THE EASTERN PARTS OF THE ANGLO-SAXON CHURCH OF ST WYSTAN AT REPTON: FUNCTION AND CHRONOLOGY

Abstract

St Wystan’s at Repton is one of the most important churches of the Anglo-Saxon period because of its royal connections, the extent and character of its surviving Anglo-Saxon fabric and the historical puzzles it presents. Our understanding of the building has been transformed by the investigations undertaken by Harold Taylor, Martin Biddle and Birthe Kjølbye-Biddle. The paper begins with a brief summary of the evidence discovered and the conclusions reached by the three scholars, and then analyses what in those conclusions can be debated concerning the function and date of the columns and vaults inserted into the crypt.