Alex Richards
Donor
Ah, so it's almost more likely to have ended up as a sort of semi-Norse Ingleland?
Saints and Sunrises: An Anglo-Saxon Timeline
- Thread starter Bolt451
- Start date
Ah, so it's almost more likely to have ended up as a sort of semi-Norse Ingleland?
Possible. "ing" OTL is a result of the lengthening of VnC in Middle English before its reduction again (eng > eeng > iing >ing).
Angle > Ængle > Engle etc is complicated by the addition of intervocals: -nglə vs -ngələ. And whether they were deemed to produce umlaut.
In TTL the spelling could be justified as a (Church) Latin influenced respelling (and pronunciation) against a Norse E/Inglerlond.
But a lot depends on the Norse settlement of the British Isles, how a united England occurs, and if any full or partial conquest from the Norman/French occurs.
Boudicca is probably a Celtic symbol ITTL rather than Anglish or Britain as a whole
While writing this I had these images in my head from the gorgeous "Historically Wrong Sketch Series" by DA user gambargin. I recommend looking at the entire range, very AH worthy
Their non specific Anglo Saxon woman and a portrayal of the OTL Aethflaed, Queen of Mercia, daughter of Alfred the Great (from whom I nicked the name TBH)
Their non specific Anglo Saxon woman and a portrayal of the OTL Aethflaed, Queen of Mercia, daughter of Alfred the Great (from whom I nicked the name TBH)
Artaxerxes
Banned
Boudicca has always felt like very romantically Victorian to me, inspired by the Celtic resurgence and Queen Victoria herself. Not sure how much would be known about her in this tl.
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742: The Conquest of Rheged
I'll put more up later hopefully but I thought I'd post this just in case I don't get time to.
Excerpt from Transcript of “The History Boys”
Series 14, Episode 4
Host Wulfric Baeker is walking down the side of a hill. Steep mountains can be seen in the background. He’s wearing a fleecy coat and rubberised boots
WB: Now, I know we said that when we came to the western side of the Hrybeorgs we were looking for sixteenth century finds, mostly relating to the constant battles between competing lords of that time but Athelstan has found something a lot lot earlier.
He stops at a trench dug in the side of the hill. A man is in the bottom of it, his hair is long but receding, hidden under a wide brimmed hat, he’s wearing a thick fleecy jacket and toughened fabric shorts. His boots are caked in mud. Unlike the formal pronunciation of Baeker, Hardin speaks in a thickened Wessex accent. He stands up in the trench, though his head barely reaches Baeker’s knee, so Baeker crouches down
Athelstan Hardin: Yeah Wulf, what we’ve found here is human remains, buried in a shallow grave and although over time earth has shifted, regular rainfall has slowly made what would normally be much deeper down compared to where we were looking, actually be near the surface. Shows you never know whats under your feet I guess
He laughs and holds up a length of severely rusted metal and moves it over in his hand
AH: It’d seem he was a soldier judging by this, and the remains of the boss from the center of what would’ve been a shield. Which suggests it's not from the period we came up this hill to study as they were mostly using metal shields at that time, but not impossible. The sheer amount of decay and damage to the sword suggests its much older however. Then we found this
He puts the sword down carefully and holds up a coin.
AH: I’ve asked some of the others and what we have here is a Scilling, believe it or not and on it we can see, on one side, In old Anglish, Dunholm, so its from the far side of the mountains at least.
The screen changes as Athelstan continues. It brings up the image of the damaged coin next to what it would’ve originally looked like and effects highlight what is written on
AH (Continued): We have two figures holding hands, both with crowns on. I’ll admit I wasn’t familiar with this, but Esma was and she tells me it is a represenation of Queen Aethfelflaed and her King-Consort Oswiu.
Cut back to AH and WB
AH: They’ve found a fair few of these when digging in the royal gardens in Dunholm.
WB: While Digging up the King’s rosebushes. Gosh, hope she didn’t get in trouble!
AH: Turns out the king’s love for horticulture is just about trumped by ‘is love for his family history.
WB: Oh thank the heavens,
They both share a laugh
WB: So this is Aethelflaed The first queen of Angland. She of the chariot, spear and other romantic notions,
AH: Exactly. An’er husband Oswiu of Eorforwic who also served as her main general.
WB: So this is from what, the 8th century?
