British Treasures No. 5

 The Coronation of Henry IV of England from the c15th manuscript of Jean Froissart's Chronicles

Princess Blanche was the eldest daughter of King Henry lV, she was the sixth child of seven. After Henry's accession to the English throne her father wanted to make important alliances in order to maintain and legitimise his rule. A suitable ally was King Rupert of Germany, who also needed to legitimise his rule too, and so a marriage was arranged between Rupert's eldest surviving son Louis and Blanche. The marriage contract was signed in 1401 and part of the bride's dowry included what is now the oldest surviving royal English crown. The marriage took place the following year in Cologne Cathedral when the bride was 10 years old. Despite the political nature of the marriage it was said to be happy. Blanche gave birth to a son called Rupert named after his paternal grandfather when she was 14 years old. Aged just 17 years and pregnant with her second child she died of a fever in Alsace.

Princess Blanche's exquisite dowry crown is now kept in the Munich Residenz.  Made of gold, enamel, sapphires, rubies, emeralds, diamonds and pearls it is considered to be one of the finest pieces made by medieval gothic goldsmiths.

The crown is first mentioned in a list of 1399 recording the movement of royal jewels in London. It is listed as being amongst a group of jewels that had belonged to the deposed King Richard II of England. It is, therefore, known that the crown was not specifically made for Blanche. 

Princess Blanche stands poised between her husband Louis lll and his second wife Matilda. At the time of this painting in 1435 Blanche had been dead for 26 years - her presence and countenance in the picture are symbolic of her death with eyes closed and hands crossed

 

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I am heading off for a short break to visit some places of British historical interest

 One is a curious little building I long to see covered in symbols which conceals hidden messages 

Taking a final look back at our Spring blossom as I leave

soon the petals will float away like wedding confetti on the wind 

British treasures No 4

Eyam is located in the Derbyshire High Peaks 800 feet above sea level, and is known as the Plague village. Here stands an ancient cross, considered to be one of the finest in the country, a Scheduled Ancient Monument, Grade 1 listed - a British treasure. I wonder how many people have passed this Saxon cross in St. Lawrence's churchyard without realising it's status. There is a small notice board stating that the cross is 8th century Celtic; it is carved with both Pagan and Christian imagery. The cross dates from the period in British history when Pagan beliefs still abounded and Christianity was a minority faith. This cross pre-dates the 13th century church in Eyam by 500 hundred years. There are several other Saxon crosses in Derbyshire but the one in Eyam churchyard is the most outstanding being almost intact. It is notable for the survival of the head, but sadly the top two feet of the shaft are missing. It was placed in the churchyard many years ago after it was removed from a nearby cart track. At one time it is thought to have been used as a wayside preaching cross years before the establishment of the church in Eyam. It has also been suggested that this cross may originally have lain on a piece of remote moorland just outside Eyam village, where there are several Neolithic remains including a Stone Circle, and a Long Barrow to be found. 

British Treasure No. 3 

British Treasures No 3 - Wallpainting

In 2011 a couple living in a 16th century house in Somerset were removing wooden panelling from their drawing room wall with a view to restoring and painting the walls behind. As the panelling was removed they saw eyes appearing from beneath the flaking plaster, and restoration experts were called in to remove the layers of ancient plaster. Underneath the plaster was discovered an enormous 20 foot high mural dating to around 1530. The Somerset home had once been the summer residence of Thomas Cranmer and what is now the large drawing room had been his Great Hall. Cranmer was the Arch Deacon of Taunton, Somerset who eventually became the Archbishop of Canterbury. Thomas Cranmer was the man who set up the structure of the Church of England after helping Henry Vlll break away from the Catholic Church.

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Thomas Cranmer - Portrait by Gerlach Flicke 1545 - National Portrait Gallery

As the mortar was carefully removed their shock deepened when a perfect vision of Henry Vlll complete with golden crown, a long-handled orb, and a sceptre stared back at them. The once hidden wall painting is now considered to be of great national importance.

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King Henry Vlll

By chance they recently discovered that the mural has a hidden message. A postcard the couple had commissioned of the mural fell to the floor falling with the king's head pointing towards them, thus revealing the portraits more sinister side. As they looked more closely, they realised that the devil was in the detail!

When viewed upside down or through a wine/ale glass, as it would have been in medieval days, the portrait of the king on his throne is transformed into a vision of Satan with goat's eyes and horns.

