User:Nortonius/Sandbox

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[edit] This is Nortonius' sandbox

This is my sandbox - as in, "This is my SANDBOX!!!" Thank you.

Medeshamstede sandbox
Sexwulf sandbox
Oundle sandbox

[edit] New stuff goes here:

[edit] History

A general map showing the situation of "Regulbium" in late Roman Kent. Of the places shown here, Regulbium, Rutupiae (Richborough), Portus Dubrae (for "Dubris"; Dover), Portus Lemanis (Lympne) and Anderida (Pevensey) were "Saxon Shore Forts" (note that "Regulbium" (Reculver) is marked here as "Reculbium")
A general map showing the situation of "Regulbium" in late Roman Kent. Of the places shown here, Regulbium, Rutupiae (Richborough), Portus Dubrae (for "Dubris"; Dover), Portus Lemanis (Lympne) and Anderida (Pevensey) were "Saxon Shore Forts" (note that "Regulbium" (Reculver) is marked here as "Reculbium")

Archaeological investigation at Reculver has found evidence of a pre-historic settlement on the site of a well known Roman fort, or "castrum", which was built between 180 and 185 AD. About a century after the fort was built, a Roman naval commander named Carausius was given the task of clearing pirates from the sea between Britannia and the European mainland. In so doing he established a new chain of command, the British part of which was later to pass under the control of a "Count of the Saxon Shore". The "Notitia Dignitatum" shows that the fort at Reculver, then known as "Regulbium", became part of this arrangement. It was also the location for a lighthouse and watch tower, presumably because of its strategic position at the northern entrance to the important Wantsum Channel, and covering the mouths of both the River Thames and the River Medway.[1]

After the Roman occupation ended, Reculver became a seat of the Anglo-Saxon kings of Kent. A church was built on the site of the abandoned fort in about 669, when King Ecgberht of Kent granted land for the foundation of a monastery there.[2] Clearly Reculver quickly became an important Kentish house, since in 692 its abbot, Bertwald, a former abbot of Glastonbury in Somerset, was elected Archbishop of Canterbury. Bede, writing no more than 40 years later, described him as having been "learned in the Scriptures and well versed in ecclesiastical and monastic affairs."[3] Further, King Hlothere of Kent presided over a council at Reculver in 679, attended by Archbishop Theodore of Canterbury, at which he granted the monastery lands in the western part of Thanet. In the original, 7th century charter recording this grant, Reculver is referred to as a "civitas", or "city".[4] Clearly this is intended to be figurative; nonetheless it indicates the importance then attached to the place.

It seems that monastic life had ceased at Reculver by the early 10th century, though whether or not this was due to the attentions of Vikings is unclear.[5] The minster subsequently became St. Mary's parish church of Reculver: a charter of the mid 10th century records its gift by King Eadred into the possession of Canterbury Cathedral, at which time the estate included the later parishes of Hoath and Herne.[6] No doubt this lies behind the unusual size and wealth of Reculver's parish in the 13th century, when it included chapels of ease at St. Nicholas-at-Wade and "All Saints" (no longer in existence, but between St Nicholas-at-Wade and Birchington), as well as at Hoath and Herne. In 1291, the "Taxatio" of Pope Nicholas IV put the total income due to the rector and vicar at about £130. This wealth led to disputes between lay and Church interests, over control of its benefice.[7] Probably this wealth should be seen as a distant reflection of Reculver's former status as a monastery, since '[it] is certain that by the close of the 7th century the church had become a major land-owner, particularly in north-east Kent, where to the original foundations of St Augustine's Abbey and Christchurch there had been added those of Reculver [etc.], with considerable estates attached.'[8]

Over time, the church gained a number of structural additions: principally, the towers were added in the 12th century, and, according to local legend, they were topped with spires around the end of the 15th century, since when they have been known locally as the "Twin Sisters". However it retained many prominent Anglo-Saxon features, and on a visit to Reculver in 1540 one of these raised John Leland to 'an enthusiasm which he seldom displayed':

Yn the enteryng of the quyer ys one of the fayrest and the most auncyent crosse that ever I saw, a ix footes, as I ges, yn highte. It standeth lyke a fayr columne. The base greate stone ys not wrought. The second stone being rownd hath curiously wrought and paynted the images of Christ, Peter, Paule, John and James, as I remember. Christ sayeth [I am the Alpha and the Omega]. Peter sayeth, [You are Christ, son of the living God]. The saing of the other iij when painted [was in Roman capitals] but now obliterated. The second stone is of the Passion. The third conteineth the xii Apostles. The iiii hath the image of Christ hanging and fastened with iiii nayles and [a support beneath the feet]. the hiest part of the pyller hath the figure of a crosse.[7]

