alternatehistory.com

Excerpt from A Tourist's Guide to Angland
Global Print Books, 2014
by Amit Dileep


Chapter 4: Burmecia and the crownlands

Leocastra Abbey

Though often ignored by many travellers the town of Leocastra has a rich history. It has its routes in the earliest days of Angland and was for some time the center of the Anglish church. The name of the town comes from Leofric, the Archbishop of Canterbury from 769 to 783 , and castra, meaning Roman fort. Leofric was a prolific journalist and earliest records of zeocastra is from from those journals. He writes of that day’s entry


“I am writing this from a small market town built within the ruins of a roman castra about a days travel from the Capital.”


He rested in the town while fleeing from a viking raid on Lindisfarne a few days earlier, one of the earliest recorded raids by vikings in Angland. While many monks and pilgrims were captured or killed, Leofric and several other monks fled from the vikings onto the mainland and made their way from Lindisfarne to Dunholm. During the attack Leofric was wounded and while travelling the wound became infected and he soon weakened. He further wrote in his last journal entry.


“I am told There is a simple altar, made from the stones of the old roman fort, open to the elements, where locals leave offerings of flowers and simple items. It is a local tradition for those with the skill to leave prayers on pieces of wood or paper. Others will transcribe prayers for those without skill in letters. I met such a scribe today and gave him my blessing. I find myself unable to carry my own weight, so too of my closest companions have offered to carry me there to pray. May any who read this find the love of christ and follow his teachings and remain humble, kind and faithful.


At the alter Leofric was set to have a vision of Jacob’s ladder extending down to the altar, older accounts say a ladder actually descended from heaven and he found a new strength ascended the ladder, others say he died with a content smile on his face while praying. The next morning King Eardwulf arrived at the settlement and finding Leofric had passed on ordered an abbey built, with his tomb at its center. This Abbey would remain the center of the Anglish church and the seat of the Archbishop of Lindisfarne for several centuries although the title remained with the Holy Island.


The chapel is still there and has a shrine to the later beatified Saint Leofric, as well as Saint Peter and Saint Paul, upon whom’s feast day Leofric died, all of which have been rebuilt and restored over the years, most notably following the burning of Leocastra in 1544. There are also displays of the original altar Leofric died at as well as finds from archeological digs on the site. Although the site is no longer home to a full monastery comparable to Lindisfarne or even Hexham there are monks who live on the site and tend to the Abbey. Anyone interested in early British history or the Anglish church owes it to themselves to visit Leocastra Abbey. It’s located in the center of Leocastra town center with easy transport access.