Whilst the portrait would have been an overt expression of loyalty, the hidden message suggests it was commissioned by someone with quite another view of the monarch who had made himself head of the Church of England in place of the Pope.

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During the 15th and 16th century there was a great fascination with optical illusion and secret messages hidden within paintings. 

If you squint whilst looking at the bottom image Satan is clear to see.

British Treasure No.2 here 

British treasurers No.2

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King Alfred 'The Great'

A line engraving c.1750 by George Vertue

In the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford there is a very special Anglo Saxon treasure approximately 1150 years old - the Alfred Jewel. It was discovered in 1693 by a labourer digging for peat at Newton Park in North Petherton, Somerset. North Petherton is near Athelney, where in 878 King Alfred the Great took refuge from the Vikings and later founded a monastery.

Sir Thomas Wrothe, owner of Newton Park, became the owner of the jewel. He later presented it to his uncle, Colonel Nathaniel Palmer, a former member of Trinity College, Oxford, who bequeathed it to the university in 1717. He intended that it should go to the Bodleian Library, but a year later his son Thomas, decided that it should be deposited in the Ashmolean Museum.

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The Alfred Jewel

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The Alfred jewel is made of polished rock crystal. Below the crystal and crafted in cloisonné is a figure thought to represent one of the five senses 'sight'. The crystal is set in pure filigree gold, and has cut out lettering around the edge inscribed AELFRED MEC HEHT GEWYRCAN - Alfred ordered me made.

Recent opinions have decided that it is an aestel or pointer used for following the text in a manuscript or gospel. The pointer would have been held within the mouth of the mythical dragon probably made of ivory, and kept in place by a rivet which is still in situ. 

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King Alfred and his daughter Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians depicted on a 13th century genealogical chronicle in the British Library, London

British Treasure No.1 can be found here.

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Footnote

Over the Christmas period a group of amateur treasure hunters found

a hoard of more than 5,000 rare Anglo Saxon coins showing the heads of

King Ethelred 'The Unready' and King Canute. They are thought to have a

value of over one million pounds. The coins have been described as being in

mint condition with a 'mirror like' finish. They were found buried in a lead

container in a field in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. This is one of several 

large and exciting treasure trove finds that have been made during 2014.

British Treasures - No.1

Mold, is an historic market town in Flintshire, North Wales. It sits in a fertile valley on the River Alyn between the Cwydian Mountains and the plains of Cheshire. The main street was once home to a Norman Motte and Bailey castle built in AD1093, and there is evidence of occupation by both the Romans and Saxons.

A Welsh legend speaks of sightings in the local hills of Bryn-yr-Ellyllon - Fairies' Hill or Goblins' Hill - a ghostly boy, clad in gold, a glittering apparition in the moonlight. Local citizens avoid the hill after dark, they have heard too many reports of sightings from travellers passing through their valley. 

In 1833, some workmen were digging a prehistoric mound to gather stones, and as they were working they uncovered a stone lined grave. In the grave were hundreds of amber beads, several bronze fragments, and the remains of a skeleton. Wrapped around the skeleton was a mysterious crushed object - a large and finely decorated broken sheet of pure gold.

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Mold Gold Cape - British Museum, London

This stunning object is a golden cape decorated in a repoussé punched design giving the effect of strings of beads for the shoulders of a human being.  

Excited by the dazzling wealth of their find the workmen eagerly shared out pieces of the gold sheet. The tenant farmer, whose land it was on, taking the largest piece for himself. In 1833 there was little legal protection, and nobody would have known about the discovery if it had not been for the local vicar. Learning of the extraordinary find he wrote an account about it which in turn aroused the interest of the Society of Antiquaries hundreds of miles away in London.

The cape has been dated to the Bronze Age, around 4,000 years ago. It is not known who made it, but it was clearly made very skilled craftsmen. The elaborate design suggests a long tradition of crafting luxury items.

In the past it was easy to dismiss British prehistoric societies as primitive people existing before recognisable civilisations emerged; however, partly through the discovery of rare objects like this Mold Gold Cape, in recent years we have now come to view these societies rather differently.

information courtesy Neil MacGregor, Director British Museum, and wikipedia.

