Tunwinni Cross
The Tunwinni Cross or Great Urswick Cross is a cross plate with a runic inscription in St Mary and Michael's Church , in Great Urswick, near Ulverston , on the Furness Peninsula in Cumbria , England .
The stone used as a lintel over a window was found during renovations in 1911 and examined by the historian WG Collingwood (1854-1932). He thought it was a fragment of a north Umbrian cross, which could not be dated until 850 AD at the earliest. Archaeologist Steve Dickinson believes the runestone holds a key to the history of the origins of Christianity in Britain. The monks of Furness Abbey claimed patronage of the Church in Urswick before 1148. According to tradition, the church was founded 200 to 300 years earlier. The assumption is based on the discovery of a Viking cross in 1909 and the Tunwinni cross. It is believed that an early church stood on the site of the current nave. Outside on the north and south walls, arched holes can be seen that probably carried light woods for a thatched roof. The lower part of the tower is probably pre-Norman, the upper part is from the Tudor period. There are three niches on the west walls of the tower, one of which contains a Mater Dolorosa believed to have come from Furness Abbey.
The Tunwinni cross is carved on both sides and provided with a runic inscription. The six-line rune text does not fit on the board provided. It cuts through their frame below and runs between and over the figures below - a feature that fits the early Irish stone sculpture. An analysis of the runic inscription has shown that all names contained therein were overlapped. The aim was to obscure earlier names that the inscription attached to the figures.
This suggests that the depicted are two early Christian clerics - one Luigne, 7th century, from Iona Monastery in western Scotland, the other (originally from Tarsus ), Theodore , 7th Archbishop of Canterbury ( who died in 690 AD). Tunwinni is mentioned in the top line of the inscription. His name is also written on top of another name that is believed to have played a major role in the creation of this monument. The Tunwinni Cross reveals the “hiddenness” of Urswick like no other monument. Without the survival of the monument, critical elements of belief, power and control - different over the past 1,300 years - would remain in complete obscurity.
literature
- Steve Dickinson: The Beacon on the Bay. The Discovery of an Early Christian Church and Monastic Site at GreatUrswick, Low Furness, Cumbria and the Case for its Connections with St. Ninian, St. Patrick and St. Hild Ulverston 2002.
- Klaus Düwel: Runic inscriptions from England and Friesland In Runenkunde S. 71–87 2008
Web links
- Great Urswick Cross on megalithic.co.uk
- St. Mary and St. Michael's Church, Great Urswick at explorelowfurness.co.uk
- The Tunwinni Cross on urswickchurch.co.uk
Coordinates: 54 ° 9 '29.8 " N , 3 ° 7' 18.6" W.