Repton, Derbyshire - St. Wystan's Church - postcard c.1980s (yellow card)

• Postcard

   

• Picture / Image:  St. Wystan's Church, Repton, Derbyshire showing Anglo-Saxon chancel above crypt - artist John Wilford
• Publisher: Gregory Design, West Hallam, Derbyshire 
• Postally used: no
• Stamp:  n/a
• Postmark(s): n/a
• Sent to:  n/a
• Notes / condition: 

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^{Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :}

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^{St. Wystan's Church is an Anglican parish church in Repton, Derbyshire that is famous for its Anglo-Saxon crypt which is the burial place of two Mercian Kings.[1] The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building, and is dedicated to the Anglo-Saxon Saint Wystan (or Wigstan), who was formerly buried within the church's crypt.[2]}

^{The Anglo-Saxon abbey church was cruciform and may have had a tower over its central crossing.[3] The nave of the current church has Medieval Gothic north and south aisles that were rebuilt in the 13th century and widened early in the 14th century.[4] The west tower and recessed spire were added in 1340.[4] The top of the spire is 212 feet (65 m) above ground level.[4] In the 15th century the nave clerestory with its timber roof and the two-storey porch were built and the tower windows were altered.[4] Monuments inside the church include an alabaster effigy of a knight from about 1400 and monuments to members of the Thacker family from 1563 and 1710.[4] The tower has a ring of eight bells, the oldest of which was cast at Leicester in about 1500.[5]}

^{The church was restored between 1885 and 1886 by Arthur Blomfield.[6]}

^{The Crypt was constructed in the early 8th century; it was built over a spring and is thought to have originally been a baptistery.[1]}

^{It was converted into a mausoleum for King Æthelbald of Mercia, during his lifetime. King Wiglaf and his grandson Saint Wigstan (after whom the later church is named), were also buried in the crypt.[1]}

^{It is thought that the royal bodies were first buried in the ground to decompose before their bones were interred in the crypt.[1]}

^{Following Saint Wigstan's burial, the crypt became a place of pilgrimage.[1] However, following the Danish (Viking) invasion, St Wigstan's body was removed and taken with the fleeing monks.[7] It was later returned but King Cnut had St Wigstan's remains removed again in the 10th century; having them reburied at Evesham Abbey.[7]}

^{Nikolaus Pevsner described the Anglo-Saxon parts of St. Wystan's parish church as "one of the most precious survivals of Anglo-Saxon architecture in England".[3] In addition to the crypt they include the chancel, the northeast and southeast parts of the crossing and part of the north transept.[3] The crypt is a square chamber with a roof of three rows of three domical vaults supported by two pilasters on each wall and four free-standing pillars at the four corners of the central vault.}