The Winchester Reliquary
Late Saxon, about AD 800-920
Found during excavations by Winchester Museums Service Archaeology Section at Sussex Street, Winchester in 1976
Made from thin gilt copper alloy sheets tacked to a beechwood core, this object is virtually unique in England in being recovered from an archaeological context rather than surviving as 'church plate'. It was found lying at the top of a decayed layer of sewage in a latrine pit, a resting place which is difficult to explain. As the object may have functioned as a portable altar in the days before Winchester's parish structure had fully developed, dark deeds such as vandalism and theft might be suspected. However, although one of the gilt sheets had been torn off, it had then been carefully folded up and placed in the pit near the main part of the object. Moreover, the relic is still inside- its presence was shown on an X radiograph taken during the object's conservation.
Painstaking examination of the construction showed that it the reliquary was not intended to be opened during use, so a decision was taken not to break it in order to investigate the relic. This does not appear to be human bone and might have been a container for a small quantity of hair, or a tiny piece of the (supposed) One True Cross. More prosaically, protruding from the boards of the wooden core is untanned skin, probably the remains of a parchment label needed to prevent confusion when several relics were stored in the same place.
The reliquary is purse shaped and it bears embossed decoration, on the front plate a seated figure of Christ, on the reverse a series of trumpet shaped tree stems- acanthus leaves- thought to represent the tree of life. Although it predates the floruit of the famous Winchester School of late Saxon art, the style of decoration shows similar influences from the continent.
Photo by John Crook.
