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Stone Worlds: Narrative and Reflexivity in Landscape Archaeology

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<< Our Photo Pages >> St Peter's Minster (Conisbrough) - Sculptured Stone in England in Yorkshire (South)

Submitted by Sunny100 on Tuesday, 18 April 2017  Page Views: 11574

Early Medieval (Dark Age)Site Name: St Peter's Minster (Conisbrough) Alternative Name: The Conisbrough Grave Stones, St Peter's Minster Conisborough
Country: England County: Yorkshire (South) Type: Sculptured Stone
Nearest Town: Conisbrough  Nearest Village: Cadeby
Map Ref: SK512988
Latitude: 53.483436N  Longitude: 1.229916W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
4 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
4 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
5 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
4

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Anne T visited on 15th Apr 2017 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 5 Anglo Saxon Carvings, Conisbrough: Having seen this on the Portal, with only a sepia image of the stones, I had been keen to visit this church for some time as it was only a short detour from my step-father's house; the nearby castle had been my very first ever school trip, over half a century ago (gulp). We managed to park in the (small) free car park outside the community centre, right next to the church. We arrived just as the children’s Easter Egg hunt/service had ended, and children and parents streamed out of the church. With 2 year old grand-daughter in tow, desperate to join in, one lady coming out of the church saw us waiting and asked if we were visiting. When I said we were, she said we were very welcome, waited until the crowds had lessened, then took us in. Another gentleman took us round to see the grave stones and made sure we had the free history leaflet of the church. Grand-daughter and husband made a great game of finding all the Mouseman mice on the pews. The church, whilst it looks Victorian from the outside, clearly has some very old parts, evident in the blocked up windows in the arches in the nave, and the tower. The church guide tell us that this is the "oldest building in South Yorkshire and is one of the ten oldest churches in England, with parts dating back to at least 750AD." The church warden was telling us that the church came many years before the castle, and so is sited on the highest part of the town; the castle therefore had to take the second highest spot. As well as the grave stones, there is the very worn shaft of a cross outside, which the church guide leaflet says dates from the very earliest times of this church, around 750 AD. Lovely welcome and well worth the detour. Carried on to look at the castle before heading off into Doncaster.

St Peter's Minster (Conisbrough)
St Peter's Minster (Conisbrough) submitted by Anne T : The right hand side of the front face of this stone, showing the dragon. This stone has a slightly triangular top, and could be the Norman hog-backed stone mentioned in the Pastscape record. I need to reinstall my photostitch software to get complete images of all three areas of carving on this beautiful stone. (Vote or comment on this photo)
St Peter's Minster at Conisbrough is a 12th-15th century church, 4 miles NE of Rotherham, South Yorkshire. It stands on an Anglo-Saxon site. In the church there are two early Medieval grave slabs, which once made up a tomb-chest.

Although these are not pre-Conquest, they are an excellent set of carved stones - said to be the finest funery slabs in England.

The site was first Christianised in 750 CE, though the church is Medieval. Inside two large slabs, making up a tomb chest, date from the 11th-12th century and are very richly carved. St George is depicted fighting a dragon, a human head with open mouth swallowing snakes (or snakes coming from his mouth); also warriors in combat, winged beasts, birds, foliage, zodiac signs and a bishop holding his crozier, make up just some of the decoration.

In the N chapel there is a 12th-13th century altar stone with five incised crosses carved on it and a niche for relics. This came from nearby Conisbrough Castle. And near that a 13th century cross-slab.
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St Peter's Minster (Conisbrough)
St Peter's Minster (Conisbrough) submitted by Sunny100 : Detailed illustration of the two early Medieval grave-slabs that are both richly carved with an assortment of mythical characters, beasts and symbols. These stone slabs are said to be the finest example of their kind in England. (1 comment - Vote or comment on this photo)

St Peter's Minster (Conisbrough)
St Peter's Minster (Conisbrough) submitted by Anne T : The middle of the carving on the front face of this grave cover, showing the bishop, the knight and part of the dragon. This stone has a slightly triangular top, and could be the Norman hog-backed stone mentioned in the Pastscape record. I need to reinstall my photostitch software to get complete images of all three areas of carving on this beautiful stone. (Vote or comment on this photo)

St Peter's Minster (Conisbrough)
St Peter's Minster (Conisbrough) submitted by Anne T : The right hand side of the front face of the carved grave cover, showing the green man and the bishop (being protected by a knight). This stone has a slightly triangular top, and could be the Norman hog-backed stone mentioned in the Pastscape record. I need to reinstall my photostitch software to get complete images of all three areas of carving on this beautiful stone. (Vote or comment on this photo)

St Peter's Minster (Conisbrough)
St Peter's Minster (Conisbrough) submitted by Anne T : In the eastern end of the northern aisle is a Chantry Chapel. The communion table "is a Medieval stone altar slab with five consecration crosses and a niche for a small relic box. It was originally from the chapel in Conisbrough Castle." Here is one of the crosses, although we only saw four of the five (some heavy ornaments on the table, which I didn't dare move!). (Vote or comment on this photo)

St Peter's Minster (Conisbrough)
St Peter's Minster (Conisbrough) submitted by Anne T : Underneath the 'raven stone' lies another portion of cross shaft with interlacing clear on two sides. There is no information about this stone, although the Pastscape record makes mention of three sculptured stones, although I've not yet managed to track down the source text for these (yet).

