Crowland, in Linconshire, England, is today dominated by the spectacular ruins of its medieval abbey. But legend said that in the area there was an Anglo-Saxon hermitage belonging to Saint Guthlac, who died in the year 714 and was famous for his solitary life after renouncing his wealth as the son of a nobleman.
When his incorrupt body was discovered 12 months after his death, Guthlac was venerated by a small monastic community that dedicated itself to his memory. The popularity of the saint while he was alive, the success of this cult and the pilgrimage it inspired, were key factors in the establishment of Crowland Abbey in the 10th century to honor his legacy.
There are historical sources on Guthlac's life, mainly the Vita Sancti Guthlaci (Life of Saint Guthlac) written shortly after his death by a monk named Felix. These few texts indicate that the hermit created his dwelling from a previously looted burial mound.
For years, archaeologists have tried to find its location, and although Anchor Church Field, in the northeastern part of Crowland, was considered the most likely site, the lack of excavations and the increasing impact of agricultural activity in the area had prevented a comprehensive understanding of the area.
Researchers from the Universities of Newcastle and Sheffield now chose to excavate Anchor Church Field and, to their surprise, they found a much more complex and ancient history than they expected. Because the first discovery they came across was a prehistoric sacred place that no one knew about.
This henge – a prehistoric architectural structure with a circular or oval shape bounded by a ditch or embankment – dates back to the Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age and has already become one of the largest discoveries ever made in the east of England. .
As archaeologists explain in an article published in the Journal of Field Archaeology, due to its size and location, the henge would have been a prominent place in the region and would have played an important ceremonial role at a time in history when Crowland was a peninsula surrounded by water and swamps on three sides.
The sacred site was situated at a distinctive and highly visible point jutting out into the swamps. But with the passage of time it was abandoned. Even so, the people of the area would have continued to give importance to the place, especially because of the important prehistoric earthworks carried out, which would still have been visible in medieval times.
Hence, hermits like Guthlac probably considered it an ideal resting place. Unique landscape with a long and sacred past. Hence, during the saint's life the henge was occupied again.
Recent excavations uncovered large quantities of material, including pottery, two bone combs and glass fragments from a high-status drinking vessel. The structures, however, appear to have been destroyed by later activities.
"We know that the Anglo-Saxons reused many prehistoric monuments, but to find a henge, especially one that was previously unknown, occupied in this way is actually quite rare," said Dr Duncan Wright, Professor of Medieval Archeology at Newcastle University. .
"Although the Anglo-Saxon objects we found cannot be linked to Guthlac with certainty, the use of the site at this time and later in the medieval period adds weight to the idea that Crowland was a sacred space at different times over the millennia" , Add.
The most notable features now discovered were the remains of a 12th-century hall and chapel, built by the abbots of Crowland probably to venerate hermits. The space would have been used as elite accommodation, perhaps for high-status pilgrims visiting the site.
Although most of the stone in these buildings was stolen in the 19th century, documents suggest that the site's chapel was dedicated to St. Pega, Guthlac's sister, who was also an important hermit. The same sources describe the chapel as lying in ruins in the 15th century, and it is possible that the site began to lose popularity as interest in pilgrimages waned with the Anglican Reformation of the 16th century.
Directly in front of the hall and chapel, researchers rediscovered a meter-long stone-lined well that had already been found in the 19th century. Today, archaeologists believe that this hole is actually a flagpole hole or, more likely, the site of a large cross.
After the 12th century, the drainage of the Crowland marshes began, transforming the topography of the area. Without being surrounded by water, Anchor Church Field was left on land that could be plowed and cultivated. Agricultural activity intensified from this period and, although the hall appears to have outlasted the chapel, it also lost its high-status function over the centuries.
Despite this change in use, the site retained its sacred history until relatively recently: documents from the 18th century record that the owner of a hut built on the site from the remains of the hall continued to venerate the hermits, entering to his backyard every Sunday to kneel and pray.
"By examining the archaeological evidence and historical texts, it is clear that even in later years Anchor Church Field was still seen as a special place worthy of veneration," said Dr Hugh Willmott, from the University of Sheffield.
"Guthlac and Pega were very important figures in the early Christian history of England, so it is tremendously exciting that we have been able to determine the chronology of what is clearly a site of historical importance," he concludes.
