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The Historic Mystery of Old St Oswald’s, Fulford

©DWL Ake. 1952
  • Saturday 10 June 2017, 10.00AM to 4pm (includes site visit)
  • Tickets: £15 (Fishergate, Fulford & Heslington Local History Society members and students £12). Ticket includes tea and coffee. Sandwiches on sale
    Book tickets
  • St Oswalds Church Hall (map)
  • Wheelchair accessible

Event details

A piece of Anglian-form ninth-tenth-century stone cross was found at the old church of St Oswald in 1980, when the building was converted into a private house. This discovery raises interesting questions about the origins of the church and its remote riverside location, half a mile from the village.

Was this an ancient crossing point of the Ouse, where travellers gave thanks for a safe passage at a sacred well or spring? What did stone sculpture mean to the Anglo-Saxons? When and why was it dedicated to St Oswald? How does it relate to the Anglian Wic and the pre-conquest churches in Fishergate? Why was the church under the control of St Olave’s in York and how does the founding of the church relate to the establishment of the village?

Join specialist speakers to explore these questions and find out more about the archaeological excavations in 1980. This year is also the 150th anniversary of the new church of St Oswald, in Main Street, Fulford, where a guided tour will take place during the lunch break. A tour of Old St Oswald’s churchyard will take place at 3pm.

Lunch will be available to purchase.

For more information about the speakers and event, please visit the Fishergate, Fulford & Heslington Local History Society website at ffhyork.weebly.com.

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