The church of St Wystan in the small Derbyshire village of Repton is home to a stunning Anglo-Saxon crypt. A place where once the kings of Mercia were baptised, Repton also marks the site of a large winter camp set up by the Viking Great Army in 873-4.
The landscape of St Wystan's church, Repton
The landscape of Repton is distinctive and holds a clue to its location and subsequent history. Approaching from the north, you cross the modern course of the River Trent at Willington, pass over a large, flat flood plain and then cross another bridge below a ridge before climbing up the hill to the village.
This second bridge crosses what is now called the Old Trent Water, the original course of the River Trent, whereupon the land rises. Margaret Gelling tells us that the name means ‘hill (dun/ton) of the tribe named hreope (rep)’ – the site was important because it was dry and commanding.
Of significance, too, is that once we climb the ridge towards the village, the road swings left in an arc around the church before turning south again away from the river. This arc is more than just a road feature, it adds a further and dramatic twist to the story of this remarkable place which we shall discuss later.
Early Repton and its church
Whoever Hreope was, a small church was established at the settlement here at an early date, possibly ca. 675. In the current church guidebook Dr H M Taylor tells us that the earliest written record of a church appears in a list of resting places of saints, written sometime before 1030, in which Wystan is described as being buried at a monastery at Repton.
Taylor tells us that Florence of Worcester, in the early 12th Century, asserts that Wystan was the grandson of King Wiglaf and that he was murdered in 849 by Berhtferht, the son of Wiglaf’s successor. Florence writes that Wystan was subsequently buried in the mausoleum built for Wiglaf and that his shrine was a place of miracles.
During the reign of King Cnut (1016-35), Wystan’s body was moved to Evesham; by the mid twelfth century an Augustinian priory was established. This priory, located to the east of the current church, was dissolved in 1538.
St Wystan's shrine and the crypt at Repton
St Wystan's church, Repton is today a remarkable palimpsest of the architectural trends and traits of different building periods but its finest feature is surely the Anglo-Saxon crypt which once housed Wystan’s remains. This also helps us to understand the church in its earliest form.
The crypt is located at the east end of the church and is today entered and exited by a sloping passageway from the eastern end of the northern aisle. A symmetrical passageway in the southern aisle once allowed for pilgrims to descend into the crypt, worship Wystan’s shrine, and then exit without getting in the way of others.
An architectural analysis suggests that the earliest extant crypt at Repton was built in the eighth century. It was a simple square building, descending approximately six feet below the surface and rising three feet above. This was extended upwards in the early ninth century, during the reign of Wiglaf (827-ca.839).
As we see it today, the crypt reflects later work on the site possibly undertaken in the later years of Wiglaf’s reign and in preparation for his own burial. Other works at the church were completed at the same time.
It is a small (approximately 16’) square room with alcoves to each side; the room contains four decorated central Anglo-Saxon pillars which support a vaulted ceiling to create nine bays. The alcoves to North, East and South feature semi-circular windows letting light into the crypt; these alcoves once contained the bones of the venerated.
The alcove to the West is of most interest and may have been the original entrance into the crypt. It seems that this entranceway was removed when the crypt was converted into a shrine and access then gained by the two passageways mentioned above.
'Holy air encased in stone'
With the original stairway removed, the space was repurposed (ca. 850-870) to contain the shrine of St Wystan.
Archaeologists have suggested that sight of the shrine was gained through a small viewing window within the west wall of the crypt. The triangular feature on the wall of this alcove, a feature not present in the other alcoves, may be related to this function.
The crypt is a haunting and deeply spiritual place; poetically, Sir John Betjeman described it as ‘holy air encased in stone’.
It is not difficult to imagine the shuffling groups of early medieval pilgrims passing through the crypt and stepping up to look through the window. Betjeman certainly captures the intimacy of their powerful devotion, an intimacy we feel today.
The Anglo-Saxon church today
An external survey of St Wystan’s reveals that the chancel end (above the crypt) still contains a great deal of Anglo-Saxon work, as indeed do the walls at the east end of the nave.
Although this part of the building has been much altered by the insertion of later arches and windows, the outside clearly reveals the Anglo-Saxon architecture of the core part of the chancel (see photograph of the exterior, below).
Inside, looking towards the chancel from the nave and above the arch, it is also possible to see distinctive Anglo-Saxon long-and-short work which may once have represented the edge of a rood loft above the original nave of the pre-fourteenth century church.
Although there is little of the older church remaining above ground beyond the eastern end, the church still retains other features of note. At the western end of the nave, at the tower, can be seen a framed print of the “Repton Stone”.
Representing a mounted figure suggested to be King Aethelbard of Mercia (d. 757) who was also buried in the crypt, the stone is of considerable historic importance and is now housed at Derby museum.
