A HISTORY OF DURHAM 



larger building, called the White church, followed soon ; and finally a stone 

 church was erected into which, in 998, the saint's body in the ancient coffin, 

 with the other relics, was reverently brought, and deposited in the place of 

 honour. 1 Here, save for a year of panic in 1069-1070, when the body was 

 taken to Lindisfarne on the approach of William the Bastard, 3 St. Cuthbert 

 has ever since rested in safety. 



Durham cathedral cherishes many relics of the saint ; and these we will 

 briefly describe, beginning with the coffin of 698. 



THE COFFIN OF ST. CUTHBERT 



No contemporary account exists of the carvings 8 on this remarkable 

 relic. They are inaccurately described, towards the end of the twelfth 



ST. CUTHBERT'S COFFIN : MODEL RESTORED. 



century, by Reginald, a Benedictine of the Durham House. 4 Reginald 

 perhaps confused the figures on the wooden chest with the embroidered or 

 woven work still to be seen on the robes in which the saint's remains were 

 wrapped. 6 



The outer coffin of St. Cuthbert 6 is of oak (' de quercu nigra,' says 



Reginald), not shaped specially to carry a 

 body, but a nearly rectangular oblong, a little 

 wider at the head than at the feet. The mea- 

 surements of it are, length, 6 ft. 8 in. ; breadth 

 (at the head), i ft. 5 in. ; (at the feet), i ft. 

 4 in. ; and depth i ft. 5! in. Originally it 

 had two lids, the inner lid apparently sup- 

 ported by cross-pieces which rested in grooves 

 in the sides of the coffin. A false bottom 

 was added in 1 1 04 to keep the other bones 

 clear of the saint's body. 7 The two lids, 

 the four sides (two long and two short) 

 alone have work on them, chiefly, though perhaps not altogether, by one 



i Sym. Dur. (Rolls Series), i. 82. * Ibid. i. 100, and ii. 189. 



8 The anonymous author in the De miraculis et transMonibus, printed in Sym. Dur. (Rolls Series), i. 229, 

 gives no account of the carvings when the coffin was seen in 1 1 04. 



4 Reginald of Durham, Lib. de admirandis Bead Cudb. virtutibus (Surtees Soc., vol. i.). The chapters xl. 

 to xliii. are given in the Appendix to Raine's St. Cuthbert (Durham, 1828). 



6 Reg. of Durham, cap. 43. He speaks of ' beasts, flowers, and images.' The coffin has the symbols 

 of the Evangelists, the lily of Gabriel, and many figures. 



6 See the account in Haverfield and Greenwell, Catalogue of the Inscribed Stones in the Cathedral Library. 



7 Reg. of Durham (Surtees Soc., vol. i.). 



244 



ST. CUTHBERT'S COFFIN : GROOVES FOR 

 CROSS-PIECES SUPPORTING THE INNER LID. 