AH: Exactly. What’s interesting here is coinage wasn’t massively widely used, especially Anglish coinage in what was for much of a century, a Brittonic area and so what’s probably the case is this soldier was paid either by the Anglish Nobility and or perhaps or, he comes from further east, perhaps modern day Burmecia, Deira or Eorforwic.
Based on this, we’ve got an idea. We’ll have to date the bones and perhaps dig some more before we can confirm this. This soldier may have been from the army of Oswiu that crossed these mountains in 742 to conquer Rheged, the Brittonic Kingdom that stretched from the Hryborgs to the coast. As they marched through this area its easy to imagine them being ambushed and perhaps he fell to Britons and was buried before they continued their march into Rheged. We shall see.
WB: That’s fantastic! So we came looking for Black powder weapons or big cavalry battles and found an eighth century soldier from the earliest days of Angland.
Excerpt from Transcript of “The History Boys”
Series 14, Episode 4
Host Wulfric Baeker is walking down the side of a hill. Steep mountains can be seen in the background. He’s wearing a fleecy coat and rubberised boots
WB: Now, I know we said that when we came to the western side of the Hrybeorgs we were looking for sixteenth century finds, mostly relating to the constant battles between competing lords of that time but Athelstan has found something a lot lot earlier.
He stops at a trench dug in the side of the hill. A man is in the bottom of it, his hair is long but receding, hidden under a wide brimmed hat, he’s wearing a thick fleecy jacket and toughened fabric shorts. His boots are caked in mud. Unlike the formal pronunciation of Baeker, Hardin speaks in a thickened Wessex accent. He stands up in the trench, though his head barely reaches Baeker’s knee, so Baeker crouches down
Athelstan Hardin: Yeah Wulf, what we’ve found here is human remains, buried in a shallow grave and although over time earth has shifted, regular rainfall has slowly made what would normally be much deeper down compared to where we were looking, actually be near the surface. Shows you never know whats under your feet I guess
He laughs and holds up a length of severely rusted metal and moves it over in his hand
AH: It’d seem he was a soldier judging by this, and the remains of the boss from the center of what would’ve been a shield. Which suggests it's not from the period we came up this hill to study as they were mostly using metal shields at that time, but not impossible. The sheer amount of decay and damage to the sword suggests its much older however. Then we found this
He puts the sword down carefully and holds up a coin.
AH: I’ve asked some of the others and what we have here is a Scilling, believe it or not and on it we can see, on one side, In old Anglish, Dunholm, so its from the far side of the mountains at least.
The screen changes as Athelstan continues. It brings up the image of the damaged coin next to what it would’ve originally looked like and effects highlight what is written on
AH (Continued): We have two figures holding hands, both with crowns on. I’ll admit I wasn’t familiar with this, but Esma was and she tells me it is a represenation of Queen Aethfelflaed and her King-Consort Oswiu.
Cut back to AH and WB
AH: They’ve found a fair few of these when digging in the royal gardens in Dunholm.
WB: While Digging up the King’s rosebushes. Gosh, hope she didn’t get in trouble!
AH: Turns out the king’s love for horticulture is just about trumped by ‘is love for his family history.
WB: Oh thank the heavens,
They both share a laugh
WB: So this is Aethelflaed The first queen of Angland. She of the chariot, spear and other romantic notions,
AH: Exactly. An’er husband Oswiu of Eorforwic who also served as her main general.
WB: So this is from what, the 8th century?
AH: Exactly. What’s interesting here is coinage wasn’t massively widely used, especially Anglish coinage in what was for much of a century, a Brittonic area and so what’s probably the case is this soldier was paid either by the Anglish Nobility and or perhaps or, he comes from further east, perhaps modern day Burmecia, Deira or Eorforwic.
Based on this, we’ve got an idea. We’ll have to date the bones and perhaps dig some more before we can confirm this. This soldier may have been from the army of Oswiu that crossed these mountains in 742 to conquer Rheged, the Brittonic Kingdom that stretched from the Hryborgs to the coast. As they marched through this area its easy to imagine them being ambushed and perhaps he fell to Britons and was buried before they continued their march into Rheged. We shall see.
WB: That’s fantastic! So we came looking for Black powder weapons or big cavalry battles and found an eighth century soldier from the earliest days of Angland.
I am resisting using it as the only framing device for the whole thing
OTL Timeteam ran for 20 series, I could probably manage it Given the PoD I'm sure a lot of Episodes in OTL and ATL are almost identical. Right down to Mick Aston's bright jumpers
Alex Richards
Donor
I am resisting using it as the only framing device for the whole thing
Given the PoD I'm sure a lot of Episodes in OTL and ATL are almost identical. Right down to Mick Aston's bright jumpers
Early series Tony Robinson is unnerving in a number of ways.
