A HISTORY OF CORNWALL 



ecclesiastics. An English bishopric was not created in Cornwall 1111931, 

 and the following succession is put forward : as the probable course of Christian 

 activity in the west country. The Irish saints here date between 450 and 

 550 A.D., and the Welsh saints between 550 and 682, while the Armorican 

 phase was the last of native Christianity previous to its absorption into the 

 English system. The conclusion then is reasonable that this deposit was 

 made by some ecclesiastic, monk, priest or hermit, who had perhaps come 

 over from the opposite coast of France or at least had dealings with the 

 Church in Gaul, and was driven to hide his treasures during the Danish 

 incursions that ushered in the reign of King Alfred. 



1 Borlase, The Age of the Saints, 1 74. 



378 



