to her and by the 10th century Eadhelm, Bishop of Chichester [950-80], no doubt sensing a chance to make some money off the pilgrim industry, ordered that her remains should be exhumed. Her relics were placed within the church of St Andrew's in Bishopstone [another contender is Alfriston, but Bishopstone is thought to be the correct site] for people to come and venerate her. Her shrine was probably within in what you can now see is the porch, but was once a side chapel. I've seen porches of that size in East Anglia, but not round here.

You might imagine that Lewinna might have had a few hundred years of resting in peace at least until the time of the break with Rome under Henry VIII. Alas she was soon on the move again. According to the historical sources a monk called Balgerus was due to be sailing from Flanders to Dover, but enroute he got blown off course and wound up in Seaford on Easter Monday 1058 where he stumbled across this very church. He decided that he rather fancied having a personal relic of his own from Lewinna, but the priest refused his request. This monk though was a wily old fox and he wasn't going to give up that easily. Instead he asked if he could spend the night praying and saying mass by her shrine. He appears to have laid his morals aside at this point and managed to break into the end of her coffin from which he stole all of her bones bar a couple of small ones. These he wrapped in a red cloth and made good his escape back to St Winoc's Abbey, Bergues [near Dunkirk] from whence he came. 

By 1224 Lewinna had her very own grand and shiny new shrine in the abbey, but by 1383 it had been sacked by the allies of Charles VI of France. The shrine was stripped of all the precious metals, but the relics remained until 4th July 1558 when the abbey was burnt to the ground by French Protestants. Only one of her ribs was left which by 1905 was still within the church of St Martin's [still in the same area]. Alas this church was bombed in WWII and upon its restoration no trace of the single rib remained. Now all we have is her name and echoes of her story stretching back across a thousand years.

This is not the only reason I stopped here as it has this rather fabulous Saxon dial above the porch. Upon it is etched the name of Eadric. No one knows who this mysterious chap was, but one theory is that the cross next to him may denote that he was a bishop.

I'll show you where I spent the rest of my day in the next post.

Arilx

Changing roles

There's a first time for everything and last weekend TYM led us on a walk that he had planned. Up to now the boot has been on the other foot, but it felt really good to let someone else be in the driving seat. Unusually for me I knew that we were going to Silchester and that was it. Hadn't done a scrap of research so went preparing to be surprised.

First off I didn't know where the location was. It turned out that we'd parked in Berkshire and yet within a few hundred metres we had crossed the county border into Hampshire. Of course, I had to do that thing where you stand in two places at once, but I resisted the temptation of a photo recording the moment. It's hardly on the same scale of being in two countries at one or both sides of the equator is it now😀 I was intrigued by that Camino Ingles sign. It turns out that for a short while we were on St James' Way which runs for 68 miles from Reading Abbey to God's House in Southampton and is part of the English Way [one of the official pilgrim routes crisscrossing the country]. It follows the old Roman road and therein lay my biggest clue....

By the early years of the first century CE the Iron Age Atrebates tribe had established a successful base called Calleva here which had passed into Roman hands within a few years of their invasion in 43CE. The Romans built upon the success of their forebears and over time it became a thriving town laid out on the classic grid system with temples, a forum basilica, dwellings, shops, places of work, public baths, a mansio [a type of rest house for travellers like the Travel Lodge of its day] by the South Gate and even an amphitheatre at the eastern end. The remains of the amphitheatre were far more extensive than I had expected. Having spoken to a chap who was exploring too he said that it used to be flooded. Back in the day it would have seen much violence with gladiatorial combats, executions and wild animal fights. Horse bones were discovered here.

For a place that was so successful it inevitably went into decline once the Romans left, but did not follow the more usual trajectory of such places. Often you will find that over a time a Medieval town would replace it, but by the time of Domesday it is recorded as being a Medieval village and even that had disappeared by 1400. All we have remaining today are the original Roman walls with a couple of its gates. You can walk round them looking down on the original site and the 12th century church of St Mary's. Naturally I took the opportunity to have a quick lap round...not much time to dally though with the chaps with me and most of the walk still to do!

It has a charming interior with 14th century wall paintings, a Jacobean pulpit with that rather impressive domed tester above it [it acts as a sound board], a 15th century wooden angelic screen with a modern stitched kneeler to match and the effigy of Eleanor Baynard [or possibly not]. I have included her accompanying notes as they contain some interesting information about her attire and details of her tomb for anyone who might be interested to read more.

All in all a most splendid of days spent together in our little family unit. TYM even took us out for a drink to the pub afterwards. It was lovely to spend a few hours together as these times don't come around very often. We were actually helping him to recce part of the walk that he's leading for a group next month. I hope that those on it enjoy it as much as we did. Although it's owned by English Heritage, it is free entry.

Hope everyone has a good weekend.

Arilx

Famous Last Words

Do you remember thoses famous words uttered by Sir Steve Redgrave immediately after he'd won gold at the 1996 Atlantic Olympics "Anyone who sees me anywhere near a boat again, ever, you've got permission to shoot me." As we now know he won his 5th gold in Sydney in 2000.

