Reburial on the Isle of Wight
A Christian reburial on the Isle of Wight might contribute significantly to the rewriting of the history of "the last pagan place in England".
Seventeen wooden caskets containing Saxon remains uncovered during drainage work in the churchyard at Shalfleet, Isle of Wight, in 2003 and during an archaeological dig in the garden of the village's Old Vicarage in 2005, were interred in the churchyard of St Michael the Archangel in July, 2008. The East-West orientation of the original excavated graves suggested the religious beliefs of their occupants.
The reburial service, led by the Rev David Bevington and the Rev Molly O'Donnell, included a rendering by eminent local historian Johanna Jones, in the West Saxon dialect of Old English, of the Lord's Prayer. The service was followed by a talk by county archaeologist Dr Ruth Waller. Eyewitness Alan Phillips, a former local archaeology group leader, attending his first reburial, described the event as "all beautifully done".
The radiocarbon dating of samples from one of the skeletons placed these people in interesting times for the Isle of Wight - and for Pagans in general - between 660 and 734AD. This spans the Christian conversion of the Island in 686AD, when the West Saxon King Caedwalla is reputed to have invaded the still-pagan Isle of Wight and christianised it at the point of a sword, killing the Island's king then converting his two sons before also killing them, then going on to slay any Islander who did not immediately convert to his faith. That great English chronicler, the monk Bede, who bequeathed us this version of history, was alive at the time, although living a very long way distant. Yet the evidence from the 'crime scene', via the remains unearthed in the little village of Shalfleet, now begins to suggest another rather different story. Dr Waller says the excavations at the Old Vicarage - with the help of radiocarbon dating - suggest this was a christian farming settlement of people living in peaceful times. "None of the Saxon burials had any injuries which could be ascribed to battle," she said. Instead, all displayed pathology "indicative of a hard life working a farm or lifting heavy weights". Type 2 diabetes, suggesting obesity, as well as meningitis and poor dental hygiene, were among the afflictions diagnosed from the remains, but none showed any sign of violence. The ages of he dateable remains ranged from early twenties to around 45 years old, which means these people would have lived through the 'christianisation' of the Isle of Wight. Yet these were pastoral people, with no experience of warfare, well settled into their surroundings and, most probably, with their own church on the site of the current one. Saxon christians, probably from Caedwalla's Western kingdom, who had settled on the Island and were thriving peacefully here, among the 'last pagans in England', even before the 'bloody invasion' described by Bede. Ultimately, isotope analysis of dental samples and DNA testing might well be able to unravel more of this rather obscure, yet historically important story in the annals of our islands, if funding for this can somehow be found. It could also help determine if these early Islanders have any descendants still living on the Isle of Wight.
The wooden caskets for the reburial were made by Shalfleet parish councillor Mike Carr, accentuating the particularly local nature of this event - highly unusual, perhaps even unprecedented on the Isle of Wight. The original excavations were rather low key, as the landowners were anxious not to draw too much attention to them at the time. And the reburial was similarly attenuated, publicised in advance only within the village itself. In a way, that might have been a fitting farewell to these Islanders of more than 1,200 years ago, laid to their final rest by the people now inhabiting the immediate landscape they also called home.