Viking-age stones in Neston
The Church of St
Mary and St Helen, Neston
It is likely that there was a pre-Norman church on the site of the
present Church of St Mary and St Helen in Neston. It was recorded that Neston
had a priest in the Domesday Book of 1086, although the first mention of a
church is of one built around 1170 by a family named Montalt, as an act of
reparation for the inhumanity and misdeeds committed by members of the family
in the subjugation of the district. There were several additions to the church
over the years and is likely that alterations were made during the Commonwealth
period in the 17th century. The joint dedication to Mary, mother of Jesus and
Helen, mother of Constantine, the first Christian Roman Emperor, is unique in
the Anglican Church.
Inside the nave
there is a collection of sandstone fragments, which were found in the
foundations in 1874, when much of the dilapidated Norman church was pulled down
and rebuilt. Originally thought to be Saxon, the style is clearly Viking, as
shown by the work of Dr. Roger White and the late John D. Bu’Lock. White
assigns the sculpturing of the stones to the period between 930AD to about
1020AD, coinciding with the construction of similar stonework in the Isle of
Man. They once formed parts of at least three Hiberno-Norse ring-headed crosses
which had been broken up. Another fragment was noted in the belfry acting as a
lintel for the west window, with half as much embedded in the wall itself.
Fortunately, this was not structural, so White obtained permission to remove
it, as part of a commission from the Neston Civic Society and the Parkgate and
District Society to display and describe the stonework.
Description
There are
five fragments of circle-headed standing crosses.
The stones
have been carved with chisels working from a dressed surface. The figures and
interlace are generally, therefore, in flat relief although detail has been
added in some cases with a drill or gouge.
The
following details are based on White’s description of the stones:
Fragment
1
Dimensions:
500mm (max. width); 490mm. (max. height); 160mm. (depth). The lower half of a
cross shaft broken at approximately mid-point and with the base lost. The
design is badly worn on both sides.
Face A
Standing
figure of a priest with arms upraised. He wears an alb over which is a pointed
chasuble embroidered at the edges, around the neckline and down the front. The
vestments are typical for a priest of this period. In his right hand, he holds
a chalice and knotted on to his upraised left wrist is a long, tasselled
maniple. The chalice is of a well-known Insular type with hemispherical bowl
and a conical foot. The face is plainly carved with mouth, eyes, nose and beard
being detailed. The feet are turned outwards with the heels together.
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Photo: Howard Williams |
Photo: Steve Harding |
The photo on the left is from Neston. There is a remarkable similarity with a carving of a pilgrim in the stave church at Urnes, situated on a promontory in the Sognefjord on the west coast of Norway, which was built in the 12th or 13th century. The carving was spotted by Steve during a holiday in Norway.
Face B
A narrow
panel of simple ring- chain interlace between cabled borders.
Face C
A two-strand ring-chain interlace covers the entire face as it
survives. Despite the careful execution, the pattern is not symmetrical.
Face D
A narrow panel of line pattern between cable borders.
Fragment
2
Dimensions:
360mm. (max. width); 300mm. (max. height); 140mm. (depth). A small trapezoidal
fragment from the top of the shaft, shown by the survival of part of the circle
head. The broad faces are badly worn and the fractured base has had two
substantial holes drilled in it.
Face A
Photo:
Howard Williams
Figure of an angel placed horizontally. The facial features
are carefully carved as with the priest on cross fragment 1, with the
difference that the hair is represented as a skull cap, or perhaps a halo. The
torso is triangular and meets a pleated ‘skirt’ at the waist. No arms are shown
but the wings are sharply drawn with deep parallel grooves to represent
feathers. The feet are shown as on cross fragment 1, Face A. Above the angel is
a cable moulded arc which is part of the circle-head.
The angel from Neston has close affinities with the angel depicted
on the crucifixion cross slab (Grim’s Cross) from Kirk Michael, Isle of Man.
Face B
As cross
fragment 1.
Face C
Photo:
Howard Williams
Two men fighting. The left hand figure is represented with
his right arm above his head and his left hand gripping the hair of his opponent.
In his right hand he holds a knife. His left foot rests on the right foot of
his opponent, but his own right foot is missing. The figure on the right has
both arms upraised. The left hand grips his opponent’s hair while the right
hand holds a dagger. The right leg is bent at the knee. Both men are dressed in
broad ‘kilts’, which are presumably jerkins or tunics. Above their heads, there
is a line pattern enclosed within plain bands. These form an arc of the circle
of the cross head.
Face D
As cross
fragment 1.
Fragment 3
Dimensions:
480mm. (max. width); 750mm. (max. height); 190mm. (depth). An irregular
fragment from the foot of a substantial cross shaft. More than half of both sides
is taken up by the plainly dressed foot. The carvings are deep and, on the
whole, well preserved.
Face A
Most of the face consists of a dressed area forming the foot
of the cross, above which is six-strand plaitwork. The plaitwork occupies a
panel 400 x 300 mm.
