Set in west-facing internal wall above chancel arch

First mentioned in 1607, in north wall of church pulled down in 1783

St Paul

Good

Latin inscription, in Anglo-Saxon capitals, on two stones (three lines on each), unenclosed by any mouldings:

 

 

Translation: `The dedication of the basilica of St Paul on the 9th day before the Kalends of May in the 15th year of king Ecfrid; and in the 4th (sc. `year') of abbot Ceolfrid, founder, by the guidance of God, of the same church.'

This is the oldest surviving church dedication in England and as such is of considerable importance. It seems likely to have been contemporary with the actual dedication of St Paul's on Sunday, 23 April 685. Ecfrid was killed shortly afterwards on 20 May 685. It is part of the `Roman' tradition of Jarrow to have such a dedication — especially one prefixed by the Chi-Rho. It is possible that the inscription, which up to the eighteenth century was in the north wall of the nave, was in its original position, since these stones are described as through stones (Grose 1773). On the other hand, it was the opinion of the professional mason who reset the inscription that the stones were originally in two halves (Brand 1789, 50-1). If so, it may have been separated by another piece of sculpture, although the form of 16 is comparable.

685

Camden 1607, 606 and fig.; Gibson 1695, cols. 779-80 and fig.; Cox 1720, 1, 620-1 and fig.; Bede 1722, 296 note; Grose 1773, 1 (no pagination), fig.; Leland 1774, IV, 42 (original numbering III, 39); Grose 1784, 102; Hutchinson 1787, 475-6; Pegge 1787, 14-15 and fig.; Brand 1789, 50 note, 51 note, and fig.; Gough 1806, III, 353, 371; Dugdale 1817, 503; Surtees 1820, 67-8; Richardson 1842, 293 and fig.; Parker 1846, 8 and fig.; Raine 1854, xxvi; Longstaffe 1858, 86; Stuart 1867, 44-5; Hewitt 1874, 217; Smith and Cheetham 1875, 850; Hübner 1876, 71, no. 198, and figs.; Boyle 1882-4, 253, fig. on 255; Browne 1884-8, 8 and fig.; Allen and Browne 1885, 351; Boyle 1885, 199-201, 209, fig. 5; Allen 1887, 93-4, fig. 8; Allen 1889, 202; Boyle 1892, 587-8; Browne 1893, 61; Hodges 1893, 148-9 and fig.; Bede 1896, II, 361; Browne 1896, 230-1, pl. 9; Savage 1900, 34-5, fig. on 34; Allen 1901-3, 93; Stevens 1904, 38; Hodgson 1906-11b, 131-2, pl. 3; Quentin 1908, 128-9; Rose 1909, 22 and fig.; Rose 1911, 37-9; Hodgkin 1913, 174; Browne 1916, 34-5, pl. 7, 14; Howorth 1917, II, 287, fig. facing 286; Brown 1925, 133-4; Diehl 1925, 358, no. 1820A; Clapham 1930, 39; Booth 1933, 29 and fig. facing; Rivoira 1933, 145; (—) 1935-6, 46; Levison 1946, 262, 273 note; Saxl and Wittkower 1948, 11 and fig.; Gilbert 1951-6, 316, 319-20, pl. 20; Pevsner 1953, 175, pl. 4B; Radford 1954a, 204; Colgrave and Romans 1956, 22-3, pl. facing 29; Hunter Blair 1956, 156, 319, pl. 6; Fisher 1962, 76-7, figs. 12, 16; Taylor and Taylor 1965, 338, 347; Okasha 1971, 85-6, pl. 61; Wallace-Hadrill 1975, 60-1; Higgitt 1979, 343-74, pl. 60