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 15 December 2020

The Galloway Hoard revealed


The MailOnline has a report about the cleaning of the pectoral cross found in 2014 in Galloway as part of a hoard buried at the end of the 9th or beginning of the 10th century. The whole hoard was purchased by the National Museum of Scotland in 2017 and conservation work on the cross has now been completed.

What is revealed is a beautiful example of high quality craftsmanship. The expert opinion is that it was made for a Bishop or perhaps a King - it is certainly for a member of an elite. It is another reminder of the skill of craftsmen of that era and their ability to create such delicate objects, as well as of the culture that commissioned and sustained their manufacture.


There is also a report in The Scotsman about the cross, which had additional detail about the origins and craftsmanship involved as well as information about the future display of the finds from the hoard in Edinburgh and Kirkcudbright. It can be seen at 'It was encrusted in a 1,000 years of dirt' Stunning new detail of Galloway Hoard cross revealed

The Guardian has now got an article about the finds and their conservation which I am linking to in a revision of this post. This article is also good in setting the finds in context and describing the quality of the workmanship. It can be read at Fit for a king: true glory of 1,000-year-old cross buried in Scottish field is revealed at last


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