<< Our Photo Pages >> The Anker's House - Ancient Cross in England in County Durham
Submitted by Anne T on Tuesday, 30 September 2014 Page Views: 4381
Early Medieval (Dark Age)Site Name: The Anker's House Alternative Name: The Anker Museum; The Anchorage; St Mary and St Cuthbert's ChurchCountry: England County: County Durham Type: Ancient Cross
Nearest Town: Chester le Street
Map Ref: NZ27575131
Latitude: 54.855830N Longitude: 1.572083W
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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Anne T visited on 25th Sep 2014 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 5 Access: 5 The Anker House (Anglo Saxon Cross Shafts and Cross Arms): The purpose of my visit was to see the Anglo Saxon cross fragments, but the impact of this visit is still with me today - the tiny little Anker House and what it meant to commit yourself to the rest of your life in this tiny village was quite a spiritual awakening for me.
I am very nervous about driving to places I've never been to before, and I was a bit of a quiver thinking about how to drive to Chester-le-Street and find the church. From Bywell, rather than drive the longer way down the A695/A1, I went down the B6309/A693, which was easy enough, as it was signposted Beamish Museum then Chester le Street.
Chester le Street was actually bigger and busier than I remembered from a visit to Langley Castle for a conference many years ago, but the spire of the church stood proud behind the shops on the left hand side of the main shopping street, so at the roundabout at the edge of the shops, I turned left and found two car parks straight away. Parking was only 80p for 3 hours (the machine wasn’t accepting certain coins so I was committed to paying 80p or £1) and the Ankers House was signposted from the car park. It was only round the corner.
Wow. I am so pleased I took the time to come here.
When I first arrived, the ladies couldn’t find the key so I had to wait for someone to come back to the church from the Parish Office (which wasn’t long really) and the ladies kept me engaged in conversation, pointing out the squint from the built in Anchorite House and the slot where food was pushed through into the house.
The house was quaint and minute and ancient. It has been extended in modern times, but it was easy enough to get an idea of what it would have been like. The stewards told me that before the Anchorite was walled up in the house a funeral service was held in the church for them so they could say ‘goodbye’ to the real world.
Whilst the atmosphere in the museum was quiet and gentle it was also somewhat spooky and it was very odd to be shut in there alone. I sort of hurried to get through taking my photos, especially as the door to the outside world kept banging in the breeze. Some of the items were apparently on loan to a Lindisfarne Gospels exhibition (the lady said I should speak to ‘Mike’ but no further details).
They had a copy of the Lindisfarne Gospels in the church – apparently they were translated from Anglo-Saxon to Latin on this site. Kept in a glass case and covered with a red cloth, the ladies lifted the cloth to give me a sight of this impressive (modern) copy. A superb afternoon. Shame the museum is not open again until next spring.
Early Christian cross fragments from the 9th and 10th century.
The Anker’s House is part of the church of St Mary and St Cuthbert in Chester le Street, County Durham. From the 14th to the 16th century it housed (one at a time) six Ankers (or Anchorites) who lived completely apart from the world as religious recluses, spending their time in prayer and contemplation. After a funeral service, to signify their removal from the world, the Ankers were walled up within this tiny one up/one down house which is built into the northern wall at west end of the church. There is a squint allowing a very limited view of the altar and a hatch where food was passed through, otherwise the person lived in complete isolation.
The body of St. Cuthbert and the original Lindisfarne Gospels were brought to the church in 882. In the mid-10th century a monk called Aldred produced the earliest surviving translation of the four Gospels from Latin into early English. The church keeps a modern copy in a glass case under dark cloth to protect it.
At the end of the 10th century, the church community moved to Durham where a new Cathedral was founded.
Today, the Anker's House has been extended to a one down/two up space which houses a collection of Roman artefacts, Anglo-Saxon cross fragments and Medieval finds. 17 different fragments are recorded, although only 13 are on display. At the time of my visit (September 2014), four of the 13 pieces were on loan to a Lindisfarne Gospel exhibition.
The Anker's House is open from Easter Monday to October 31st each year, 10am to 3.30pm daily (excepting Thursday afternoons). The key should be obtained from the stewards in the church. Whilst there is disabled parking near the church, the upper floor of the Anker Museum is accessed by a narrow spiral staircase.
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