Cuthman of Steyning
Encyclopedia
Saint Cuthmann of Steyning (born c. 681 - died 8th century) was an Anglo-Saxon
hermit
, church-builder and saint.
of the saints called the Acta Sanctorum
which were preserved at the Abbey of Fécamp in Normandy
it is said that he was born about 681 A.D., either in Devon or Cornwall, or more probably at Chidham
, near Bosham
, about 25 miles from Steyning. A birth in Chidham at that date would place him in the right time and area to be preached to by Saint Wilfrid
, the Apostle of Sussex (680-685), and would probably make Wilfrid the man who converted and baptised Cuthmann and his parents.
(with a rope from the handles over his shoulders taking part of the weight) in which he moved her around with him. They set out east, towards the rising sun, from his home and, even though the rope broke, he improvised a new one from withies
, deciding that when that rope broke he would accept it as a sign from God to stop at that place and build a church. The withy rope broke at the place now called Steyning
, upon which (according to his biography) he prayed:
After building a hut to accommodate his mother and himself, he began work on the church (now St Andrew's, Steyning, which in the 20th century instituted a Cuthmann chapel in his honour), with help from the locals (for those who did not help received divine punishment). As the church was nearing completion and Cuthmann was having difficulty with a roof-beam, a stranger showed him how to fix it. When Cuthmann asked his name, he replied:
Whatever date we ascribe to Cuthman, this church was in existence by 857, for we know that King Æthelwulf of Wessex was buried there in that year.
near Steyning was created by the Devil who became so angry at the conversion of England thanks to 'apostles' like Cuthmann that he decided to dig a channel by night to let in the sea and drown the Christians of Sussex. Fortunately, Cuthmann found out the Devil’s plan and tricked him by holding a candle behind a sieve and knocking the local cock off its perch. When the Devil saw the light and heard the cock crow, he fled the scene, leaving his great plan unfinished and giving us a complex of hills (the mounds of earth from his digging), including Chanctonbury Ring and the nearby ‘Devil's Dyke
.’
According to another, whilst he was a shepherd, one day he drew a line around his sheep with his staff so that he could get away to collect food. On his return, he found that the flock had not left the invisible boundary. This miracle may have taken place in a field near Chidham, which for centuries was known as ‘St Cuthman’s Field’ or ‘St Cuthman’s Dell
.’ It was said that a large stone in the field, ‘on which the holy shepherd was in the habit of sitting,’ held miraculous properties.
Cuthmann was venerated as a saint in the Steyning area before the Norman Conquest. In charters of William the Conqueror Steyning is sometimes called "St. Cuthman's Port" or "St. Cuthman's Parish".
The translation of his relics to Fécamp led to his becoming well known on the continent and even to his feast being celebrated at many of the religious houses of Normandy. This can be seen most clearly in a c.1450 German engraving of him with his "cart" by Martin Schongauer
, and the inclusion, transcription (from an anonymous source) and printing of his Life in the saints' lives collected in 1658 in the Bollandist
Acta Sanctorum, giving his feast day as February 8.
There is also a choir seat carving at Ripon Cathedral
dating from a few decades after 1450 (with him and a three-wheeled wheelbarrow) and at his birthplace of Chidham there was a Guild of St Cuthman, subject to a tax in 1522 under Henry VIII
.
Though the church he founded at Steyning was later re-dedicated to Andrew not Cuthman, moves began in January 2007 within the parish to have it rededicated to "St Andrew and St Cuthman", giving the apostle Andrew precedence but reincluding Cuthmann - these moves succeeded and the church is now dedicated to "St Andrew and St Cuthman". The church also has a Cuthmann chapel and a statue of him outside by artist Penny Reeve, while a picture of him with his wheelbarrow also continues to be Steyning's logo on its town sign.
Christopher Fry
wrote a play on him in 1938 called "The Boy with a Cart", performed at the Lyric Theatre
, Hammersmith
, in 1950, directed by John Gielgud
and with Richard Burton
as Cuthman, from which the following is a quote:
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
hermit
Hermit
A hermit is a person who lives, to some degree, in seclusion from society.In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Christian who lives the eremitic life out of a religious conviction, namely the Desert Theology of the Old Testament .In the...
