THE
P RTAL
June 2012
Page 13
Anglo-Saxon Saints
of the Isle of Wight
by Harry Schnitker
The members of the Ordinariate group on the Isle of Wight are blessed with a rich Catholic heritage.
The island is the home of two abbeys, both refugee settlements from Solesmes, who came to Britain to flee
draconian anti-Church legislation in France.
The island is also dotted with
gorgeous parish churches, and
retains many references to its
Christian past. The Isle of Wight
has many Anglo-Saxon remains,
but also contains a missionary
link to the Continent and a
spiritual link to Rome.
Cædwalla
in Freshwater, and it is a precious
fragment, indeed, for it dates to
the seventh century and is the
only remaining element of the
first churches to be built on the
Isle of Wight.
Whippingham
One major Anglo-Saxon church
stood for a long time, and that
was St Mildred’s Church at
Whippingham. This dedication
shows the strong cultural
association between the Isle of
Wight and Kent, for Mildred
was the daughter of a Kentish
King, who founded the famous
monastery on the Isle of Thanet.
For all its deep Christian roots,
the island was the last part of
England to abandon its pagan
religion. Unlike most other
parts of England, Christianity
was not adopted by choice, but
rather forced upon the island.
In 686 A.D., the King of Wessex,
Cædwalla (c.659 – 689), invaded
the island. It was part of a much
She was famed for her charity
wider campaign to extend his western kingdom, that towards the poor and had died in 700 A.D., only a
included the conquest of Sussex, Surrey and Kent.
handful of years after the Christian conquest of the
Isle of Wight. Unfortunately, the church no longer
Wessex invasion
stands: it was demolished in 1804, and its replacement
Cædwalla had become King in 685, after years of itself replaced by the current structure, where Queen
exile. He was rather ruthless, but also a great defender Victoria worshipped.
of the Church and friend of that controversial, but
brilliant, Bishop, St Wilfrid. The Wessex invasion Bonchurch
The most important Anglo-Saxon reminders on the
of 686 was a success, but we can only guess at the
brutality of the event: Cædwalla had vowed to destroy island are connected to that missionary giant of Anglo-
the pagan inhabitants, at least according to St Bede Saxon England, St Boniface. The highest hill on the
in his Ecclesiastical History of the English-Speaking island is named after him, and he is the titular of the
Peoples. St Wilfrid was granted a quarter of the island, small Norman church at Bonchurch. Here, his feast is
in recognition of the Saint’s long-standing efforts to still celebrated every 5 th of June. Boniface is supposed
to have preached here to the fishermen prior to his
bring Christianity to Sussex and the Isle of Wight.
departure for the mission in Germany to become the
precious fragment
Apostle of the Germans.
Soon, the island was organised into seven parishes,
It was Boniface who, in typical Anglo-Saxon style,
but only one of the seven churches retains an Anglo-
Saxon element. St George’s in Arreton, which is introduced into that Church the total loyalty to Rome
mentioned in the will of King Alfred the Great of that was the hallmark of the English Church. It is hard
901, has an Anglo-Saxon wall. The other church with to think of a better saint to have as a group of the new
a fragment of Anglo-Saxon architecture is All Saints Ordinariate.