By unnerving do you mean "Has hair"
I like how in some early episodes you can tell when he was filming either Blackadder or Maid Marian and Her Merry Men
745-746: The Wolf Packs of Mercia
OOC: Im not happy with this post, its very dry and flat, but at least im writing. and the idea for an ATL-name for guerilla fighters is entirely pinched from @Thande 's term "Kleinkriegers" in LTTW. I hope this is okay. Also, if you havent read or better yet bought Look to the West. GO DO THAT!
The Museum of Anglish History, Laudenwic
Visitors guide
Part 3: the Early Kingdoms
As you turn the corner you can see two large carved stone tablets. Both are gravestones and although one has been broken and has pieces missing and the other has been worn down heavily you can faintly see words on both. Translated from old English the one on the right reads. Godric, Son of Aethelflaed, King of the Anglish, but for the knives of traitors" the one on the left reads. "Wulfestan of Mercia,"
Godric was the son of Athelflaed and Oswiu and despite what is carved into the stone, was never crowned king of Angland. He is mentioned in official records as such at the order of his parents, who both outlived him and has remained on lists as tradition has dictated, ever since. According to diarists and historians of the time he died three days before his coronation. It has never been proven or disproven that he was poisoned by others who sought the throne. One such person who pressed his claim as soon as it was announced Godric was dead was Wulfestan of Mercia. He was a distant cousin of the late king, being a descendant of King Aethelfrith and Cynedryth of Mercia. He raised his flag at Litchfield and announced his claim to the throne of Mercia and Northumbria, proclaiming a Mercian Supremacy over the new Angland. Others would declare their independence from Angland but only Wulfestan laid claim to the throne in Dunholm.
Aethelflaed was quick to return to the throne after announcing she would step down as queen for Godric to be crowned. Oswiu raised an "Army of Vengeance" (as it was dramatically called by some contemporary writers) and marched south to Mercia. Wulfestan's forced, knowing they were outnumbered would use tactics on Oswiu that have been compared to the Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus. The armies of Wulfestan knew the lands of Mercia better than the Northerners of Oswiu and would harass and wear Oswiu's forces down. Above the stones in the cases (10.1 to 10.9) you can see arrowheads, buckles and coinage found scattered across north Mercia and commonly believed to belong to both Wulfestan's and Oswiu's forces. These bands became known as "Wolf packs" being a play on their kings name and such a term has remained in Anglish language to describe small bands of soldiers who avoid facing an enemy face on. Many historians theorise that Wulfestan wasn't fully commited to taking Aethelflaed's throne and was actually trying to force Oswiu to retreat and give Wulfestan the throne of Mercia. Throughout 745 and into 746 Oswiu would fail, like Hannibal before him, to face Wulfestan face on as his force was slowly wittled down and were unable to commit to a siege of any one town with their rear unsecured open to attack. In another arguable parallel to Hannibal and Rome, it is theorised that Wulfestan's men grew tired of fighting Oswiu indirectly and began to question the likelihood of a victory for Mercia as Oswiu began to put farms and villages to the torch in the hopes of exposing the Wolf Packs. What is known is that one of the noblemen on Wulfestan, known to Osmund the Papist, a portrait of who can be seen on the wall (10.10) betrayed Wulfestan to Oswiu in return for forgiveness and potential favours. With information on Wulfestan's forces and tactics Oswiu began putting key towns to siege, setting his forces up to trap any potential attacks to his flank or rear and began to wear down the numerically inferior Mercian forces until Wulfestan surrender at harvest 746. He would give himself to Oswiu in return for leniency on his men.
Wulfestan was executed and buried outside Dunholm castle in an unmarked and at time of writing unfound grave. The stone that can be seen here was a symbolic gravestone which until 1978 in the possession of Wemba, Thegn of Litchfield and was created in the 17th century by one of his ancestors. Godric's gravestone was originally placed on his grave at Dunholm castle and is believe to have been damaged in the sacking of Dunholm in 1471. The stones were retrieved and eventually found in the chapel at the Wessex village of Godric's Hollow (Which they gave their name to) south of Glecaster.