Due to coastal erosion, the village surrounding the church was mostly abandoned around the end of the 18th century, and a new church was planned a little to the west and further inland, at Hillborough. Consequently, the old church was no longer required:

[In] 1805 ... the young clergyman of the parish, urged on by his Philistine mother, rashly besought his parishioners to demolish this shrine of early Christendom. This they duly did and all save the western towers, which still act as a landmark for shipping, was razed to the ground.[9]

Reculver church is seen from the south east in this view from 1800, showing the twin towers topped by spires
Reculver church is seen from the south east in this view from 1800, showing the twin towers topped by spires

It was through the intervention of Trinity House that the towers were preserved as a navigational aid. In 1810 it bought what was left of the structure, and built the first groynes, designed to protect the cliff on which it stands. A storm destroyed the spires at a date prior to 1819, and Trinity House replaced them with similarly shaped, open structures, topped by wind vanes. These structures remained until they were removed between 1925 and 1931. The vicarage was abandoned at the same time as the church, but it was briefly used as a public house known as "The Hoy and Anchor", while the present King Ethelbert Inn was being built to replace the original Hoy and Anchor, which had fallen into the sea a few years before.

So thorough was the demolition of this "shrine of early Christendom" and exemplar of Anglo-Saxon stone architecture and sculpture, that it is now represented only by the minimal ruins on the site, some fragments of the cross which had so enthused Leland, and the parts of two massive stone columns. The cross fragments and column parts may be viewed in the crypt at Canterbury Cathedral.[10]

Today the site of the church is managed by English Heritage. The struggle to protect the towers from the sea continues, and new sea defences were built in the 1990s. A visitor centre in Reculver Country Park, just west of Reculver church, highlights the significant archaeological, historical, geological and wildlife conservation value of the area.

The remains of the church, enclosed by what remains of the Roman fort, are located at 51°22′45.00″N 1°11′65.00″E / 51.3791667, 1.2013889Coordinates: 51°22′45.00″N 1°11′65.00″E / 51.3791667, 1.2013889

[edit] References (this is a dummy section)

  1. ^ For the archaeology especially, see Philp, B.J., Report on the Excavations of Roman Reculver, Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit, 2005.
  2. ^ See e.g. Garmonsway, G.N., The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Dent, Dutton, 1972 & 1975, pp. 34-5.
  3. ^ Bede, Ecclesiastical History, v, 8.
  4. ^ Anglo-Saxon Charter S 8 Archive Canterbury. British Academy. ASChart project. Retrieved on June 8 2008. This charter is the earliest genuine Anglo-Saxon charter known to have survived.
  5. ^ Cf. Kerr, Nigel & Mary, A Guide to Anglo-Saxon Sites, Granada, 1982, pp. 192-94, Brooks, N.P., The Early History of the Church of Canterbury, Leicester University Press, 1984, pp. 203-4, and Medeshamstede. See also A History of the County of Kent: Volume 2, Page, W. (ed.), 1926. British History Online. Retrieved on June 7 2008.
  6. ^ Brooks, N., 'The creation and early structure of the kingdom of Kent', in Bassett, S. (ed.), The Origins of Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms, Leicester University Press, 1989, p. 72.
  7. ^ a b 'Sidelights on the Rectors and Parishioners of Reculver from the Register of Archbishop Winchelsey', Graham, R., Archaeologia Cantiana vol. 57, 1944. Kent Archaeological Society. Retrieved on June 7 2008.
  8. ^ Witney, K.P., The Kingdom of Kent, Phillimore, 1982, p. 117.
  9. ^ Kerr, Nigel & Mary, A Guide to Anglo-Saxon Sites, Granada, 1982, p. 194.
  10. ^ For the early church at Reculver, see Kelly, S., 'Reculver Minster and its early Charters', in Barrow, J. & Wareham, A. (eds.), Myth, Rulership, Church and Charters Essays in Honour of Nicholas Brooks, Ashgate, 2008. The church at Hillborough also incorporates material from Reculver in its fabric. A contemporary image of the church's destruction is at Witney, K.P., The Kingdom of Kent, Phillimore, 1982, Plate 7. An aerial view of the ruins is at ibid., Plate 8.