Face B
This has
been drilled or chiselled away in antiquity.
Face C
Most of the face consists of the plain dressed foot but
there is a small fragment of interlace similar to that on cross fragment 1,
Face C.
Face D
As cross
fragment 1.
Fragment
4
Dimensions:
380mm. (max. width); 230mm. (max height); 145 mm. (depth). A fragment from the
head of a cross. It has been broken off on all four sides to form an irregular
rectangular block.
Face A
At the base is a cabled arc, part of the outer ring of the
circle head. Two lines of cable run at converging angles to form a triangular arm
of the cross head. Within the arm thus formed is a plain triquetra knot.
Face B
This has the
remains of a design as cross fragment 1.
Face C
Similar to Face A.
Face D
The
beginnings of a line pattern can be made out on the shaft, but the side is
otherwise damaged.
Fragment 5
Dimensions:
550mm. (max. width); 750 mm. (max. height); 160mm. (depth). A substantial
portion of cross shaft with tapering sides. One of the lower corners has been
broken off. Both sides are well preserved and are carved in fairly low relief.
The lower third of the cross has been dressed to form the foot.
Face A
The entire face is taken up with a single, quite complex scene. At the bottom left-hand corner is a stag shown with large antlers and a short tail. It stands with all four hooves on the ground and has a lightly drilled eye and open mouth. In front of it is a dog-like animal which rises on its hind legs to leap at the stag’s throat. Its tail is curled and the ears are laid back. Above and to the left of the stag is a man wearing a long tunic with pleats or creases which is perhaps belted. He holds a spear vertically with the head downwards. The spearhead passes behind, or perhaps through the back and chest of the stag and is shown piercing the ground level just behind the front legs of the animal. The area above the dog and to the right of the spearman is roughly dressed to the level of the background but is otherwise plain. There are close parallels with the carving on the market cross at Kells, County Meath, Ireland and the stone at Hilton of Cadboll, Scotland.
Market cross, Kells, County Meath, Ireland
Hilton of Cadboll stone, Ross and
Cromarty, Scotland
Above the hunting scene are the lower halves of a man and a
woman. She wears a long, pleated skirt below which her feet are shown. She has
her arm around the man, who is shown in a triangular short ‘kilt’. Below this,
the feet and calves are shown. Behind the woman is a long vertical bar
consisting of a tassel with a knot above and the beginning of plaitwork. This
is presumably the woman’s pigtail. There is a similarity with a scene on the
Gosforth Cross, Cumbria.
Gosforth Cross, Cumbria (Photo: Copyright of Anglo-Saxon
Stone Sculpture, photographer T. Middlemass)
Face B
As cross
fragment 1
Face C
Face C is
divided into two unequal panels by a narrow bar which represents ground level
for the upper panel.
Photo: R.H.
White
Two animals run across the upper panel from left to right.
The left-hand animal, which is dog-like, has eyes, jaws, ears and curled tail
but is shown as static with all four paws on the ground rather than running.
The right-hand animal (possibly a hart) has a short, stubby tail and a long
neck which is strongly arched back over its shoulder, so that the animal looks
at its pursuer.
In the lower panel two men on confronted horses are shown
with large, rounded heads which may represent mail hoods, and wearing long
jerkins, probably mail coats. Both men have long spears under their right arms
with leaf-shaped heads which are crossed over the heads of the horses. The left
arm of the right man is shown holding the reins, but the left arm of the left
man is hidden by his body.
The horses are represented in foreshortened
perspective with the right hand horse being larger than the left hand one. The
forelegs of the right hand horse are shown galloping but the back legs are
straight. On the left hand horse the legs show some movement which is probably
representative of galloping. The necks of the horses are strongly arched and
the noses and foreheads are almost touching. The tail of the left hand horse is
shown, but not that of the right. It is useful to have confirmation that
mounted horsemen used spears.
Face D
As cross
fragment 1.
White
concludes that the existence of the Neston crosses reinforces the view that
Viking sculpture tends to commemorate the wealth, status and worldly deeds of
the deceased, and contrasts the use of sculpture by the Anglo-Saxons more as a
religious tool. In other words, these crosses are not for religious instruction
but to celebrate the lives and activities of the deceased. Even the priest is
seen in a secular rather than religious role: accompanied by the tools of his
trade and indicating his important role in the community, with the chalice and
mandible easily understood as symbols of power to the recently converted Wirral
Vikings.
It is clear
that the community in Wirral had strong links with the rest of the Viking world
in the Irish Sea region.
Reconstruction
The
fragments created a great deal of local interest, particularly from
parishioners of St. Mary and St. Helen, church manager Dr. Peter Rossiter and
rector Neil Robb, and were extensively studied by archaeologist Dr. Roger White
of the University of Birmingham. In 2007, a group met to plan the
reconstruction of one of the crosses.
