EARLY CHRISTIAN ART ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD DURING the 500 years which preceded the Norman Conquest Derbyshire formed part of the ancient kingdom of Mercia. The Teutonic settlers who displaced the Celtic population somewhere about the middle of the sixth century were Angles from the coasts of Sleswick and Holstein. After the Treaty of Wedmore in 878 this kingdom was divided by a line running approxi- mately north and south into two halves, namely, English Mercia on the west and Danish Mercia on the east. What is now Derbyshire lay on the east side of the dividing line and was consequently in Danish Mercia. Christianity did not take any effective hold of Mercia until the reign of Wulfhere, who came to the throne in A.D. 657, although Diuma, a Scot, had previously established a missionary church in the district. The see of Lichfield was founded in A.D. 656 with St. Chad as its first bishop. The only Saxon monastery in Derbyshire mentioned by Bede in his Ecclesiastical History was at Repton on the south bank of the Trent and on the east side of the Roman Icknield Street, which runs from Lichfield to Derby. After the pagan Penda, the most powerful ruler of Mercia was Offa (A.D. 757 to 796), the contemporary and friend of Charles the Great, king of the Franks. The above historical facts have been briefly stated to justify the conclusions (i) that no Christian monument in Mercia is likely to be older than the middle of the seventh century ; (ii) that the best period of Anglian art in Mercia was the second half of the eighth century, and perhaps the first half of the ninth ; (iii) that the monuments exhibit- ing Scandinavian features probably date from 850 to 950 ; and (iv) that the period from 950 to 1066 is marked by the decadence which preceded the Norman Conquest. We may thus divide the Christian sculptured stones of Mercia into three groups as regards their age, namely : (i) An earlier group, show- ing either Celtic or Byzantine influence ; (2) A middle group, showing Scandinavian influence ; (3) A later group, debased in style and in some cases showing Norman influence. The following list shows the localities in Derbyshire where pre- Norman sculptured monuments occur : Ashbourne, Aston, Bakewell, Blackwell, Bradbourne, Barley Dale, Derby St. Alkmund, Derby (Public Museum), Eccles Pike, Eyam, Fernilee Hall, Hope, Ludworth, Norbury, Repton, Spondon, Wilne, Wirksworth, 279
