Anglo-Saxon Monastic Landscapes: A Reconstruction from Lyminge, Kent

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The conversion of the pagan Anglo-Saxons to Christianity was spearheaded by the spread of monastic culture across England between the 7th to 9th centuries AD when a series of emergent kingdoms began to exploit the new faith as an ideological weapon in the war for political supremacy. This process laid down a new tier of monastic settlements more complex in physical, social and economic organisation than traditional forms of habitation found in the Anglo-Saxon countryside. In the absence of detailed descriptions in contemporary historical sources, only archaeology can provide an informed impression of how that complexity was given physical expression in the layout and material practices of Anglo-Saxon monastic institutions. Potential of this kind has been tested by recent archaeological work at Northumbrian institutions such as Hartlepool and Hoddom where there have been opportunities to glimpse craft activity, domestic occupation and satellite cemeteries at a considerable distance from the core monastic buildings. Although the importance of these peripheral zones is now firmly established, our conception of how they relate to the totality of a monastic landscapes remains poorly defined owing to the small scale of the excavations and the poor preservation associated with the outer precincts of documented monasteries.This project will redress this imbalance through the detailed archaeological examination of Lyminge, Kent, the site of a documented double monastery (a mixed-sex community presided over by a royal abbess) founded in the 7th century. The site was evaluated systematically by geophysical survey and trial excavation between 2008 and 2010. This work demonstrated that Lyminge has excellent horizontal preservation covering an extensive swathe of the outer precincts of the monastic settlement, combined with an unbroken vertical sequence spanning both monastic-phase occupation and a settlement precursor of the 5th-7th centuries AD. As such, the project has potential to answer a suite of questions on the process of monastic foundation in the kingdom of Kent, a region crucial to the earliest stages of the Anglo-Saxon conversion. The proposed excavation will exploit Lyminge's potential to pioneer a new emphasis on the antecedents of monasticism in early Anglo-Saxon England, and develop an archaeological framework for elucidating the double monastery as a distinctive institutional expression of the fledgling English church.The major activity of the research will be a programme of excavation on the village green over three summer field seasons (2012-14). The project will also re-analyze previous work in the churchyard where core buildings, including an Anglo-Saxon church, were first brought to light by Antiquarian excavations in the mid 19th century. An Integrated Archaeological Data-Base will be used to facilitate the development of the project website, archive and publications. Some post-excavation such as radiocarbon dating will be completed to enable a complete understanding of stratigraphy and site development and to inform the full analysis of artefactual and ecofactual assemblages. The main academic outputs will be an edited volume designed to set Lyminge in its international context, accompanied by articles in peer-reviewed journals. Phase 2 of this project (for which future funding will be sought in 2015) will complete full, integrated analysis of archaeological data-sets for final publication.The project will collaborate with the Kent Archaeological Society and the Canterbury Archaeological Trust to pool expertise and also to help deliver a comprehensive programme of public outreach and participation targeting Lyminge, neighbouring communities and Kent at large. Through such means, this project will make Lyminge's heritage better understood to its own residents and enhance public understanding of Kent's formative role in the development of Anglo-Saxon monastic culture.