St Edmund's Monument

Overview

Heritage Category: Listed Building

Grade: II

List Entry Number: 1458357

Date first listed: 24-Dec-2018

Location Description: St Edmund’s Monument on land north-east of Abbey Terrace, 95m east of Abbey Hill, Hoxne: Latitude 52.344827 Longtitiude 1.203508

Location

Location Description: St Edmund’s Monument on land north-east of Abbey Terrace, 95m east of Abbey Hill, Hoxne: Latitude 52.344827 Longtitiude 1.203508

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

National Grid Reference: TM1830376692

Summary

A commemorative memorial in the form of a cross, erected in 1849 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.

Reasons for Designation

The St Edmund's Monument located on Abbey Hill, Hoxne in Suffolk, which was erected in 1849 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 on the site of a veteran tree, and records the demise of the tree in 1849.

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 1849, and was found to have an embedded arrow head, considered to be further evidence of the veracity of the legend. The monument was erected in place of the tree, and remains a prominent and frequently visited historic presence on Abbey Hill.

Details

A commemorative memorial in the form of a cross, erected in 1849 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.

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.1849 / 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

Legal

This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.