12 January 2024

ABENDONIA, S HELEN, and CHURCH DEDICATIONS (1)

 It was not every 'townscape' that delighted the eye of our beloved 'Bauhaus' Pevsner. But he was able to begin his 1966 Berkshire volume with 'Abingdon'. And to say some kind things. (By the way: the historical evidence I have seen suggests strongly that the name was truly "Abendon" or "Abendonia', depending on which language you speak. From me, you will get the older spelling but the English language. It will be Latin you will get if you open the Breviarium Romanum.)

"Abendon owes its existence to the Abbey founded in 675. ... The Abbey extended along the Thames. So did the town, with the church at the far end. It makes a very fine view from the bridge, in spite of the bloody-minded insistence of the gaol on its own presence. The prosperity of Abendon was first that of the abbey, later of a flourishing woollen trade. ... The steeple rises splendidly at the South end of East St Helens. It is a C13 steeple, which is surprising considering the rest of the church. ... Part of the East wall still remains, but the rest was remodelled when, in the C15 and C16, Abendon built itself an exceedingly spacious new church with double aisles North and South."

And the church, of course, is dedicated to S Helen.

Er ... regular readers will sense that I have a theory ro deploy. Here we go.

Dr Cotton gives us some approximate figures for Dedications to S Helen: Yorkshire: 34; Lincolnshire; 28. And Bishop Kirk offers a chatty account of the Wool Trade in this part of Berkshire: "Berkshire also had once a great wool and cloth industry. Archbishop Laud himself was the son of a Reading clothier; John Wynchcombe--the famous 'Jack of Newbury', who rebuilt the fine parish church of St. Nicholas in the sixteenth century--was a rich master-clothier; of Abendon, Leland writes: 'The town stondeth by clothing.' ... East Hendred--now a village of about 600 inhabitants--was famous throughout the Middle Ages for its cloth industry and the annual fair held on the Golden Mile--the 'green road' which runs up from the village to Scutchamore Knob on the downs; several fifteenth-century cloth merchants have their brasses in the village church. As regards the earlier stage of the industry--that of sheep-breeding and shearing--it is enough to notice that until living memory East Ilsley sheep market, held every fortnight from April to Easter, was the most important in England; whilst ...  a 'Tadpole Revel' (tod = 'cleansed' wool) was held on Milton Hill on the day following the village feast. ..."

I am going to suggest that S Helen was popular in Woolly areas and especially among women.

The passage from Proverbs (31: 10-31) often used at Holy Mass on the feast of S Helen suggests that 'the Strong Woman' is a competent and robust business-woman. She has sought wool. She has considered and purchased land. Her lamp never goes out; her spindle never rests; she gives alms generously; there may be snow outside but her household is warm; her staff are well covered; linen and purple are her own garb. She sells what she has woven; and produces a girdle for passing foreign merchants. She has planted a vineyard ...

And that's not the half of it!

Were the English Middle Ages really awash with women who matched these specifications?

To be concluded tomorrow.



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