Roman Britain

Following the defeat of rebellious local tribes, such as Boadicea, Queen of the Iceni Tribe, Britain was ruled as a Roman colony for 350 years.  Our Roman legacy includes military and civil construction: forts, walls, towns, and public buildings. The many long straight roads, built for easy movement of troops, are still a feature of the landscape today.
Viroconium in Shropshire, now Wroxeter, was the fourth largest city in Roman Britain. It began as a legionary fortress and later developed into a thriving civilian city. Though much still remains below ground the most impressive visible feature is the huge wall that divided the municipal baths from the exercise hall (Basilica) in the heart of the city.

The Basilica - an artists impression of how the exercise hall would have looked

It is likely that the inhabitants of Wroxeter were able to maintain an urban way of life long after the Romans' formally abandoned control of Britain in the early fifth century. However, by the mid-seventh century everybody had left, perhaps moving to small communities developing nearby. Gradually the deserted buildings of Wroxeter were mostly dismantled and reused. Roman stone can be seen in nearby churches and houses.

This country road running between the ruins was the principal city street separating the Basilica from the Forum. Today this road is part of Watling Street, which runs all of the way from what was Viroconium (Wroxeter) to Londinium (London) onwards to Portus Dubris (Dover) - the sea crossing point back to Rome. 

These are the only visible remains of the Forums once impressive colonnade to the right of which there was a large market square and town hall

Remains of the hypocaust - underfloor heating system

Heading across Watling Street to the area where the Forum stood is a Roman Town House constructed about 4 years ago. Built using only materials that would have been available locally to the Romans and without the aid of any modern day machinery, the builders were aided in their quest by a manual on Roman building written by engineer Vitruvius 2,000 years ago. The building process helped shed new light on how the incredible feats of ancient engineering were achieved. This replica house stands as testament to the energy and ingenuity that defined so much of the Roman era.

The house was inspired by buildings excavated at Wroxeter. It stands on a platform to protect the important archaeological remains of the Forum which lie beneath it. The house reveals just how comfortable life could be in Roman Britain around 320 AD.

I think that this symbol on the outside wall of the house represents Sol Invictus "unconquered Sun" the official sun god of the later Roman Empire and a patron of soldiers. It seems to fit in with the fact that Viroconium was originally a legionary fortress. I would be happy to learn any other thoughts that you might have as this is pure guess work on my part.

House owners often rented out parts of their property to tenants, who used the space to sell goods. Shops occupied the front portion of many houses that faced out onto the street. They sold pottery, vegetables, furs - even fast food such as ready cooked meats.

The Triclinium where guests were entertained

The painted walls are decidedly amateurish

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in contrast to the luxurious Roman villa at Boscoreale near Pompeii, which has beautifully detailed wall paintings designed to make the room appear more open and spacious.

Having bathed in the frigidarium (cold room) the Romans would then move on to the tepidarium (warm room) and finally the caldarium (hot room)

All of the terracotta tiles used in the project were handmade using moulds and the slate tiles split and shaped using Roman tools.

Our hotel was literally 2 mins walk away and stood on ground that was once Viroconium.  Alongside the hotel was the Church of St. Andrew, Wroxeter

but what do we see here?

 ....entrance gates and wall using Roman columns and Roman stone 

and the principal church walls and tower were built with substantial amounts of Roman stone

the enormous font is the base of a Roman column

A Morris & Co (1902) window depicting St. Andrew and St. George

Having just visited Derbyshire and shown a post with very fine Chellaston alabaster tombs, I was very excited to discover this equally outstanding alabaster tomb thought to have been made by Richard Parker of Burton-on-Trent, and still retaining most of its original colouring!

 Sir Thomas Bromley (d.1555) and his wife Mabel Lyster - Sir Thomas was Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench. 

On the left the Arms of Thomas Bromley and

on the right his Arms impaled with those of his wife 

In the centre their daughter, Margaret

 dressed in his judicial robes

On the south side of the chancel lies their daughter Margaret. The tomb is not quite such fine quality but is still made in alabaster and thought to have been done by the Royley workshop, Burton-on-Trent

Margaret died 1578 and lies with her husband Sir Richard Newport who died 1570

Their eight children are depicted as 'weepers' around the tomb - here you can see four daughters and two sons. Three daughters appear to have married as their arms have all been impaled onto those of their husband but the daughter on the right must have been unmarried as she carries arms the same as her brothers

Completing the eight children - the end of the tomb shows a son and a baby girl who most likely died shortly after birth as she is depicted in swaddling clothes

St. Andrew's is a large church and the parish was unable to maintain it. Consequently it closed in 1980, being placed in the care of The Churches Conservation Trust in 1987 following repairs by English Heritage and excavations by Birmingham University Field Archaeology Unit

Derbyshire gems

Hidden down narrow leafy country lanes, the Old Manor, Norbury and the church of St. Mary and St. Barlok are worth the hunt - the seeker is well rewarded by the treasurers that they find.