 I swore after making the wizard mask and remaking my own mask there would be no more (bar me doing the sewing David made the wren) and for two years I have stuck to my pledge. Unfortunately my busy brain spotted a gap in the market and decided it would be rather marvellous to have a green lady to accompany our greenman and she'd come in handy for a few of our stories. I checked with the Squire who was in agreement so here we go again. Having only myself to blame and knowing how difficult I find it to pin down a final design it's taken a few drafts to get there. Thankfully it all fell into place last week. The Squire is very happy with it so here we go again. There are many, many hours ahead of sewing to get it and her accompanying tatter jacket stitched. I am aiming to finish by the Spring. When will I ever learn eh💚

Arilx

Madfabulous

It was a bit of an overcast rainy day [not surprising really as we were in Wales which is renowned for it] when we paid Plas Newydd House a visit. Somehow the grey stone worked in all that damp and after the parched summer we've just had down here it was a total surprise to see just how vibrant and colourful the garden looked even in these conditions.

Once we'd crossed the threshold we were faced with a militaria collection which isn't for me personally, but this reflects the taste of the many different owners. Currently there's an exhibition showing recreations of the theatrical outfits worn by the flamboyant 5th Marquis of Anglesey Henry Cyril Paget [1879-1905] where he made his home the place he could express his true self through the clothes he wore. Tragically he died of TB at the tender age of 29. These costumes were made for the 'Madfabulous' film about his life which was released this year.

If you are a fan of Rex Whistler's work [me! me!] you might enjoy the 17.5m mural he was commissioned to paint in 1936. It is the imagined view from the house. It is so rich in detail that I took the time to admire it from both afar and at close quarters. It was his intention to come back and complete the piece after the end of WWII, but alas it was never to be because he lost his life on the first day of action he saw.

At the time I did wonder if the gardener was a self portrait of the artist? It's very discreet, but my hunch was right! Hope you all have a great weekend.

Arilx

Hannah the Giant

Went to my first day of dance in Carshalton [which I didn't see much of beyond the pubs!] a few days ago. My single photo was of this 3.8m lass who is based on the legendary character of Hannah Clark who may or may not have existed. The story goes that Hannah was a witch from Hastings who lived in the Stag Inn in the 17th century. Tales of her antics abound, but the main one is that she walled up her cats in the chimney to ward against the plague. The evidence is there to this day as the pub is still going strong and the two mummified cats remain on display. This giantess was built by Derek Binns in 1994 as part of the Hastings Jack-in-the Green extravaganza, but after many years service she was retired in 2007 as there was no one available to carry out the running repairs she needed. She lived out her golden years quietly until the couple who housed her moved away in 2019. At this point Mark Duncan inherited her and he has brought her back to life. She was pressed back into action in 2022 and now has a few more miles on the clock. This year she has been over to Ath in Belgium to take part in their Maison des Geants event. She has a retinue of 15 volunteers who ensure she doesn't come to any harm and is apparently to be found when resting in her separate parts in the spare bedroom. Here she is dancing with her fellow giants earlier this year.

Arilx

 

Recommendation

We were chatting about upcoming hols with some Mythago friends and when I mentioned Anglesey they suggested a nearby NT property which I hadn't heard of. No idea why they thought I might like a castle rammed with grotesques👹

Now this might look for all the world like a traditional castle and it is indeed called Penrhyn Castle. However, appearances can be deceiving and for a mere 100 million quid [it cost£123K at the time] you could recreate this fantasy building we have before you. It was the fantastical idea of George Hay Dawkins-Pennant who owned obscene amounts of wealth earned from the enslaved people toiling on his Jamaican plantations and his slate mining interests in Wales. With this money this is what he and his architect Thomas Hopper created. George was a devotee of the Norman style of architecture and looked to the many beautiful cathedrals we still admire today in this land for inspiration. Believe you me it's all here and more. As you walk through the main door into the cavernous great hall it is akin to standing in one of these great churches. It's such an assault on the senses that it literally takes your breath away. Did I love it? Definitely not. It was way too much with every surface carved and it lacks a depth to it that the old carvings had. It's almost like painting by numbers, but it is equally extraordinary. The ornate staircase alone took a decade to complete and the whole project ran from 1822-1837. Sadly George only lived in his masterpiece for three years before dying in 1840. Rather touchingly the arch of hands are copies of the masons who created this work. 

Would I recommend a visit? 100% My photos simply can't capture how excessive and manic it is and I, for one, have never seen anything that even comes close!

Arilx

Goosed

29th September is Michaelmas and was once the traditional day for hosting a goose fair. It also happened to be my birthday and this old goose has stepped into another decade. Just some very quiet and lowkey celebrations here and just the way I like it. As I'm talking all things goose related I smiled when I spotted this sign on a recent walk. Out of a group of 15 only I and my Dad saw it. Now you.see where I get.it from. We both can't help, but stop to read stuff. Most definitely didn't want to get goosed by a goose!

Have a great weekend.

Arilx