The date and purpose of the Anglo-Saxon Chapel at Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire

ABSTRACT

A recent argument that the surviving masonry of the late Saxon chapel at Bradford-on-Avon was left unfinished by its builders is challenged. Instead, it is proposed that the work had been done hurriedly. Fort-building by King Æthelred II (979–1014) in the early part of his reign is also questioned. The possible implications of a cist-burial excavated outside the west end of the chapel are considered.

Acknowledgments

The archive of the 2005 excavation, including the three dressed stones discussed above, are in the care of the Bradford-on-Avon Museum Trust; I am grateful to the Trust, particularly Sophie Hawke, for giving me access and coffee. The photographs of the stones were taken by another Trust member, Roger Clark. I should also like to thank Adrian Powell’s widow, Mrs Barbara Powell, for permission to use his photographs and papers. Identification of the skeleton from photographs as probably an elderly male was by Dr Sonia Zakrzewski, University of Southampton, who has kindly allowed me to cite it. The radiocarbon report by the Oxford laboratory is also in the archive, as is the very helpful letter from Professor Christopher Ramsey elucidating it. Comments on photographs of the dressed stones of the cist were made by personal friends of many years: Dr Mark Corney and Professor Michael Fulford, who both thought them likely to be Romano-British, and the Rev. Martin Henig, who doubted it. Another friend, Alex Woodcock, an experienced stone-mason, advised me about the practicality of cutting back stonework already in situ in a standing building. I am grateful to Penny Copeland for Figure 1 and other help.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).