Earliest British Christian Girl

Trumpington Meadows, a village near Cambridge, is the place here a teenage girl, probably of noble birth, was laid to rest, lying on an ornamental bed, in her best clothes. Exactly how this 16-year-old Anglo Saxon girl met her death,  and who she was remains mysterious, but she was interred wearing a gold cross, suggestive of her having been one of the earliest Christians in Britain.

It was Cambridge University scientists who unearthed her well-preserved 1,400-year-old grave, a burial site indicating that Christianity had established itself as early as the 7th century in this area, not long after Roman monk St Augustine was dispatched in 595 by Pope Gregory the Great to convert the English.

His missionary team started in Kent, slowly working their way around the country until he became first Archbishop of Canterbury in 597, although it is certain that Christians and pagans co-existed for a very long time. The latest discovery gives good insights to life at the time, the girl being buried, according to the pagan tradition, with grave goods – in the shape of a knife and glass beads for use in the next life –which contravenes Christian beliefs.

Expert on Anglo-Saxon cemeteries Dr Sam Lewsey called this an extremely rare discovery, because, as Christian conversion only gradually filtered down, such an elaborate burial, including a valuable artifact, are sure signs that this girl was either nobility or royalty, the cross  certainly  belonging to the highest sphere of society.

13  such Anglo Saxon so-called bed burials have over time been discovered, almost all noble women, laid to rest on wood and metal frames topped with straw mattresses, but none earlier than 7th century. The small – 1in wide – gold cross, dated to between 650 and 680AD  and studded with cut garnets, was almost certainly sewn into her clothing around the neck and worn in daily life. 

Three further graves were found the others containing two girls in their late teens – with no religious signs – an individual, in their 20s, gender unknown, so the girl buried with the cross could have had an official role in the fledgling Christian church, which the Romans had tried without success  to introduce  200 years before. 

7th century kings and nobles were happy to join in with the conversion process, because any noblewoman not wanting to marry could use the church as a good choice instead. Since life in those days was hard, and average life expectancy short by modern standards, the girl probably died young because of illness, like the plague, which could have killed the other three as well.

Back in those peaceful times, people were healthy, well-fed and in many cases quite prosperous, as well as being, contrary to misplaced ideas, more than a little sophisticated into the bargain, because archaeology has shown that the Anglo-Saxons produced stunning and intricate jewellery, probably mining silver and gold in England, and trading other commodities across Europe and Asia.

Tests will be conducted on the skeleton to establish cause of death of the young woman, what she tended to eat and her medical condition, because the way that she relates to the other three graves is key to the investigation, establishing  whether the buried people were related, for example, such a small set of graves being unusual, even if the bed and cross are ignored. Just why this one grave merited such lavish  treatment has captured the imagination of all involved, and they are impatient to learn more.