The Corpus: Winchester (Old Minster) 52

Volume 4: South-East England

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Current Display: Winchester (Old Minster) 52, Hampshire

Overview

Object type: Fragment of column(?)

Measurements: H. 9.5 > 1 cm (3.7 > 0.4 in); W. 8 > 3 cm (3.1 > 1.2 in); D. 3.3 > 0.5 cm (1.3 > 0.2 in)

Stone type: Pale yellowish-grey, medium-grained, shelly, oolitic limestone; Combe Down Oolite, Great Oolite Formation of the Bath area, Great Oolite Group, Middle Jurassic

Plate numbers in printed volume: Ill. 584

Corpus volume reference: Vol 4 p. 299

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Present Location

Winchester City Museum, Historic Resources Centre, Hyde House, Winchester, accessions no. 2943 WS 230

Evidence for Discovery

See no. 41.

Church Dedication

Old Minster

Present Condition

One bed face survives; the carved surface is well preserved, with traces of whitewash.

Description

The fragment has a steep Z-twist about 7 cm in diameter, composed of bands 3 cm wide. The right-hand band is rounded, but the upper surface of the next band is flattened. The relief is 2.5–3 cm deep.

Discussion

This fragment may have been part of a frame like Winchester (Old Minster) no. 42, and perhaps also no. 41, but these are in a different stone and have S-twists rather than a Z-twist, and are of different diameters. The present carving was found in the same layer as Winchester (Old Minster) no. 41; but no. 58, with its steep Z-twist (Ill. 590) is a better parallel, and comes from an earlier context in the same area.

Date

Seventh century or later

References

Biddle and Kjølbye-Biddle forthcoming a, fig. 147, no. 52

M.B.; B.K.-B.

Endnotes