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Sacred Stones in Indian Civilization: with Special Reference to Megaliths

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<< Other Photo Pages >> Shrewsbury Orthodox Church - Cursus in England in Shropshire

Submitted by rbatham on Thursday, 01 June 2017  Page Views: 3815

DigsSite Name: Shrewsbury Orthodox Church
Country: England County: Shropshire Type: Cursus
Nearest Town: Shrewsbury  Nearest Village: Sutton
Map Ref: SJ5026310469
Latitude: 52.689611N  Longitude: 2.737277W
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
1 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
2 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.
no data 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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Shrewsbury Orthodox Church
Shrewsbury Orthodox Church submitted by dodomad : When a 4,000-year-old wooden post was found near the church, it suggested that area was used for ritual purposes since the late Neolithic period Photo Credit: Sarah Hart Click on the yellow link at left for more details (Vote or comment on this photo)
An archaeological dig around a Shropshire church has re-discovered what has been interpreted as slots for standing stones and two rows of Neolithic post holes and a ditch, known as a cursus, which extends to a large area to the west of the church, which is built directly on top of both a previous Anglo-Saxon church and prehistoric structures, so looks like a new example of a church built on a pre-Christian sacred site.

Carbon dating of a wooden post, which extracted from the dig in February, has shown it was first placed in the ground in 2033 BC. Archaeologists expected the post to turn out to be Anglo-Saxon, so were shocked to discover it dated from the late Neolithic/early Bronze Age period instead.

The dig has given a fuller picture to the ancient history of the site at Sutton in Shrewsbury. Its findings correspond directly with earlier archaeological excavations, carried out on nearby development land to the east of the tiny Medieval church in the 1960s and ‘70s, which unearthed evidence of Bronze Age and Neolithic structures. It wasn’t then known that these were connected with the church site. Back then archaeologists discovered burial mounds and cremations, slots for standing stones and two rows of Neolithic post holes and a ditch, known as a cursus, which they interpreted as processional walkway. It was aligned east to west, extending towards the current late 12th/early 13th century church.

The recent archaeological dig now shows that the prehistoric site extends to a larger area to the west of the church and that the building is built directly on top of both a previous Anglo-Saxon church and prehistoric structures. The current 10–metre long church itself was discovered to have originally been three times longer and to have once had transepts.

Read the full article at shropshirelive.com
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Nearby Images from Geograph Britain and Ireland:
SJ5010 : The former St Johns chapel, Sutton, Shrewsbury now a Greek Orthodox church by Jeremy Bolwell
by Jeremy Bolwell
©2021(licence)
SJ5010 : Old chapel in Sutton, Shrewsbury by Jeremy Bolwell
by Jeremy Bolwell
©2021(licence)
SJ5010 : Former Church of St John, Sutton by John H Darch
by John H Darch
©2020(licence)
SJ5010 : Old chapel at Sutton on outskirts of Shrewsbury by Andrew Shannon
by Andrew Shannon
©2022(licence)
SJ5010 : Footpath into a housing estate in Sutton, Shrewsbury by Jeremy Bolwell
by Jeremy Bolwell
©2021(licence)

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"Shrewsbury Orthodox Church" | Login/Create an Account | 4 News and Comments
  
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Re: Britain’s Oldest Site of Continuous Worship? by Hatty on Saturday, 24 June 2017
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The church is dated 12th/13th century. After the Norman conquest Cluniac monks built a monastery on the site – no trace of a "Saxon" church remains because, apparently, 'invading Danes' destroyed the lot. Fortunately – or fortuitously – St Milburga’s bones were subsequently discovered. Well played, indeed.
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Re: Britain’s Oldest Site of Continuous Worship? by drolaf on Saturday, 03 June 2017
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Just a thought-no-one knows what cursuses were for, so we can’t say this was a ritualistic element. Timber post cursuses are found in Scotland but not elsewhere, so I would question the archaeologists’ interpretation.

Neither can we assume that just because there is a church there now, and in Saxon times, Neolithic people worshipped there. We have no unambiguous evidence of Neolithic worship anywhere. So no ‘continuous worship’ either. Is a graveyard ‘sacred’? or just a graveyard.
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Re: Britain’s Oldest Site of Continuous Worship? by Orpbit on Thursday, 01 June 2017
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Some detailed info to date:

http://search.shropshirehistory.org.uk/collections/getrecord/CCS_MSA5392/

http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?resourceID=5&uid=1270749

http://mapservices.english-heritage.org.uk/printwebservicehle/StatutoryPrint.svc/455258/HLE_A4L_Grade|HLE_A3L_Grade.pdf
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Britain’s Oldest Site of Continuous Worship? by Andy B on Thursday, 01 June 2017
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While excavating the area around a tiny, Greek Orthodox church in the English town of Shrewsbury, a team of archaeologists unearthed two crumbling wooden posts—a relatively mundane find, or so the experts believed. Lead archaeologist Janey Green assumed that the objects, like other artifacts discovered at the site, would date to the Anglo-Saxon period, which began around 410 A.D. Her estimate was off by about 2,400 years.

Recent carbon dating of the posts suggests that they were placed in the ground in about 2033 B.C., during the late Neolithic period, ShropshireLive.com reports. And the advanced age of the discovery isn’t the only reason experts are intrigued; the presence of the posts suggests that the little Shrewsbury church sits on the oldest site of continuous worship in Britain.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/tiny-church-england-sits-sacred-pagan-ground-experts-say-180963449/

Janey Green / https://www.baskervillearchaeologicalservices.co.uk/

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