EARLY CHRISTIAN ART AND INSCRIPTIONS 



the underpinning of the west wall of the north transept/ The cross-slabs 

 were lying horizontally in situ close to the west wall of the north transept, at 

 a depth of about i foot 6 inches below the level of the floor of the cathedral, 

 which was 5 inches above the Norman floor. The more perfect of the two 

 slabs was damaged at the wider end next the head, but the other end was in- 

 tact, and the erect footstone was still in its place, although broken off^ at the 

 top. The portion of the recumbent slab which remains is 5 feet 3 inches 

 long by I foot loj inches wide at the end next to the head, and i foot 6 inches 

 wide at the other end. The decorative design upon the slab, which is ex- 

 tremely rich, consists of a cross extending the whole length of the stone, and 

 having a base and two cross-bars projecting from the shaft, thus forming a sort 

 of triple cross. The outline of the cross is emphasized by a double cable 

 moulding, and the whole surface is ornamented with three and four-cord 

 plaitwork. The rectangular spaces forming the background of the cross are 

 also ornamented with plaitwork. The erect footstone is, in its present broken 

 state, 2 feet 6| inches high by i foot 6 inches wide by 4 inches thick. The 

 head, which is now missing, was probably circular, and below it is a small 

 panel of three-cord plaitwork. The second recumbent slab lay near the one 

 just described in the north transept of the cathedral. It is broken away at 

 both ends, and now measures 2 feet 5 inches long by i foot 3 J inches to 

 I foot 5I inches broad by 4J inches thick. There is a plain cross in the 

 middle with panels of four-cord plaitwork on each side. The great interest 

 of the finds made during the restoration of Peterborough Cathedral is that 

 they show exactly how this particular kind of monument was used. The 

 cross-slab was of such a shape and size as to completely cover the grave when 

 laid in a horizontal position, and at the head and foot were small erect crosses.^ 

 There is yet one more class of sepulchral monuments to be considered, 

 of which there is a single example in Peterborough Cathedral. This is the so- 

 called ' Hedda's stone ' now placed in the ' New Building.' It is made in the 



1 See the BuilJer, 26 August, 1888. 



2 Acca's grave at Hexham is described by Symeon of Durham (Sec. 36) as having two stone crosses won- 

 derfully carved, one at the head and the other at the feet, the former bearing an inscription stating that he 

 was buried in that place. There are some grounds for believing that these are the crosses from Hexham now 

 preserved in the cathedral library at Durham (see Canon Greenwell's and Bishop Browne's Theodore and 

 Wilfrith, 257). Acca died in 740, so that there is documentary evidence to show that in the eighth century 

 it was the custom to mark the burial places of deceased persons by means of erect crosses decorated with sculp- 

 ture and inscribed ; but as no mention is made of a recumbent slab covering the grave, it is probable that 

 monuments of this class were not introduced until a later period. At Helpston, Cambridge, and Peterborough, 

 small headstones bearing crosses have been found with recumbent slabs, which seems to indicate that they 

 were used together as parts of a single monument. Except for such finds as the one at Peterborough, it would 

 be impossible to form any idea of the general appearance of a pre-Norman Christian burial ground. The 

 Norman builders showed but litde respect for the sepulchral monuments of their Celtic and Saxon predecessors, 

 and when about to erect a church or cathedral the first thing they did was to break up all the crosses which 

 were on or near the site and use them as wall-stones. There are notable instances of this kind of vandalism at 

 Durham Cathedral (Canon W. Greenwell's Catalogue of the Sculptured Stones at Durham) and at St. Andrews in 

 Scotland (Allen and Anderson's Early Christian Monuments of Scotland, 361). Although the pre-Norman 

 graveyards have been destroyed in such a ruthless manner, a fortunate accident has preserved the monks' 

 burial ground at Strata Florida, Cardiganshire, exactly in the same state as it was in the twelfth cen- 

 tury. The fall of the south wall of the presbytery covered the burial ground with a mass of debris, under 

 which it remained concealed until 1889, when the site of the abbey was thoroughly explored by the late 

 Mr. Stephen W. Williams, F.S.A. (see Arch. Camir. ser. 5, vi. 32). A row of eight graves, each lying east 

 and west, was discovered outside the abbey in the angle between the east wall of the south transept and the 

 south wall of the choir. Each grave was covered by a roughly shaped rectangular slab of slate, in one instance 

 marked with a plain Latin cross lying in a recumbent position. All of the graves appear to have had erect 

 head and foot stones, although the tops of some of them were broken. The footstones were plain, but the 

 headstones were marked with crosses, two of which were formed of interlaced bands, evidently a survival from 



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