The southern porch also contains items of importance. As well as two Anglo-Saxon pillars (see below), it also contain the remains of a finely-carved cross shaft from nearby Ingleby as well the remains of a window lintel.
An important Anglo-Saxon and Viking landscape
I began this post by alluding to the importance of Repton in its landscape. In the 1970s, extensive archaeological excavations began at Repton, revealing an area rich in history from the early medieval period.
Any visitor to the village will immediately notice that, once crossing the river, the road (Willington Road) swings to the left in a great arc, behind which the current church sits in its grounds. This arc is significant; it indicates a distinctive need to follow extant features, possibly the grounds of the original Anglo-Saxon monastery.
What is certain is that the arc also contains the bank and ditch put up by the Viking Great Army in the 870s. Archaeologists believe that at this time the old church was used as a gatehouse to the camp with the ditch, perhaps 15 feet deep, extending from either side of it.
The Viking winter camp at Repton
The bank and ditch of Repton defined the area used by the Great Army to create a winter camp, enabling them to stay in the area over the winter of 873-4. Within this enclosure, a considerable number of finds relating to the Viking period - and specifically relating to the Great Army - have been unearthed.
Perhaps the most famous example of the period was that just to the north of the crypt, and which is often referred to as the ‘Repton Warrior’, armed as he is with a great sword as well as other items identifying him as a Viking.
The warrior was buried alongside a younger man whom DNA analysis identifies as his son. It is thought that the older man, carrying evidence of significant axe wounds to his pelvis, may have also lost his penis as a consequence of these blows; it is thought the boar’s tusk, found between his legs, was placed there to enable him to be whole in the afterlife.
It is clear from these finds, and others on the site that the Viking camp was more than just a temporary development. Within the old monastery grounds, but outside the Viking ditched enclosure, a pre-existing stone building was repurposed as an ossuary which was found to contain the disarticulated remains of at least 264 people.
By burying their dead in one of the most important royal centres of Mercia (and in the case of the ossuary reusing a small building from the original monastery), the Vikings were making a statement of control and dominance in the landscape.
Beyond Repton itself, there is further evidence of Viking settlement in the area. About 2 ½ miles SE of the village at Heath Wood is the only Viking cremation cemetery ever found in the British isles.
Hadley and Richards (p. 163) suggest that this was located deliberately at the south-eastern extent of the Viking camp. They argue that the name of the nearby village of Ingleby (the English settlement) is indicative of a survival of an English settlement in a predominantly Danish area.
St Wystan's church today
Despite its magnificent early medieval work, most of the church today dates from the fourteenth century and later. During this period, the original nave was expanded beyond its earlier boundaries to create two large aisles to the north and south. Above, fifteenth century clerestory windows add additional light, enabling the visitor also to admire the magnificent contemporary wooden ceiling.
The arches of the nave are interesting in that those towards the chancel date from the mid-nineteenth century. These replaced a pair of eighteenth century round-headed arches which incorporated two Anglo-Saxon pillars where they joined the chancel wall, the bases of which still survive in situ.
Interestingly, these older pillars were moved to the porch of the church following complaints made by locals during the restoration works. They remain here to this day as a testament to the importance of local opinion in saving what might have so easily been lost.
Effigies
The church also contains a number of fascinating effigies and memorials. Of note, at the eastern end of the nave above the entrance to the crypt, is an alabaster effigy of a knight dating from the fifteenth century.
The effigy, once a magnificent example of the craftsman’s art, is now much damaged by graffiti and the elements. At one point it endured a decade-long spell in the graveyard - which no doubt did much to erode its delicate features – as well as spending time in the crypt of the church. The effigy may represent Sir Robert Fraunceys (Sir Robert Francis); the armour suggests it is of the Robert who died in 1463 rather than his father (also Robert) who died in 1420.
Of further note is a sixteenth century incised alabaster effigy in the South aisle
representing Gilbert Thacker, his wife and children. Thacker, son of Thomas Cromwell’s steward Thomas Thacker, was responsible for the demolition of much of the old priory church at Repton.
Image gallery for St Wystan's church, Repton, Derbyshire
About the Author, Michael Smith
Michael Smith is a translator and illustrator of medieval literature. His books, including a translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, are available through all the usual outlets.
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More information about St. Wystan's Church, Repton, Derbyshire
See the church's own website and timeline for the church - here
For the Historic England official list entry for St Wystan's Church, please click here.
For information about the church, the reader is recommended to purchase Dr H. M. Taylor's guidebook, St Wystan's Church Repton - A Guide and History (1989).
For a readable and authoritative analysis of the Viking Great Army, the reader is referred to The Viking Great Army and the Making of England by Dawn M. Hadley and Julian D. Richards (2021).
Anglo-Saxon and Viking-themed art and cards for sale
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