Axe-Wielding Hairy Anglo-Saxons

This past week I have been wading through what seemed like a never-ending mire of books about Anglo-Saxons. This is a period which has been variously and confusingly described as both ‘Late Antique’ and ‘Early Medieval’. Clearly those poor Anglo-Saxons didn’t know when to set their alarm clocks for. Somewhat to my surprise I have found myself enjoying this rapid submergence into Anglo-Saxon culture. It was with some delight, therefore, that I managed to unearth an article about Anglo-Saxon tiles.

In the Yorkshire Museum (located unsurprisingly perhaps in York) there are on display a selection of tiles believed to date from the eleventh century. The tiles are thought to have come from what might have been the south transept of All Saints’ Church, Pavement. There are various geometric designs and patterns in relief and coloured with different glazes. Particularly striking is the olive green colour which was produced by combining a transparent (yellow) lead glaze over a grey fabric.

The tiles found at York are believed to be part of a series with examples also located in Canterbury, Winchester and Peterborough. Their presence therefore at such a small and less high-status church can lead to some interesting conclusions. The famous Coppergate helmet (c.750-75) included an invocation to All Saints’ Church suggesting that the origins of the church could be traced back to the eighth century. It is then a possibility that All Saints’ church was a pre-Conquest minster and the use of the tiles marked it out as a church of some significance.