Saxon Deities, Site of the 'Saxon' Temple, Stowe

Summary

A long hollow 40 metres by 15 metres with an open end facing south towards the Gothic temple. There are the remains of one brick and stone pedestal 75cms square on the west side and some old yew trees on the east side. The temple originally took the form of 7 statues, probably by Rysbrack, representing the seven Nordic deities who gave their names to the days of the week. The statues were originally near Nelson's seat before 1732 by 1749 they stood in a ring around the Gothic temple by 1777 they were here. Site:150289*0

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Description

(1) The Saxon Temple originally took the form of seven statues, probably by Rysbrack, representing the seven nordic deities who gave their names to days of the week, set around an altar in a yew grove. The statues were originally near Nelson's seat (just to the north of the house) before 1732, by 1749 they stood in a ring around the Gothic Temple and by 1777 they were in this location.

All the statues are recorded in the 1921 sale catalogue but only one, Friday, in 1922 (this is now at Portmerion). this perhaps accounts for the one remaining statue base. The `floor` of one of the Thornborough Roman barrows was reconstructed here in the mid 19th century, no sign of this could be found. (6)

(3) The origin of Lord Cobham’s commission to Rysbrack to carve seven Portland stone statues of the Saxon Gods who gave their names to the days of the week (Sunna, Mona, Tiw, Woden, Thuner, Friga and Seatern) lies in the long-standing belief in the Germanic roots of the English nation. More particularly, it was held that the Saxons brought liberal notions of government to Britain. This theory was expounded by Richard Verstegen in A Restitution of Decayed Intelligence in Antiquities (1605), in which the seven deities were illustrated by engravings that provided Rysbrack with the models for these statues. They were carved c.1727, and a few years later described in verse by Cobham’s nephew Gilbert West, who made a genealogical connection between ancient and modern ‘German’ kings: "Tiw, ancient Monarch of remotest Fame, Who led from Babel’s Tow’rs the German Name. And warlike Woden, fam’d for martial Deeds, From whom great Brunswick’s noble Line proceeds."Stowe (1732)

Thus, Lord Cobham’s commission could be called a celebration of the ideals of British Liberty embodied in the succession of Hanover.

Rysbrack’s statues were originally set up in a circle around a seven-sided altar close to Nelson’s Seat (see p. 37), a short distance to the west of the house. When the Gothic Temple was added in the 1740s, they were moved to accompany it on the eastern edge of the Hawkwell Field, but by 1773 they had once more migrated to a clearing in an oak wood nearer to the Queen’s Temple which came to be known as the Wick (or ‘Week’) Quarter.

Rysbrack stood the deities on ‘primitive’ pedestals formed of massive blocks of stone, and their names were carved into their bases in an approximation of runic script. Each one was accompanied by a yew tree, which by 1905 had grown to cast a gloomy shade over the whole group. The statues were sold in 1921–2, but have all been located in recent years. The remains of their bases were discovered by archaeological investigations in 1992, and the National Trust plans to reinstate casts on the site.

On the opposite side on the river, in the parish of Thornborough, were two barrows of considerable size, which were opened by the Duke's father in 1840. One was found to have been before cut through, and no relics except loose stones, evidently not in their original position, were discovered. In the other barrow a floor of rough stone was found about two feet below the level surface of the adjoining ground, on which were fragments of glass vessels, several of them with ashes inside them, and fragments of pottery, and in some cases the ashes had not been completely calcined but fragments of bones could be discovered, pronounced to be human bones; also, a small gold ornament, a massive gold ring, together with some traces of iron weapons, were found. The vessels and the bones and ashes appeared to have been originally protected by an oaken plank and inclined stones, which had subsided from the weight of the earth, and had crushed the frail vessels they were intended to protect. Investigation at the time led to the belief that the barrow was probably the burial place of Togodumnus, killed in battle with the Romans, on the banks of the Ouse, as recorded in Tacitus. The golden ornaments were in the British Museum; while the floor having been removed with care, stone by stone, was replaced in its exact order and aspect in the grove of the Saxon deities, where it might still be seen.(16)

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