, church-builder and saint.
Birth
In the biographiesBiography
A biography is a detailed description or account of someone's life. More than a list of basic facts , biography also portrays the subject's experience of those events...
of the saints called the Acta Sanctorum
Acta Sanctorum
Acta Sanctorum is an encyclopedic text in 68 folio volumes of documents examining the lives of Christian saints, in essence a critical hagiography, which is organised according to each saint's feast day. It begins with two January volumes, published in 1643, and ended with the Propylaeum to...
which were preserved at the Abbey of Fécamp in Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
it is said that he was born about 681 A.D., either in Devon or Cornwall, or more probably at Chidham
Chidham
Chidham is a civil parish in the District of Chichester in West Sussex, England located seven kilometres west of Chichester, south of the A27 road, near Bosham.-Prehistory:...
, near Bosham
Bosham
Bosham is a small coastal village and civil parish in the Chichester District of West Sussex, England, about ) west of Chichester on an inlet of Chichester Harbour....
, about 25 miles from Steyning. A birth in Chidham at that date would place him in the right time and area to be preached to by Saint Wilfrid
Wilfrid
Wilfrid was an English bishop and saint. Born a Northumbrian noble, he entered religious life as a teenager and studied at Lindisfarne, at Canterbury, in Gaul, and at Rome; he returned to Northumbria in about 660, and became the abbot of a newly founded monastery at Ripon...
, the Apostle of Sussex (680-685), and would probably make Wilfrid the man who converted and baptised Cuthmann and his parents.
Travels to Steyning
His legend states he was a shepherd who had to care for his paralysed mother after his father's death. When they fell on hard times and were forced to beg from door to door, he built a one-wheeled cart or wheelbarrowWheelbarrow
A wheelbarrow is a small hand-propelled vehicle, usually with just one wheel, designed to be pushed and guided by a single person using two handles to the rear, or by a sail to push the ancient wheelbarrow by wind. The term "wheelbarrow" is made of two words: "wheel" and "barrow." "Barrow" is a...
(with a rope from the handles over his shoulders taking part of the weight) in which he moved her around with him. They set out east, towards the rising sun, from his home and, even though the rope broke, he improvised a new one from withies
Willow
Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...
, deciding that when that rope broke he would accept it as a sign from God to stop at that place and build a church. The withy rope broke at the place now called Steyning
Steyning
Steyning is a small town and civil parish in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England. It is located at the north end of the River Adur gap in the South Downs, four miles north of Shoreham-by-Sea...
, upon which (according to his biography) he prayed:
- "Father Almighty, you have brought my wanderings to an end; now enable me to begin this work. For who am I, Lord, that I should build a house to name? If I rely on myself, it will be of no avail, but it is you who will assist me. You have given me the desire to be a builder; make up for my lack of skill, and bring the work of building this holy house to its completion."
After building a hut to accommodate his mother and himself, he began work on the church (now St Andrew's, Steyning, which in the 20th century instituted a Cuthmann chapel in his honour), with help from the locals (for those who did not help received divine punishment). As the church was nearing completion and Cuthmann was having difficulty with a roof-beam, a stranger showed him how to fix it. When Cuthmann asked his name, he replied:
- "I am he in whose name you are building this church."
Whatever date we ascribe to Cuthman, this church was in existence by 857, for we know that King Æthelwulf of Wessex was buried there in that year.
Other legends
According to one legend, Chanctonbury RingChanctonbury Ring
Chanctonbury Ring is a hill fort based ring of trees atop Chanctonbury Hill on the South Downs, on the border of the civil parishes of Washington and Wiston in the English county of West Sussex. A ridgeway, now part of the South Downs Way, runs along the hill...
near Steyning was created by the Devil who became so angry at the conversion of England thanks to 'apostles' like Cuthmann that he decided to dig a channel by night to let in the sea and drown the Christians of Sussex. Fortunately, Cuthmann found out the Devil’s plan and tricked him by holding a candle behind a sieve and knocking the local cock off its perch. When the Devil saw the light and heard the cock crow, he fled the scene, leaving his great plan unfinished and giving us a complex of hills (the mounds of earth from his digging), including Chanctonbury Ring and the nearby ‘Devil's Dyke
Devil's Dyke, Sussex
Devil's Dyke is a V-shaped valley on the South Downs Way in southern England, near Brighton and Hove. It is part of the Southern England Chalk Formation.Devil's Dyke is on the way to Brighton and is a big hill at the side of the road.-Geological history:...