St Peter's Minster (Conisbrough)
St Peter's Minster (Conisbrough) submitted by Anne T : In the south-eastern corner of this side chapel, opposite the carved grave cover, lies this stone "thought to be older, possibly Saxon. The carvings (though badly worn) are believed to represent ravens, which were commonly used symbols in Saxon heraldry." Thanks to the church history leaflet for the information.

St Peter's Minster (Conisbrough)
St Peter's Minster (Conisbrough) submitted by Anne T : This is the grave cover illustrated in the images submitted by Sunny100. The images, particularly on the front face of the stone, are very clear, illustrating a knight protecting a bishop from a dragon with a green man to the left hand side; the church guide says this probably depicts St. George and the Dragon and the stone is thought to be Norman.

St Peter's Minster (Conisbrough)
St Peter's Minster (Conisbrough) submitted by Anne T : This well worn cross shaft stands outside the porch of the church. The church guide says "a stone church was built around 750 AD although some experts believe it could have been built even earlier .. the remains of a stone cross from this period stands in the churchyard by the porch."

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"St Peter's Minster (Conisbrough)" | Login/Create an Account | 7 News and Comments
  
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Re: St Peter's Minster (Conisbrough) by Anonymous on Tuesday, 30 July 2019
Please refer to Medieval South Yorkshire by David Hey who states that this is a Northumbrian Saxon church and the oldest building in South Yorkshire. He points out details in the masonry which are identical to Northumbrian architecture elsewhere and definitely not Mercian, even though the site is south of the River Don: the traditional border between the kingdoms. The church is akin to a Russian doll, with the inner core being Saxon (including a Saxon window) with a Norman layer superimposed over it, with later additions.
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Re: St Peter's Minster (Conisbrough) by Hatty on Saturday, 17 February 2018
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Hi Anne,
Sorry not to reply sooner, keep forgetting to check the site.

Looked at PastScape report and the conclusion is clear, that St Peter's is 'Early Norman'. The Conisbrough monastic charters are known to be forgeries so I wouldn't put too much weight on the 'Anglo-Saxon' connection.

The de Warenne family is interesting, William being the second most powerful man in England (after William I).
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    Re: St Peter's Minster (Conisbrough) by Anne T on Saturday, 17 February 2018
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    I think we're going to have to agree to disagree on this one (again).
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Re: St Peter's Minster (Conisbrough) by Hatty on Wednesday, 26 April 2017
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Very fine example of a Norman church. 'Anglo-Saxon' appears to be a misconception. According to the archaeological report "the church is an amalgamation of different building materials and periods. The early church was curiously enough constructed of a mixture of reused Coals Measure sandstones and reused blocks of limestone, probably quarried from a nearby Roman villa-site, but they may also have come from the Roman forts at Templeborough further to the West and ferried down the Don."

There is no archaeological basis for the claim of the church guide that a church was built c 750.
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    Re: St Peter's Minster (Conisbrough) by Anne T on Friday, 28 April 2017
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    Hi, Hatty,

    Really interested to ready your comment. I came across the following information in my research, as I always like to try and understand the sites I've seen/going to see:

    Pastscape Monument No. 318782 says: "church, thought to be of 8th century origin, and possibly a minster; remodelled 12th, 14th and 15th centuries; restored 1866 and in later 19th century, vestry added 1913-4; restoration in 1866 destroyed many early features. A 10th-11th century cross, and a supposed Roman engraving are built into the fabric of the church. Listed Grade I," and 'St. Peter's Church at Conisbrough ... has some claim to be the most interesting ancient parish church in the county. It is quite probably the oldest church, embodying extensive remains of a Saxon minster church of probably 8th century date. The pre-Conquest church appears to have consisted of nave with porticus to north and south, and perhaps flanking chambers to the east of the porticus, a chancel and western tower. In the later 12th century the Saxon building was remodelled, the porticus and lateral chambers being replaced by three-bay aisles."

    This information is also repeated in the Historic England entry List Entry No. 1192787, although they do say 'probably of 8th century origin'.

    The St Peter's own website and information leaflet quote this: "It has been the meeting place of Christian believers since 750AD." You have the advantage of me in having seen the archaeological records. If any excavation notes exist, I'd really love to see them.
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Re: St Peter's Minster (Conisbrough) by Sunny100 on Monday, 16 August 2010
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Oh many thanks team Meg Portal. The image is ok i think.
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