The Old Manor, the former seat of the Fitzherbert family, is a rare example of a medieval hall house built c.1290.

The Fitzherbert family built a Tudor house adjoining 

The Old Manor in the mid-15th century, rebuilt in c.1680 but still retaining many of its original features. 

The present church has undergone various stages of development. The first church being Anglo-Saxon and the second a Late Norman Church built by the Fitzherbert family in c.1179, later alterations and additions were made during the 14th and 15th C. The church has some splendid medieval features, one of its crowning glories being eight very rare grisaille stained glass windows dated c.1306.

The early stained glass together with many splendid coats of arms represent a display rarely seen in any Parish church

This window shows the saltire (heraldic symbol) of Robert de Bruce, b:1274, Earl of Carrick from 1292, King of Scotland 13O6, d. 1329

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The ancient arms of France shown in one of the windows reveals the limitations of the glazing techniques used during that early period 

Window showing three lions passant England - King Edward l (1272 - 1307)

Great East Window

This splendid window has been described as a 'Lantern in Stone' with the light pouring through it. Sadly, although old, much of the glass is not original. Throughout its history a variety of restoration work has been attempted from, at times, indifferent restorers, as can be seen in the bottom lefthand corner.

The shafts of Saxon crosses discovered during restoration work dating from c.900

Effigy of Sir Henry Fitzherbert - it is often mistakenly assumed that an effigy with crossed legs indicates a Knight Templar who fought in the crusades. However, nearly all stone carvings during the mid 13th century have crossed legs - it was simply the style at that time

In the Chancel lie the Alabaster Fitzherbert tombs which are considered to be amongst some of the finest in the country. They are carved in Chellaston alabaster from the Nottingham School (probably Tutbury) and were originally richly gilded and coloured. The details are wonderfully and faithfully carved with great care and are thought to have been done in c.1491.

Nicholas Fitzherbert, llth Lord of Norbury died in 1473 having 10 sons and 7 daughters by his two wives.  He is shown in full plate armour. The children and his two wives are shown as 'weepers' on the sides and end of his tomb

On the north side of the chancel lie the effigies of Ralph Fitzherbert, 12th Lord, son and heir of Nicholas beside his wife, Elizabeth. On the sides are shown their children as 'weepers'. Two vandalised angels

support Elizabeth's cushion, Ralph's head rests on his helmet.

Hanging around Ralph's neck, can be seen a Yorkist livery collar of alternating suns and roses, which importantly shows the White Boar livery badge of the English King Richard lll as a pendant. The badge was an important symbol of political affiliation in the Wars of the Roses'.

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This copper-alloy boar was found in October 2012 on the Thames foreshore near the Tower of London. Experts believe it may have decorated an item of leather once owned by a supporter of Richard lll, or possibly even the king himself.

 Sitting on top of the lion at Ralph's feet is a Bedesman praying on his rosary for the souls of the departed

Whilst on the subject of tombs I must show you one of the strangest tombs I am aware of which we discovered after a short journey from Norbury to a church in Fenny Bentley.

Here in the church of St Edmund, King & Martyr, lies Thomas Beresford and his wife Agnes

Thomas Beresford fought at the battle of Agincourt under Henry V in 1418. He settled at Fenny Bentley and married a wealthy heiress Agnes Hassall who between them raised a family of 21 children. Thomas and his wife Agnes together with their 16 sons and five daughters are all shown in shrouds or as we would call them today 'body-bags'.

Why are they shown in shrouds?

The tomb is said to have been made 100 years after their deaths

Some believe the sculptor lacked the necessary skills to carve their effigies or that he did not know what they look liked, but

the Beresfords were a wealthy family and there would have been paintings showing their likeness.

There are more question marks surrounding this village tomb than there are answers

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Leaving Derbyshire behind, we crossed over the county of Staffordshire and headed into Shropshire for a few days.