.’
According to another, whilst he was a shepherd, one day he drew a line around his sheep with his staff so that he could get away to collect food. On his return, he found that the flock had not left the invisible boundary. This miracle may have taken place in a field near Chidham, which for centuries was known as ‘St Cuthman’s Field’ or ‘St Cuthman’s Dell
Dell (landform)
In physical geography, a dell is a small wooded valley. Like "dale", the word "dell" is derived from the Old English word dæl.-See also:* Cirque* Combe * Coulee* Dells of the Wisconsin River...
.’ It was said that a large stone in the field, ‘on which the holy shepherd was in the habit of sitting,’ held miraculous properties.
Veneration
The translation of his relics to Fécamp led to his becoming well known on the continent and even to his feast being celebrated at many of the religious houses of Normandy. This can be seen most clearly in a c.1450 German engraving of him with his "cart" by Martin Schongauer
Martin Schongauer
Martin Schongauer was a German engraver and painter. He was the most important German printmaker before Albrecht Dürer....
, and the inclusion, transcription (from an anonymous source) and printing of his Life in the saints' lives collected in 1658 in the Bollandist
Bollandist
The Bollandists are an association of scholars, philologists, and historians who since the early seventeenth century have studied hagiography and the cult of the saints in Christianity. Their most important publication has been the Acta Sanctorum...
Acta Sanctorum, giving his feast day as February 8.
There is also a choir seat carving at Ripon Cathedral
Ripon Cathedral
Ripon Cathedral is the seat of the Bishop of Ripon and Leeds and the mother church of the Diocese of Ripon and Leeds, situated in the small North Yorkshire city of Ripon, England.-Background:...
dating from a few decades after 1450 (with him and a three-wheeled wheelbarrow) and at his birthplace of Chidham there was a Guild of St Cuthman, subject to a tax in 1522 under Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
.
Though the church he founded at Steyning was later re-dedicated to Andrew not Cuthman, moves began in January 2007 within the parish to have it rededicated to "St Andrew and St Cuthman", giving the apostle Andrew precedence but reincluding Cuthmann - these moves succeeded and the church is now dedicated to "St Andrew and St Cuthman". The church also has a Cuthmann chapel and a statue of him outside by artist Penny Reeve, while a picture of him with his wheelbarrow also continues to be Steyning's logo on its town sign.
Christopher Fry
Christopher Fry
Christopher Fry was an English playwright. He is best known for his verse dramas, notably The Lady's Not for Burning, which made him a major force in theatre in the 1940s and 1950s.-Early life:...
wrote a play on him in 1938 called "The Boy with a Cart", performed at the Lyric Theatre
Lyric Hammersmith
The Lyric Theatre, also known as the Lyric Hammersmith, is a theatre on King Street, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, which takes pride in its original, "groundbreaking" productions....
, Hammersmith
Hammersmith
Hammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London, England, in the United Kingdom, approximately five miles west of Charing Cross on the north bank of the River Thames...
, in 1950, directed by John Gielgud
John Gielgud
Sir Arthur John Gielgud, OM, CH was an English actor, director, and producer. A descendant of the renowned Terry acting family, he achieved early international acclaim for his youthful, emotionally expressive Hamlet which broke box office records on Broadway in 1937...
and with Richard Burton
Richard Burton
Richard Burton, CBE was a Welsh actor. He was nominated seven times for an Academy Award, six of which were for Best Actor in a Leading Role , and was a recipient of BAFTA, Golden Globe and Tony Awards for Best Actor. Although never trained as an actor, Burton was, at one time, the highest-paid...
as Cuthman, from which the following is a quote: