ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY 



of Norfolk. Suffice it here to say that the Conqueror imposed his own 

 chaplain, Herfast, an Italian, on the see of East Anglia in the year 1070. 



Before proceeding with the religious history of Suffolk in post-Conquest 

 days, it may be well to offer a short digression as to the church dedications 

 of the county that bear on local Christianity ere the days of the Norman 

 settlement. 



Upwards of fifty ancient churches in England are dedicated to the well- 

 loved king of East Anglia, whose memory is so imperishably associated with 

 the second town of Suffolk, Bury St. Edmunds. The little chapel at Hoxne 

 that sprang up over the spot in the woods where the Danes had flung aside 

 the mutilated body, and where it was first buried, was naturally placed under 

 the invocation of St. Edmund, King and Martyr ; but it has long since dis- 

 appeared. Five Suffolk churches retain the dedication in his honour, namely 

 Assington, Bromeswell, Fritton, Kessingland, and Southwold ; whilst old 

 inventories and wills show that side altars and images in honour of this royal 

 saint were of frequent occurrence in numerous other churches. 1 



The purely Saxon name of Botolph 2 is commemorated in the invocations 

 of a variety of early churches in East Anglia. The true story of this seventh- 

 century saint, a hermit, abbot, and bishop according to somewhat conflicting 

 statements, is difficult to elucidate ; but the tradition that identifies Ikanho — 

 the dismal spot surrounded by swamps where St. Botolph first built a monas- 

 tery — with the village of Iken, on the south side of the estuary of the Aide, 

 seems almost certainly correct, for it coincides, with much nicety, with the 

 details given of his first settlement. 3 The church of Iken still bears the name 

 of St. Botolph. The Bury St. Edmunds tradition of him, current as early as 

 the eleventh century, termed St. Botolph a bishop, and stated that he was 

 first buried at Grundisburgh, a few miles north of Ipswich, ere his remains 

 were conveyed to St. Edmunds.* Immediately north of Grundisburgh is the 

 village of Burgh, whilst Culpho is the adjoining parish on the south ; both 

 these churches are still dedicated in honour of St. Botolph. The name of the 

 saint is also apparently embedded in the place-name Botesdale, on the northern 

 confines of the county, where St. Botolph at one time probably tarried ; the 

 dedication of the ancient chapel of Botesdale, as well as of the mother church 

 of Redgrave, are also to the honour of this saint. North Cove, near Beccles, 

 is another Suffolk parish church of the like dedication, and the Domesday 

 Survey gives a church of St. Botolph at Ipswich. 



St. Ethelbert (known also as Albert or Albright) was a murdered East 

 Anglian king, who must not be confused with his more celebrated but 

 uncanonized royal namesake Ethelbert of Kent. Ethelbert left Suffolk for 

 Herefordshire in May, 794, on a visit to the court of King Offa, where he 

 was treacherously done to death on 20 May, 794. The cathedral church of 

 Hereford, where he was buried, is still dedicated to his memory. Fourteen 

 other churches are dedicated to this East Anglian king, seven of which are in 

 Norfolk and four in Suffolk ; the latter are in the parishes of Fakenham, 6 



1 Norfolk retains fifteen parish church dedications to St. Edmund. 



1 Though St. Botolph finds no place in the Sarum calendar, the York calendar held him in honour on 

 17 June. 



3 Foster, Studies in Church Dedications, ii, 54. 



* Arnold, Mem. of St. Edmunds Bury I, lxii, 361. 



5 Erroneously described, of late years, as dedicated to St. Etheldreda. 



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