Wirral Champion, 7 October 2007It is
difficult to manipulate and record stone sculpture fragments without damaging
them. Traditional methods include tracing fragments, which is difficult on a
carved and often unstable surface, or making a papier maché mould, which can damage the sculpture. Photographs introduce
issues of distortion, especially if the carved surface is curved. Therefore, it
was decided to use laser technology to create a 3D reconstruction. Merseyside
Conservation Centre in Liverpool produced a complete replica cross, using a
technique known as laser triangulation. In this technique a strip of laser
light is scanned across the surface of an object and, from the time of flight
of the light scattered back, an accurate surface profile can be registered. The
laser triangulation name comes from the fact that the laser light source, the
object and the detector form the corners of a triangle.
An
explanation can be seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrK5IrG9Tho&list=PLN1ANYZrllJ3y3Qb8B_xPmLFQyOrL-CKR&index=8
Originally,
it had been suggested that fragments 2 and 5 belonged together, so that an
angel would have been seen hovering over the heads of the man and woman. In
2007 Grosvenor Museum in Chester obtained a grant from the Heritage Lottery
Fund, so a laser scan was commissioned.
We were able to
reconstruct what the missing parts of the woman and man on fragment 5 would
have been like from comparable images elsewhere in the Viking ‘commonwealth’.
The woman appears on the famous Tjängvide stone at Gotland in Sweden, and the
man appears on a cross in Middelton in North Yorkshire. These were also
scanned and replica pieces made.
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The Tjängvide Stone, Gotland |
Middleton Cross, North Yorkshire |
Unfortunately, it became clear from the results of the laser scans – and the angle of the sides of the fragments (see projected lines on the diagram below) - that the two fragments did not belong together. From a front view it can be seen the head of the woman would have been squashed against the angel.
The angel fragment did, however, show the bottom tip of a ring-headed Hiberno-Norse cross (now lost): the assumption was made that there would have been a similar ring-head for the reconstruction. A comparable ring head from St. John’s Church in Chester was scanned and was used to complete the structure. The identical diameter of the cross head suggests the same workshop was involved.
The bottom
cross fragment and the ring-headed part of the cross in Chester were scanned.
The equipment was then taken to Gotland and Yorkshire to scan the hypothetical
missing Tjängvide and Middleton parts, and then the whole object was pieced
together using a computer which facilitated the production of an exact resin replica.
It was displayed at
the Chester Viking Festival at the Grosvenor Museum in Chester in 2010 (the
proceedings published in 2014 by CRC Press*) and since then has been on display
with the other fragments inside the entrance of the Church of St Mary and St
Helen.
Replica cross
The Neston
cross reconstruction was a great success in public engagement in science and history,
with youngsters from local schools, supervised by Liz Royles, Curator of the
Grosvenor Museum in Chester, and Janet Rossiter from the church, involved in
the painting of the replica cross. The final result was very appealing and all
the stone fragments and the replica are now on display for the local community
and visitors to admire.
References
and further reading
Bidlake W,
Vicar of Neston, in “Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire” archives 1935
Bu’lock J.D.
Pre-Norman Crosses of West Cheshire and the Norse Settlements around the Irish
Sea (in ‘Wirral and its Viking Heritage’) https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/ncmh/documents/dna/WVH6.pdf
The Corpus
of Anglo Saxon Stone Sculpture https://chacklepie.com/ascorpus/catvol9.php?pageNum_urls=165
Harding, S.E.,
Ingimunds Saga: Viking Wirral, 3rd edn. University of Chester Press 2016, p158
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ingimunds-Saga-Viking-Stephen-Harding/dp/1908258306
Harding, S.E.,
Viking Mersey: Scandinavian Wirral, West Lancashire and Chester, Countyvise
Limited 2002, pp 137-140
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Viking-Mersey-Scandinavian-Lancashire-Countyvise/dp/1901231348
pdf: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/300735116_Viking_Mersey_Scandinavian_Wirral_West_Lancashire_and_Chester
Harding, S.E., Science and the Vikings, Largs & District Historical Society 2016, pp 16-18
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Science-Vikings-Stephen-Harding/dp/1527207064
pdf: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317889801_Science_and_the_Vikings
Neston
Parish Church https://www.nestonparishchurch.org
White R.H. Viking-period
sculpture at Neston, Cheshire
White R.H. Resolving the Carving: The Application of Laser Scanning
in Reconstructing a Viking Cross from Neston, Cheshire (in ‘Visual Heritage in
the Digtal Age’) 2013
Williams, Howard M.R., Neston's Early Medieval Stones
https://howardwilliamsblog.wordpress.com/2020/12/19/nestons-early-medieval-stones/
Williams, Howard M.R., A Cross in Time: The Market Cross at Kells
https://howardwilliamsblog.wordpress.com/2021/09/19/a-cross-in-time-the-market-cross-at-kells/
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