Once I was a clever boy learning the arts of Oxford... is a quotation from the verses written by Bishop Richard Fleming (c.1385-1431) for his tomb in Lincoln Cathedral. Fleming, the founder of Lincoln College in Oxford, is the subject of my research for a D. Phil., and, like me, a son of the West Riding. I have remarked in the past that I have a deeply meaningful on-going relationship with a dead fifteenth century bishop... it was Fleming who, in effect, enabled me to come to Oxford and to learn its arts, and for that I am immensely grateful.


Tuesday, 27 October 2020

Travellers to Northumbria in its golden age


Analysis of skeletons found at Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland has indicated that people were drawn to the site in the golden age of the Northumbrian kingdom, the period from the earlier seventh to early eighth century that coincides with the lives of Saints such as Aidan, Benedict Biscop, Wilfrid and Bede. 

The examination of the bones indicates the nature of cultural and trading links across the British Isles and to the Mediterranean. The evidence is outlined in a report from the MailOnline which can be seen at Skeletons buried near Bamburgh Castle were the remains of visitors

An earlier report from the same source details evidence on the rock at Bamburgh of a substantial round house from the end of Roman rule or early Anglian colonisation. It can be viewed at 2,000-year-old Roman roundhouse unearthed at Bamburgh Castle

Bamburgh is strikingly situated on the coast, the present castle dating from the twelfth century but well restored in the nineteenth century. As these reports show it occupies a site with a rich pre-conquest history. If you have not been I would urge you to go and to combine it with a visit to Lindisfarne or Holy Island which faces Bamburgh across the open water.


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