The Museum of Anglish History, Laudenwic
Visitors guide
Part 3: the Early Kingdoms
As you turn the corner you can see two large carved stone tablets. Both are gravestones and although one has been broken and has pieces missing and the other has been worn down heavily you can faintly see words on both. Translated from old English the one on the right reads. Godric, Son of Aethelflaed, King of the Anglish, but for the knives of traitors" the one on the left reads. "Wulfestan of Mercia,"
Godric was the son of Athelflaed and Oswiu and despite what is carved into the stone, was never crowned king of Angland. He is mentioned in official records as such at the order of his parents, who both outlived him and has remained on lists as tradition has dictated, ever since. According to diarists and historians of the time he died three days before his coronation. It has never been proven or disproven that he was poisoned by others who sought the throne. One such person who pressed his claim as soon as it was announced Godric was dead was Wulfestan of Mercia. He was a distant cousin of the late king, being a descendant of King Aethelfrith and Cynedryth of Mercia. He raised his flag at Litchfield and announced his claim to the throne of Mercia and Northumbria, proclaiming a Mercian Supremacy over the new Angland. Others would declare their independence from Angland but only Wulfestan laid claim to the throne in Dunholm.
Aethelflaed was quick to return to the throne after announcing she would step down as queen for Godric to be crowned. Oswiu raised an "Army of Vengeance" (as it was dramatically called by some contemporary writers) and marched south to Mercia. Wulfestan's forced, knowing they were outnumbered would use tactics on Oswiu that have been compared to the Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus. The armies of Wulfestan knew the lands of Mercia better than the Northerners of Oswiu and would harass and wear Oswiu's forces down. Above the stones in the cases (10.1 to 10.9) you can see arrowheads, buckles and coinage found scattered across north Mercia and commonly believed to belong to both Wulfestan's and Oswiu's forces. These bands became known as "Wolf packs" being a play on their kings name and such a term has remained in Anglish language to describe small bands of soldiers who avoid facing an enemy face on. Many historians theorise that Wulfestan wasn't fully commited to taking Aethelflaed's throne and was actually trying to force Oswiu to retreat and give Wulfestan the throne of Mercia. Throughout 745 and into 746 Oswiu would fail, like Hannibal before him, to face Wulfestan face on as his force was slowly wittled down and were unable to commit to a siege of any one town with their rear unsecured open to attack. In another arguable parallel to Hannibal and Rome, it is theorised that Wulfestan's men grew tired of fighting Oswiu indirectly and began to question the likelihood of a victory for Mercia as Oswiu began to put farms and villages to the torch in the hopes of exposing the Wolf Packs. What is known is that one of the noblemen on Wulfestan, known to Osmund the Papist, a portrait of who can be seen on the wall (10.10) betrayed Wulfestan to Oswiu in return for forgiveness and potential favours. With information on Wulfestan's forces and tactics Oswiu began putting key towns to siege, setting his forces up to trap any potential attacks to his flank or rear and began to wear down the numerically inferior Mercian forces until Wulfestan surrender at harvest 746. He would give himself to Oswiu in return for leniency on his men.
Wulfestan was executed and buried outside Dunholm castle in an unmarked and at time of writing unfound grave. The stone that can be seen here was a symbolic gravestone which until 1978 in the possession of Wemba, Thegn of Litchfield and was created in the 17th century by one of his ancestors. Godric's gravestone was originally placed on his grave at Dunholm castle and is believe to have been damaged in the sacking of Dunholm in 1471. The stones were retrieved and eventually found in the chapel at the Wessex village of Godric's Hollow (Which they gave their name to) south of Glecaster.
I'm trying to think of storylines that arent dynastic struggles, I promise I am.
*see's something on the horizon* is that a sail *more appear* shit.
747: Waelmaer
Excerpts from the book “Ermine” the first book of the “Waelmaer” series by Beranstrang Kernow
Global Books, 1994
747: Third day of fourth moon.
Another days uneventful travelling the road from Lindon to Eeoforwic. For the past two days I’ve been walking the old Roman Ermine Street that stretches from Laudenwic to Eorforwic. It’s a strange feeling to know this broken track of stones and moss was once trodden on and trampled by the great Roman Legions throughout the centuries, then the Angles after then countless armies of the families of Oswald and Penda back and forth throughout the last two centuries.
