CAS talk: The most respectful piece of ground in the kingdom: archaeology, anchorites and Crowland as a sacred landscape

CAS talk by Duncan Wright on The most respectful piece of ground in the kingdom: archaeology, anchorites and Crowland as a sacred landscape

Excavation of a postulated early Medieval hermitage near Crowland, England, identified a site with a long and complex chronological sequence. During the Neolithic or Early Bronze Age, a monumental henge was built, among the largest so far identified in the Fens of eastern England, probably later adapted into a timber circle. After a period of apparent abandonment, the interior of the henge was reoccupied around the 7th century AD and, after further early medieval phases, was transformed by the abbots of Crowland through construction of a high-status hall and chapel complex in the later 12th century. The archaeology of Anchor Church Field thus offers an exceptional case study of an evolving sacred landscape in a deep-time perspective, culminating in its redevelopment by the Anglo-Norman monastery to claim legitimacy from illustrious saintly forebears.

Duncan is Senior Lecturer in Medieval Archaeology at Newcastle University, with a particular interest in material manifestations of inequality including those associated with the early Church. He has published widely across a broadly-defined ‘early medieval’ period (c.400-1200), and is an active field archaeologist with an extensive background in landscape survey and excavation. Duncan was Principal Investigator of the AHRC-funded project Where Power Lies, is Co-Lead of Ecologies of Governance supported by the same funder, and Co-Lead of Community Landscape and Social Stratification in Early Medieval Northumbria supported by the Leverhulme Trust. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Member of the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists, and Editor of Medieval Archaeology.