Flying apart
I have known and been familiar with the Breedon Angel in the Priory Church of St. Mary and St. Hardulph since childhood. The church is spectacularly situated atop Breedon Hill. A prominent limestone knoll that rises 122 metres (400 ft) above the surrounding landscape. The church sits on what was once an Iron Age Hill Fort making it visible for miles around and giving it extensive panoramic views in all directions.
The angel is a significant piece of Mercian art being the oldest surviving stone carving of an angel in Britain. It is an incredible 1200 years old and the result of what was once a flourishing Mercian monastery at Breedon-on-the-Hill. The church has a huge number of Anglo-Saxon sculptures including various figures "fantastical beasts" and grotesque animals running around friezes, and if you look carefully you can find tiny devils peeping out from mortar joints. All of the stone Anglo Saxon carvings that we see inside the church today were originally located around the exterior of the building, but thankfully moved inside during the medieval period.
The Breedon Angel
This stone carved angel represents a not too happy looking Archangel Gabriel depicted within an arched opening. He is covered in formal robes, the body being subtly contoured to suggest movement, seemingly "stepping out of the frame". One hand holds a cross-headed staff, while the other is raised in a distinctive blessing gesture in the Byzantine style, which highlights potential links between Mercia and the Eastern Mediterranean. At the figure's feet are two flowering plants. The sculpture is carved in limestone, and traces of paint have been found on the wings. It is generally very well preserved having been incorporate into the interior walls of the churches bell-ringing tower during the medieval period. The angels age and rarity makes the statue priceless so the original carving is now no longer accessible to the public - it is firmly locked away behind a door. However, an exact replica is on display within the church. Made in 2001, using modern processes that involved 3D laser scanning of the original statue, the replica can now be viewed in the south aisle of the church thus allowing visitors to see this important artwork.
Coming together
In 2003 an event occurred which adds some new interesting information to the fascination of the Breedon Angel. During archaeological excavations in the nave of Litchfield Cathedral, construction workers were removing the floor when they discovered an 8th C Anglo-Saxon limestone panel broken into three pieces beneath it. At the time that it was hidden beneath the floor the pieces had been carefully placed face downwards, thus preserving the remnants of the original Saxon paint. The excavation was part of a project to prepare for a new retractable platform in the cathedral's nave.
The Litchfield Angel
The Litchfield angel also represents Archangel Gabriel, but with a smile on his face. The sculpture is remarkably preserved having been protected from weathering and potential destruction for 1000 years thus allowing traces of its original paint to survive, which is rare. It reveals that vibrant colours were used having details such as a red robe, red and white wings, and a white halo edged in ochre.
The sculpture is thought to have been deliberately broken up and interred in a shallow pit sometime before the end of the 9th century. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that in 910 the Northumbrian Viking army ravaged over Mercia. The cathedral at Lichfield was despoiled, suggesting it was a target for the Vikings seeking portable wealth, such as gold, silver and other valuable goods.
Perhaps you have a "Litchfield Angel" rose growing in your garden, but did you know that Nursery man David Austin named the rose to honour the Litchfield Angel?
These are my own thoughts re: the similarities between the two angels.
By road today Litchfield to Breedon entails a 40 mile road journey, but 1200 years ago "as the crow flies" Litchfield was a 20 mile brisk days walk uphill and down dale from Breedon.
Were the two angels carved by the same stone mason? or maybe another carver saw the Breedon angel and copied it. To me the stylistic similarities between the two carvings, dating to the same period, strongly suggests a shared artistic context and potentially the same stonemason's hand or workshop.