No armies on the roads today. Two quite different monks. The first was an Augustinian named Arwel who I recognised by his head, shaven save for a circle around the edge of his head, as was their way. He approached me as a you would a brother with a broad smile and greeted me in British, then Latin and finally in Anglish. I was confused by his unusual but not entirely unwelcome approach. He remarked “It is good to see the light of Rome is not lost on these roads,”
“I don’t understand” I replied. He gestured to the pendant around my neck. I looked down at the symbol. A Cross under a line with a hook on the end that curved back on himself. I knew it was a symbol of Christ, something about spelling his name.
“I’m sorry, between that and your red hair I assumed you were one of my kin,”
“A Briton?” I asked
“Perhaps, but also someone who knows the love and light of Rome,”
“An Augustinian?”
“A Catholic, that symbol isn’t invisible in the Anglish church but not often seen. They don’t seem to like things in the languages of southern countries!” he chuckled, “Anglish symbols for an Anglish church!” he said laughing again.
“Oh, I didn’t realise it was in another language,” i remarked, admitting my ignorance,
“It is Chi and Rho, In the language of the Greeks they are the first two letters of Christ’s name” I nodded and listened. I explained how the pendant was my fathers, who began to worship with the Anglish church when I was a child after seeing some aggression from local Angles and Gewisse. He said similar things had happened to his mother and her family and this was why they had traveled west to live with the Britons. I saw in him perhaps another me who but by the vagaries of fate walked a different path and as if with a poetic flourish to this thought, and after sharing a meal our paths very literally diverged. As he headed east towards the coast and I carried on north.
The second preacher had neither the ring of hair of an Augustine nor the shaven front of an Anglish monk but his hair shaven entirely. I had seen men and women like him before when I would travel with him to the markets in Glecaster and Corinum. They’d wear simple robes or sometimes just loincloths or tabards and carry packs and bedrolls on their backs. I’d see them lining the street begging or walking silently on. Once or twice I’d been south to Iscer and seen them preaching and speaking passages of scripture. I’d asked my father who these people were with shaven heads and simple clothes. I was told they were pennants. Unlike Roman Christians like my lunchtime companion it was not enough to confess your sins to a priest and pray for forgiveness to the lord, Anglish sinners had to “follow and action with a word” as my father often put it and travel beyond their home countries borders for a certain number of years, ascribed by a priest, abbot or bishop according to their sin. They would travel and preach the word of god and doing good deeds, taking Christ and their teachings as their example. So presumably this man was a Northumbrian travelling south to Wessex or one of the other south kingdoms. Perhaps he saw his exile as going beyond the shores of this island and travelling south to Francia to preach to Papists and other Christians.
I passed the pennant near one of the many altars that studded the Ermine Street and served as places of worship for locals and travellers alike and that monks from the local abbey would travel to to conduct services for those who did not live near a monastery. He smiled at me, and looked around at the trees, leaves opening in the first lights of spring. “Worship god surrounded by the beauty of god's glory,” he said calmly. I nodded. I’d known some pennants to take a vow of silence when within their home nation’s borders, either this man hadn’t taken one or he wasn’t an Anglishman, he might be a Pict or Briton who was of the Anglish church. “Pray with me,” he said, as he approached the simple stone altar. I was raised to never say no to a man of god. I pondered for a moment if this man was a man of god, tainted as he was by some unknown sin but then I decided he was trying to be one, even if he wasn’t yet. I nodded and followed. The roadside altar was a simple creation a dozen or so strides back from the road. It was flanked by two great oaks that clearly much older than the altar itself which was perhaps built when my father was young, although it has been kept clean from moss and lichen from some local custodian, it’s edges had started to wear down from use and the elements. Atop it stood a small cross with a ring behind it, such was the symbol of the Anglish church, decorated with interlocking flourishes and patterns which too had begun to wear down. Similar crosses were carved into the trunks of the flanking oaks. Most altars I had seen were usually decorated with cloth, candles and other trappings of faith but today was clearly not a worship day and these had not been brought.
The Pennant knelt and so did I and we began to pray silently. After some time, I began to get cold and wrapped my cloak around me but did not stand for I did not want to disrespect my companion nor the almighty looking over us. After a little more time I heard a noise over the gathering wind. Finally I opened my eyes and looked to the pennant who was weeping softly, still praying.. Unsure what to say and feeling the chill in my bones (I can only imagine how he must have felt) I stood, put my hand on his shoulder. “Good luck,” I said calmly “I hope you find your forgiveness,” I added before turning to leave. My mood for the rest of that days travel was somber and I reflected on the nature around me. As sun set I found myself on the edges of a village on the southern edge of Deira. Atop a hill by the village was an altar, this time flanked by banners with images of saints stitched into them and before I found a place to sleep for the night I climbed the hill and prayed for good fortune on my journey north. “Worship god surrounded by the beauty of Gods glory” the man said and atop this hill you could see the glory of god for miles around. That wouldn’t be my last time encountering a pennant and it was just the first step on my journey to a life with god.
