St Edmund's Monument

Summary

A commemorative memorial in the form of a cross, erected in the mid-C19 marking the site, according to legend, where Edmund, King of East Anglia, subsequently St Edmund the Martyr, Patron Saint of England, was executed by the Danes in AD 870; the shaft was replaced following storm damage in 1907.

Reasons for Designation

The St Edmund's Monument located on Abbey Hill, Hoxne in Suffolk, which was erected in the mid-C19 to commemorate the execution by the Danes of Edmund, King of East Anglia and subsequently St Edmund the Martyr, in AD 870, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Historic interest:

* commemorative significance as a memorial referencing an historic episode believed to have been the execution of Edmund, King of East Anglia by the Danes in AD 870;

* locational significance, as a monument marking the place where, according to legend, King Edmund was bound to a tree and executed. The monument was erected the mid-C19 on the site of a veteran tree, and records the demise of the tree in 1848.

Architectural interest:

* its dignified simple design with a carved crown and arrows symbolising the means of Edmund's execution.

History

The monument to St Edmund at Abbey Hill, Hoxne,in Suffolk, marks the place, by legend, where Edmund, King of East Anglia was executed by the Danes in AD 870. The monument stands on the site of an oak tree to which Edmund was said to have been bound and then killed by a volley of arrows. The tree fell in 1848, and was found to have an embedded arrow head, considered to be further evidence of the veracity of the legend. A memorial was erected in place of the fallen tree in the mid-C19, and was inscribed: ‘St. Edmund, King and Martyr, Nov. 20th AD. 870, oak tree fell August 1848, by its own weight.’ The shaft of the cross was damaged in a storm in 1905 and was replaced in 1907, when the date of the fallen oak was mistakenly inscribed ‘1843’ instead of ‘1848’. The memorial remains a prominent and frequently visited historic presence on Abbey Hill.

Details

A commemorative memorial in the form of a cross, erected in the mid-C19 marking the site, according to legend, where Edmund, King of East Anglia, subsequently St Edmund the Martyr, Patron Saint of England, was executed by the Danes in AD 870; the shaft was replaced following storm damage in 1907.

MATERIALS. Ashlar stone and red brick.

EXTERIOR. The monument comprises a tapered rectangular stone shaft terminating in an Alisée Patée cross head. The shaft rises from a triple-stepped stone plinth, and carries the inscription ' SAINT EDMUND THE MARTYR / A.D. 870 / OAK TREE FELL AUG.1843 [sic] / BY ITS OWN WEIGHT.' Above the inscription is a recessed panel within which is a relief carving of a crown set against crossed arrows. The monument stands on a plain base of red brick.

SOURCES: Hoxne History, ‘The Legend of St Edmund and his Monument’, https://www.hoxnehistory.org.uk/St%20Edmund.php, accessed 11 January 2022

This list entry was subjected to a Minor Enhancement to provide a historical note and source on the 14 January 2022

Sources

Websites
Hoxne History, ‘The Legend of St Edmund and his Monument’, accessed 11 January 2022 from https://www.hoxnehistory.org.uk/St%20Edmund.php

End of official list entry

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