SK 623873

Reused in the two uppermost courses of the foundations of the south wall of the south aisle of the nave of the priory church, in the fourth buttress from the east. Two stones from the same original grave-cover, with stone 1b (the 'foot' end) above and overlying 1a (the 'head' end). Both stones lie oriented north–south.

The buttress in the foundations of which the two stones are incorporated was probably added to the fabric in the early fourteenth century (Venables 1879–80, 154), at the same time that the aisle wall itself was comprehensively rebuilt. The process evidently reused many earlier ashlars. The original nave of c. 1100 did have a contemporary south aisle, no doubt similar to that which survives on the northern side, but this was evidently completely replaced by the much wider surviving structure, which was apparently built to serve as a parochial aisle.

St Mary and St Martin

When the two stones are taken together the original grave-cover is almost complete. The final few centimetres of the 'head' end are buried beneath the masonry of the aisle wall foundations, whilst a section is probably missing from the centre of the monument, where it has been neatly cut into two stones to facilitate reuse. The upper surfaces of both stones are considerably, though evenly, weathered and the arris of stone 1a has suffered some severe mechanical damage.

Careful measurement demonstrates that the grave-cover represented by the two stones tapered slightly from 'head' end to 'foot' end. It was decorated with a simple, precisely-cut angle-roll running round the edge of the 'lid'. There is no sign that the roll was ornamented with a cable. The panel within the lid thus defined contains no sign of any decoration, though it is conceivable that sculpted decoration or an inscription has weathered away.

Appendix A item (stones dating from Saxo-Norman overlap period or of uncertain date)

This simple grave-cover is representative of a type of monument that is quite well known in the East Midlands and is usually dated generically to the late eleventh or early twelfth century. Examples in Nottinghamshire include North Muskham 1, Mattersey 1 and possibly Halloughton 1, all reported below. Particular comparison can be drawn between Blyth 1 and one of those excavated from St Mark's church in Lincoln, Lincoln St Mark 27, which has an excavated context and was accorded a twelfth-century date, yet thought to represent a poor-quality copy of a somewhat earlier monument type (Everson and Stocker 1999, 286, ills. 416–17). Blyth Priory was founded in 1088 (Coffman and Thurlby 2001), and it is likely that this monument marked the grave of an early patron or convent member, possibly one originally buried in the nave south aisle before it was replaced by the present building.

Late eleventh or twelfth century

Unpublished