The Museum of Anglish History, Laudenwic
Visitors guide
Part 3: the Early Kingdoms
Next on your right you see fragments of parchment from the manuscripts of Leofric, more commonly known as Leofric Waelmaer or Leofric of Glecaster (Approx 719-783). A monk who became Bishop of Iscer and later still Archbishop of Glastonbury. A lifelong scholar, once he became a monk he began making a book of his travels throughout the fledgling Angland and the wider Isles of Britannia. These books would be preserved and reproduced greatly. Leoftric followed in the Bedic tradition and he is ranked not far behind Bede of Jarway in his impact on our understanding of early Anglish Jarway despite many factors in his books have since disproved or been revised by further investigation. This is down to Leofric’s personal biases in writing and his writing his story over many years, from memory.
Many people in modern Angland may know Leofric from the “Waelmaer” books by Beranstrang Kernow which though they are a very rough adaptation have since piqued public interest in pre-viking Angland. The name of this series comes from the name given to Leofric. Though he says in his book he is “The son of a Gewisse deer hunter from the south Glecaster fields” he is off south Brittonic descent and bore firey red hair. He was dubbed “Waelmaer” in his travels meaning “Famous Celt”.
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Alex Richards
Donor
Quite a nice little slice of life of how the different branches of the faith rub shoulders.
Due to my bluffing it and lack of imagination, 8th Century Angland probably looks a lot like Skyrim...
I'm writing more prose, because that was fun, but this wont entirely shift to prose and any prose will be from in universe fiction
beause bias caveats. Also the idea of roadside shrines is unsurprisingly nicked from hokora, or Shinto roadside/mini shrines.
747: Waelmaer (Part 2)
OOC: I Realllllly Enjoyed writing the first one of these, so here is more prose. Alex Richards will probably school me on my Geography of OTL Durham
Prose.
Twelfth day, sixth moon. Seven fourty seven
Today I arrived in Dunholm, capital of Angland. It was pleasing to look back and realise I’d walked from the southern border of this nation, born within my father’s lifetime and Dunholm is a monument to its power and a statement to its intent. I’m told, repeatedly while I’m here for the locals are very proud of their city, that Dunholm was little more than a gathering of farms and a small chapel before it was chosen by King Aethelfrith of Northumbria as the site of his new palace. The city is atop a hill surrounded on three sides by the river wear and the fourth by a stone wall. I approached the city over St Oswine’s bridge, named for the old Northumbrian king and climb up past streets of wooden buildings, tightly packed by necessity of space.
My first destination on arriving was the main chapel within the walls of Dunholm Abbey. I pass the stone castle, which stands out amongst the mostly wooden buildings of the city and is surrounded by an inner wall. The first thing I notice about Dunholm Abbey is that the confines of the wear limit its size relative to the main chapel, which means that though the chapel is bigger than that at Glecaster, the abbey as a whole is far smaller and I figure given its proximity to the Holy Isle of Lindisfarne, many monks live here and travel here for festivals and occasions. The walls are tall and the gate quite ornate, clearly blessed by royal money, large wooden panels painted with images of saints and kings, or in the case of some, both. I noticed Saint Oswald the Great and Saint Peter were watching me as I passed through.
Once inside the Abbey it seemed like Glecaster but with different proportions. There were familiar buildings like Monks Quarters, squat timber buildings with thatched roofs, kitchens where food for monks and the needy is cooked, only distinguished by their stone chimneys. At the center was the large stone chapel. Large oak doors at one end led you into the long building and at its far end was the altar, decorated with gold and silver items like candlesticks, plates and crucifixes. Behind the altar was a carving of Christ on the cross and as I approached it I could see saints looking down at me from paintings on wooden panels that stood between regular windows. The saints were a mix of local saints and those seen in scripture. Amongst the scenes and trappings I not only felt the power of god but the power of the Anglish church and not just how far it had come but what it aspired to be. Here I could see that perhaps it could be a rival to Rome or Constantinople, with time, and faith and this was not even yet the center of the church, but it would be.