SAXON KING’S COFFIN.

Shannon News, 29 September 1925, Page 2

SAXON KING’S COFFIN.

WHERE ETMELBEKT RESTS. DISCOVERY AT SHERBORNE. AFTER A THOUSAND YEARS. The discovery in the Lady Chaptl ot Sherborne Abbey of a stone coffin iti which it is believed King - Ethclbert was buried should put an end to any doubts which may have existed as to the last resting-place of this son of Ethelwulf, King of the West Saxons, says the London Times. The body of Ethelwulf himself, with that of his four sons, lies at Winchester. King Ethelred was buried at Wimborne; and during the last century the coffin of King Ethelbald was found In the Lady Chapel of Sherborne Abbey. For some time past workmen have been busily engaged in the restoration of a portion of this beautiful old abbey for which, a s the cathedral church of Wessex for three centuries before the removal of the See to Old Sarum, the people of Dorset may legitimately claim a national, as well as a historic, interest. The vicar. Canon S. H. Wingfield-Digby, and those associated with him have been able to put thi s work in hand as a memorial to men of Wessex who tell in the war, and the scheme is well on its way to completion, though another £4OOO is urgently needed. The Last Resting Place.

From the beginning of the work the need for preserving the historic character of the abbey has been borne in mind, ft had long been believed that th body of King Etlielbert lay near that of his brother Ethelbald, and a coffin was actually unearthed within a few inches of the resting place of Ethelbald. The coffin itself, and some human bones, including two particularly large thigh bones, which were found within It, was to be examined by experts. The circumstances attending the discovery have left little doubt in the minds of local people as to the identity of the relics. The coffin of Ethelbert unlike that of Ethelbald, which is of Furbeck marble, is hewn cur of Ham Hill stone. Its measurements, according to the verger of the abbey, Mr. Cl. King, approximate very closely to those given- in the ancient records. Indeed, the only discrepancy is in regard to the depth which is saiu to be 11 inches, as compared with a recorded depth of 10 inches. The coffin is a small one being only '.ft. lOin. long, whereas the length of the Ethelbald coffin is no less that, 7ft! Sin. The width is lft. Sin. across the breast. Ethclbert was buried in S6G, sl.\ years after Ethelbald so that the corfin is over a thousand years old. It lies 2 ft. below the surface in the north-east corner, amid the foundations of the partition which separate#! the ambulatory, behind the high altar from the Lady Chapel. Immediately behind it, fully exposed to view, is the marble coffin of Ethelbald. Old West Saxon Capital.

History relates that for a brief spac c Sherborne was actually the capital of the whole of the West Saxon Kingdom. Unlike Winchester, Sherborne was not easily accessible to marauders from tlie sea, and while the Danish pressure was at its greatest the capital was transferred to Sherborne. Between ihe years 871 and 918 two Bishops of Sherborne fell in battffi with the Danes. King Ethelwulf made a determined stand against the -pirates from the north, and his best general was Ealstan, Bishop of Sherborne. During the period when Alfred the Great, after having completed the first portion of his education at Sherborne, went to Rome, Ethelbald and Ethelbert, his two brothers, conspired against their father, and Ethtelbald received the western part of the kingdom, which Etfhelwulf preferred to. giv c up rather than run the risks of civil war.

Later ,the Dane 3 landed at Swanage,. and Ethelbald, mortally wounded in battle with the invaders, was brought to Sherborne, "the place of the clear stream.” where he was buried by Bishop Ealstan, li\s kinsman, in the porch of the ' Abbey Church. Six years /later Ethelbert, after a peaceful reign, was also buried near his brother, ana it is probable that both bodies were afterwards removed to a spot behind the high altar. Interesting- Chronicles. Asser says in his "Annals”: “During* the eight hundred and sixtieth year of our Lord’s incarnation,, and th c twelfth of King’s Alfred’s age, Aethelbald, King of the West Saxons, died and was buried at Scireburna (Sherborne). and his brother Aethclberth joined to his dominions, with perfect justice, Kent, Surrey and Sussex . . . . Aethelbevth governed his kingdom in five years of peace, and obtained the love and respect of his subjects . . . . He lies honourably, interred at Scireburua,, near his brother.” Lehind, in his "Itinerary,” says: "There were of auncient tyme, buried two Kinges, sunnes to Ethelwolplie, King of West Saxons, yn a place behynd the high altar of St. Maire Chirch, but. ther be now no tumbes nor no writing of them seene.” In ISoi workmen digging a vault in the church struck King Ethelbald’s coffin, which was again revealed during excavation work in 3 858 :n the foundations of the choir,, about a foot below the pavement in the north-east corner of the ambulatory. But Ethelbert’s coffin was not discovered. It is recorded of Roger of Caen, who, in 1107, became Bishop of Sarum and Abbot of Sherborne, and built the Norman church, that he had removed from the porch the remains of the two Royal brothers, which were buried again behind the high altar. The Prince of Wales, when on his Western tour in 1923, was particularly interested in the coffin of Ethelbald,. and stood on the spot where the two kings were supposed to be buried.