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<< Our Photo Pages >> St John the Baptist (Tunstall) - Early Christian Sculptured Stone in England in Lancashire

Submitted by Sunny100 on Wednesday, 28 July 2010  Page Views: 6737

Early Medieval (Dark Age)Site Name: St John the Baptist (Tunstall) Alternative Name: The Tunstall Altar Stone
Country: England
NOTE: This site is 4.084 km away from the location you searched for.

County: Lancashire Type: Early Christian Sculptured Stone
Nearest Town: Lancaster  Nearest Village: Tunstall
Map Ref: SD6141473925
Latitude: 54.159675N  Longitude: 2.5924W
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
3 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
3 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
5

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Anne T visited on 4th Jun 2015 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 3 Access: 5 Votive Stone, St. John The Baptist, Tunstall: Driving from St. Wilfrid’s, Melling, we continued north along the A683. Just mile or so along the road, the A683 becomes a ‘minor road’ splitting off to the left, whilst the main carriageway continues as the A687. Following the A683 into Tunstall village, Church Lane is the last turn to the right hand side, almost at the end of the village. This road disappears into green fields with a few large houses along the way. After about 600 metres, the church appears to your left hand side, with parking places outside the entry stile. This is a glorious country setting with a beautifully looked after churchyard. The ADS web site was down at the time of writing, but the British History Online notes are really helpful, telling me that this church, now named St. John The Baptist, used to be dedicated to St. Michael, and is largely of “15th century date .... there are some remains, however, of a 13th century structure, fragments of which have been used in the rebuilding”. The church guide was £5, so we didn’t buy it, but quickly looked through it to find it mentioned a Roman altar as well as the votive stone, but no clues as to the whereabouts of either - I had to use my phone to find out where the votive stone was; we found no suggestion of the Roman altar, although there was a display of architectural pieces and medieval grave markers by the west door which included what looked like a very worn Anglo Saxon cross head. To assist future visitors, the votive stone is on the eastern-most of the three windows (nearest to the organ), on the left hand side of the window surround. Curiously, it has been placed on its side. At the east end of the south aisle there is a small chapel which contains a much broken effigy, said to be of Sir Thomas Tunstall. There is also an ancient chest just outside the south chapel and outside a sundial shaft which stands on three octagonal steps.

St John the Baptist (Tunstall)
St John the Baptist (Tunstall) submitted by Anne T : We searched and searched for the Roman altar, but couldn't find it. Outside the west door, there is a display of architectural stones, including medieval grave markers and what looked like a very worn Anglo Saxon Cross Head/Finial. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Early Christian Sculptured Stone in Lancashire

In the church of St John the Baptist at Tunstall, Lancashire, there is a Roman votive altar stone. The ancient stone was dug up in the 1800s at Burrow Camp, a Roman fort some 2 miles to the N. In 1907 it was buried somewhere in the churchyard, but in the 1950s it was brought into the church and embedded, on it's side, in the E window surround of the N aisle. There is some uncertainty as to why the stone was placed on its side.

A Latin inscription written in several lines across the stone is a dedication to Aesculapius, Roman god of medicine and Hygeia, Roman goddess of healing. However, in the 7th or 8th century the stone was Christianised with some Anglo-Saxon decoration added. Also in the church some very nice 15th century Flemish stained-glass in the E window.

The Journal of Antiquities also features an entry for the Roman inscribed stone - see their page for the Roman Inscribed Stone in St John the Baptist’s Church, Tunstall, Lancashire, which includes a photograph of the stone, a drawing, directions for finding the site, plus useful background information from recent source material. The Journal also includes a list of reference material plus related websites where more information can be found. The Journal adds a quotation from Sara Mason (1994): "The stone of which the altar in the present church is made is considered to be Anglian (eighth century) and bears evidence of early Christian worship at Tunstall, possibly from when St Wilfred came westwards from Ripon."

The church is also scheduled as Historic England List ID 1071642, and has three entries in Pastscape:
Inscribed Roman altar: Pastscape Monument No. 44048:
The church building: Pastscape Monument No. 44047; and
The cross and octagonal steps, plus shaft of a later sundial: Pastscape Monument No. 44044.
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St John the Baptist (Tunstall)
St John the Baptist (Tunstall) submitted by Anne T : In adding in the Journal of Antiquities, HE and Pastscape references to this page, I realised that this is recorded as Pastscape Monument No. 44044 - a cross consisting of three octagonal steps and octagonal socket stone, plus the shaft of a later sundial. No date given, but "it is possible that an earl(ier) church was built there because it was close to the road. However, churches, being on conse... (Vote or comment on this photo)

St John the Baptist (Tunstall)
St John the Baptist (Tunstall) submitted by Anne T : Close up of what could be a very worn Anglo Saxon cross head similar to those I've seen at Corbridge and Heddon-on-the-Wall(but which might be an architectural carving - I need to do some more research, as this wasn't mentioned in the church guide or any of the histories I've read so far). (Vote or comment on this photo)

St John the Baptist (Tunstall)
St John the Baptist (Tunstall) submitted by Anne T : This is the votive stone, which is on the left hand side of the eastern-most window on the north wall. Curioiusly, the votive stone has been laid on its side. (Vote or comment on this photo)

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Nearby Images from Geograph Britain and Ireland:
SD6173 : St. John the Baptist Church, Tunstall (1) by Chris Heaton
by Chris Heaton
©2016(licence)
SD6173 : St. John the Baptist Church, Tunstall (2) by Chris Heaton
by Chris Heaton
©2016(licence)
SD6173 : Copy of The Pieta by Francesco Montemezzano by Chris Heaton
by Chris Heaton
©2016(licence)
SD6173 : St John the Baptist, Tunstall: churchyard (h) by Basher Eyre
by Basher Eyre
©2017(licence)
SD6173 : Tunstall Church by Karl and Ali
by Karl and Ali
©2010(licence)

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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 3.2km SSW 210° St Wilfrid (Melling)* Ancient Cross (SD5978571115)
 3.5km NNW 345° Sellet Bank Enclosure* Ancient Village or Settlement (SD60517733)
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 10.0km W 273° Yealand ancient stone walls or rows 1 Misc. Earthwork (SD514746)
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"St John the Baptist (Tunstall)" | Login/Create an Account | 1 comment
  
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Re: St John the Baptist (Tunstall) by Anne T on Thursday, 27 August 2015
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Not really Portal 'business', but just a note that may interest potential visitors. This is the church that was the subject of one of the BBC's "Fake Or Fortune" programmes in July 2015. The programme confirmed that the church owns a painting by Francesco Montemezzano, a 16th century Renaissance artist from Venice - a Pieta, a depiction of the dead Christ cradled in the arms of his mother May after he was taken down from the cross.
Worth around £100k, the painting wasn't in the church during our visit, presumably having been moved for the investigation and to prevent it from being stolen.
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