THE reliquary of St Swithun of Winchester — thought to have been faraway from Stavanger Cathedral in Norway, throughout the Reformation, and destroyed — appears to have had been spared.
Archaeologists from the University of Stavanger have discovered what they consider to be the stays of the reliquary — containing a fraction of an arm bone of St Swithun — hidden within the cellar at the bottom of the north tower of the cathedral. St Swithun is the patron saint of town.
The find consists of a gilded copper panel measuring five by ten centimetres. It has small nail holes along the perimeters which, the archaeologists say, indicate that it has been attached to a bigger, wood object.
In reference to this, archaeologists also recovered a gilded silver medallion, decorated with an animal motif and bearing similar nail holes, and several other decorative glass ornaments. All these finds could have belonged to the reliquary of St Swithun, the archaeologists report.
The conservator Bettina Ebert said: “We were very surprised after we carried out an X-ray examination of the copper plate. The image clearly reveals a church constructing with a tower and roof, columns, and windows.”
The excavation was carried out by a research team from the Museum of Archaeology, led by Sean Denham. He was accompanied by Ms Ebert and a senior researcher, Margareth Hana Buer.
“For the Church and town, this find is a sensation,” Mr Denham said.
Historical sources suggest that the primary Bishop of Stavanger, an Englishman named Reinald, brought the arm bone of St Swithun from England as early because the 12 months 1112. The cathedral was dedicated to St Swithun when it was accomplished in about 1125. The relic was then placed on the high altar.
Ms Buer said: “The arm bone of St Swithun was beneficial, and would have been rigorously wrapped in beautiful cloth after which placed in a gold casket with precious stones in beautiful colors. There were several such reliquary boxes, shaped like houses, in Norway within the Middle Ages, but few have been preserved.”
On 2 July 1517, St Swithun’s Day, the last Catholic Bishop of Stavanger, Hoskuld, within the presence of witnesses, created an inventory of the cathedral’s relics. The results of this most up-to-date excavation suggest that several of those treasures were hidden within the cellar with the intention to save them from destruction, researchers have said.
The excavation was formed after the possibility discovery last 12 months of a 700-year-old ivory figurine of Melchior, considered one of the three sensible men, within the cellar.
Mr Denham said: “In terms of quantity and significance, the finds within the basement have exceeded all expectations, and reflect greater than 1000 years of Stavanger’s history. They display the cathedral and city’s clerical wealth and call with Rome in a way not previously seen within the archaeological material.”
Visitors will give you the option to view the treasures within the museum’s 2025 exhibition celebrating the cathedral’s 900th anniversary.
