Repton
Coordinates: 52°50′17″N 1°32′56″W / 52.838°N 1.549°W
| Repton | |
 St Wystan's parish church |
|
 Repton
Repton shown within Derbyshire |
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| Population | 2,707 (2001 census)[1] |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | SK3026 |
| District | South Derbyshire |
| Shire county | Derbyshire |
| Region | East Midlands |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Derby |
| Postcode district | DE65 |
| Dialling code | 01283 |
| Police | Derbyshire |
| Fire | Derbyshire |
| Ambulance | East Midlands |
| EU Parliament | East Midlands |
| UK Parliament | South Derbyshire |
| Website | Repton Village Website |
| List of places: UK • England • Derbyshire | |
Repton is a village and civil parish on the edge of the River Trent floodplain in South Derbyshire, about 4.5 miles (7 km) north of Swadlincote. Repton is close to the county boundary with neighbouring Staffordshire and about 4.5 miles (7 km) northeast of Burton upon Trent.
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[edit] History
Christianity was reintroduced to the Midlands at Repton, where the Mercian royal family under Peada were baptised in AD 653. Soon a double abbey under an Abbess was built.
In 669 the Bishop of Mercia translated his see from Repton to Lichfield. Offa, King of Mercia seemed to resent his own bishops paying allegiance to the Archbishop of Canterbury in Kent who, while under Offa's control, was not of his own kingdom of Mercia.[citation needed] Offa therefore created his own Archdiocese of Lichfield, which presided over all the bishops from the Humber to the Thames. Repton was thus the forebear of the archdiocese of Lichfield, a third archdiocese of the English church: Lichfield, the other two being Canterbury and York. This lasted for only 16 years, however, before Mercia returned to being under the Archbishopric of Canterbury.
At the centre of the village is the Church of England parish church of Saint Wystan. The church is notable for its Anglo-Saxon crypt, which was built in the 8th century AD[2] as a mausoleum for the Mercian royal family. Wystan, or Wigstan, was a prince of Mercia who was murdered by his guardian in 849,[3] in the reign of Wiglaf. His remains were buried in the crypt at Repton and miracles were ascribed to them. Repton proceeded to become a place of pilgrimage; Wigstan was later canonised and became the patron saint of the church.
In 873/4 the Danish Great Heathen Army overwintered at Repton, the only place in England where a winter encampment has yet been located, identified by a mass grave of some 250 individuals, covered by the kerb stone of its former cairn. The Danes had commandeered the church as a stronghold on the cliff above the former course of the River Trent, identified by a D-shaped enclosure formed by a rampart and ditch, no longer visible on the surface. The bones were disarticulated, long bones stacked together with skulls on top. Forensic study revealed that the individuals ranged in age from their late teens to about forty, four men to every woman. Five associated pennies fit well with the overwintering date of 873/4. The absence of injury marks suggest that the party had perhaps died of pestilence.[4]
[edit] Parish church
In the 20th century Sir Nikolaus Pevsner described the Anglo-Saxon parts of St. Wystan's parish church as "one of the most precious survivals of Anglo-Saxon architecture in England".[3] In addition to the crypt they include the chancel, the northeast and southeast parts of the crossing and part of the north transept.[3] The crypt is a square chamber with a roof of three rows of three domical vaults supported by two pilasters on each wall and four free-standing pillars at the four corners of the central vault.
The Anglo-Saxon church was cruciform and may have had a tower over its central crossing.[3] The nave has Medieval Gothic north and south aisles that were rebuilt in the 13th century and widened early in the 14th century.[5] The west tower and recessed spire were added in 1340.[5] The top of the spire is 212 feet (65 m) above ground level.[5] In the 15th century the nave clerestory with its timber roof and the two-storey porch were built and the tower windows were altered.[5] Monuments inside the church include an alabaster effigy of a knight from about 1400 and monuments to members of the Thacker family from 1563 and 1710.[5] The tower has a ring of eight bells, the oldest of which was cast at Leicester in about 1500.[6]
[edit] Priory and public school
In the 12th century Maud of Gloucester, Countess of Chester held the manor of Repton.[7] When her husband Ranulf de Gernon, 4th Earl of Chester died in 1153 she granted St. Wystan's church to the Augustinian canons at the Priory of St. Giles, Calke.[7] Maud had a new Priory of the Holy Trinity built at Repton.[7] In 1172 most of the canons transferred to Repton and their former priory at Calke became a cell of Repton Priory.[7] In 1538 Repton Priory surrendered all its estates to the Crown under the Dissolution of the Monasteries.[7]
The priory buildings included the church plus a cloister flanked by a chapter house, refectory, prior's lodgings, hall and cellars, plus ancillary buildings short distance away.[5] In 1557 the remains of these buildings were incorporated into the buildings of Repton School, a public school that Sir John Port founded in that year.[5]
[edit] Notable residents
- King Æthelbald of Mercia was buried here in 797 AD.[8]
- Beornrad of Mercia was buried here[9]
- Saint Guthlac of Croyland was a monk here in about AD 697.[citation needed]
- Russell Osman, international footballer, was born here in 1959.[10]
- King Wiglaf of Mercia was buried here
- Saint Wigstan of Mercia was reburied here[11]
- Industrialist Walter Somers was born in Repton in 1839.
- Elsie Steele (1899–2010), the oldest documented person in Britain at the time of her death, lived at The Dales Residential Home in Fisher Close during the final few years of her life.[12]
This list does not include staff or pupils of Repton School. Notable persons are listed in that article.
[edit] References
- ^ "Area selected: South Derbyshire (Non-Metropolitan District)". Neighbourhood Statistics: Full Dataset View. Office for National Statistics. http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/viewFullDataset.do?instanceSelection=03070&productId=779&$ph=60_61&datasetInstanceId=3070&startColumn=1&numberOfColumns=4&containerAreaId=790358. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
- ^ Pevsner & Williamson, 1978, pages 304–305
- ^ a b c d Pevsner & Williamson, 1978, page 303
- ^ Hall, Richard (2010). Viking Age Archaeology. Shire archaeology. Princes Risborough: Shire Publications. pp. 14ff. ISBN 0747800634.
- ^ a b c d e f g Pevsner & Williamson, 1978, page 305
- ^ Dawson, George (1 July 2009). "Repton S Wystan". Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers. http://dove.cccbr.org.uk/detail.php?searchString=Repton&Submit=+Go+&DoveID=REPTON. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
- ^ a b c d e Page, 1907, pages 58-63
- ^ Kirby, D.P. (1992). The Earliest English Kings. Routledge. p. 134. ISBN 0-415-09086-5.
- ^ Swanton, 1996, pages 755, 757
- ^ "Russell Osman". EnglandStats.com. http://www.englandstats.com/playerreport.php?pid=718. Retrieved June 2007.
- ^ Swanton, 1996, pages 48–49
- ^ Smyth, Rob (10 September 2010). "Girl who delivered Mail is now UK's oldest person". Burton Mail. http://www.burtonmail.co.uk/News/Girl-who-delivered-Mail-is-now-UKs-oldest-person.htm.
[edit] Sources
- Page, W.H., ed. (1907). "Houses of Austin canons: The priory of Repton, with the cell of Calke". A History of the County of Derby, Volume 2. Victoria County History. pp. 58–63. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=40125.
- Pevsner, Nikolaus; Williamson, Elizabeth (1978) [1953]. Derbyshire. The Buildings of England. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. pp. 303–308. ISBN 0 14 071008 6.
- Swanton, Michael (1996). The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-92129-5.
[edit] External links
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