The Giant's Grave

If you prefer your history to be neat and tidy then border towns like Penrith are frustrating.  But certainly interesting.  There are just so many unknowns.

For instance.  Below you see St. Andrew's Church in the heart of Penrith.  The "new" church you see here is only from the early 1700's.  A still standing tower from the 12th or 13th century is a survival from an earlier version.  But before that there was something else.  Because what you see in the foreground is much older.

This is "The Giant's Grave".  Fancifully it is contrived to be the burial place of a giant. Realistically it is a medieval gathering together of assorted  earlier, ancient monuments.  Two Anglo-Saxon crosses and four "Hogback" tombstones of Anglo-Viking make, perhaps from the 10th to 11th century.

Think of it as a Stretch Limo sort of grave.

The grave is associated - on the basis of very vague legends - with a certain Owen Caesarius, King of Cumbria between 900 and 937 AD.  When excavated in the 16th century a skeleton of generous - but certainly not gigantic - proportions was found along with a sword.

The "hogback" stones are felt to be distinctively Norse in their origins, reflecting the Viking influence in the area.  Possibly intended to represent Viking houses they have elaborate carvings of biblical and natural scenes, along with geometric features of unclear significance.

The hogbacks show evidence of breakage and repair.  This could have simply been due to weather and rough handling, but supposedly in the early modern era the Giant's Grave was partially demolished by the church, only to have the work be stopped and the stones put back in place when local opposition to the destruction became known.

Nearby is another early cross, likely also from the 10th century.  It is called "The Giant's Thumb".  While on a new base it has been in its present location for a long time.  The circular cross and wheel atop it has been partially lost to time and the elements, but the bottom half survives.  In fact, the two bottom holes may have been enlarged on purpose.  The Thumb traditionally was a place where local miscreants would be tied up - wrists up in the holes - and flogged for their misdeeds.

Because whipping someone outside the door of the church was an extra good lesson to them.

All in all an interesting little collection of artifacts, albeit with more legend than fact associated with them.  They have attracted the attention of the history minded for a long time.  One visitor in fact was the Daniel Defoe, author of Robinson Crusoe. His visit to Penrith may well have included another ancient monument, one of particular interest to his literary career. 

Come back next time, we'll visit a Plague Stone with the author/spy/merchant Daniel Defoe.