Saint Cuthmann of Steyning (8th century), also spelt Cuthman, was an

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Ch ...

and church-builder.

Life

Birth

In the

biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...

of the saint in the ''

Acta Sanctorum ''Acta Sanctorum'' (''Acts of the Saints'') is an encyclopedic text in 68 folio volumes of documents examining the lives of Christian saints, in essence a critical hagiography, which is organised according to each saint's feast day. The project w ...

'' which was preserved at the

Abbey of Fécamp An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The conce ...

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

After the Norman Conquest this abbey had acquired Cuthmann's church at Steyning – by then dedicated to him – turning it into a minster church, administered by a college of secular canons, and taking his relics to Fécamp. This college was dissolved in 1260 and the church was rebuilt, rededicated to St Andrew and became a standard parish church, with vicars appointed by the Abbey. it is said that he was born about 681, either in Devon or Cornwall, or more probably at Chidham, near

Bosham Bosham is a coastal village and civil parish in the Chichester District of West Sussex, England, centred about west of Chichester with its clustered developed part west of this. Its land forms a broad peninsula projecting into natural Chiche ...

, about 25 miles from

Steyning Steyning ( ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Horsham District, Horsham district of West Sussex, England. It is located at the north end of the River Adur gap in the South Downs, four miles (6.4 km) north of the ...

.This would make his journey from his birthplace to Steyning of a more rational length. It is speculated that his birth in Chidham at that date would place him in the right time and area to be preached to by

Saint Wilfrid Wilfrid ( – 709 or 710) was an English bishop and saint. Born a Northumbrian noble, he entered religious life as a teenager and studied at Lindisfarne, at Canterbury, in Francia, and at Rome; he returned to Northumbria in about 660, and ...

, the Apostle of Sussex (680–685), and would probably make Wilfrid the man who converted and baptised Cuthmann and his parents,Some authorities give him a date later than this.

Travels to Steyning

His legend states he was a shepherd who had to care for his paralysed mother after his father's death. When they fell on hard times and were forced to beg from door to door, he built a one-wheeled cart or

wheelbarrow A wheelbarrow is a small hand-propelled vehicle, usually with just one wheel, designed to be pushed and guided by a single person using two handles at the rear, or by a sail to push the ancient wheelbarrow by wind. The term "wheelbarrow" is mad ...

(with a rope from the handles over his shoulders taking part of the weight) in which he moved her around with him. They set out east, towards the rising sun, from his home and, even though the rope broke, he improvised a new one from

withies A withy or withe (also willow and osier) is a strong flexible willow stem, typically used in thatching, basketmaking, gardening and for constructing woven wattle hurdles.

, deciding that when that rope broke he would accept it as a sign from God to stop at that place and build a church.Some haymakers who were watching laughed at him, but a heavy rainstorm ruined their hay and taught them a lesson. Later versions of the story say that, from that moment onwards, it always rained in that particular field during the haymaking season. The withy rope broke at the place now called Steyning, upon which (according to his biography) he prayed: :"Father Almighty, you have brought my wanderings to an end; now enable me to begin this work. For who am I, Lord, that I should build a house to name? If I rely on myself, it will be of no avail, but it is you who will assist me. You have given me the desire to be a builder; make up for my lack of skill, and bring the work of building this holy house to its completion." After building a hut to accommodate his mother and himself, he began work on the church (now St Andrew's, Steyning, which in the 20th century instituted a Cuthmann chapel in his honour), with help from the locals. As the church was nearing completion and Cuthmann was having difficulty with a roof-beam, a stranger showed him how to fix it. When Cuthmann asked his name, he replied: :"I am he in whose name you are building this church."i.e. Christ, who had been a carpenter before his ministry Whatever date is ascribed to Cuthmann, this church was in existence by 857, when King

Æthelwulf of Wessex C3, C-3, C.3, C03, C.III or C-III may refer to: Life and biology * C3 carbon fixation in plants * C3-convertase, an enzyme * Complement component 3, a protein of the innate immune system * Apolipoprotein C3, a human very low density lipoprotein ...

, the father of

Alfred the Great Alfred the Great (alt. Ælfred 848/849 – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who bot ...

, was buried there.

Other legends

According to one legend,

Chanctonbury Ring Chanctonbury Ring is a prehistoric hill fort atop Chanctonbury Hill on the South Downs, on the border of the civil parishes of Washington and Wiston in the English county of West Sussex. A ridgeway, now part of the South Downs Way, runs along t ...

near Steyning was created by the Devil who became so angry at the conversion of England thanks to 'apostles' like Cuthmann that he decided to dig a channel by night to let in the sea and drown the Christians of Sussex. Fortunately, Cuthmann found out the Devil's plan and tricked him by holding a candle behind a sieve and knocking the local cock off its perch. When the Devil saw the light and heard the cock crow, he fled the scene, leaving his great plan unfinished and giving us a complex of hills (the mounds of earth from his digging), including Chanctonbury Ring and the nearby ‘ Devil's Dyke.’ According to another, whilst he was a shepherd, one day he drew a line around his sheep with his staff so that he could get away to collect food. On his return, he found that the flock had not left the invisible boundary. This miracle may have taken place in a field near Chidham, which for centuries was known as ‘St Cuthman’s Field’ or ‘St Cuthman’s

Dell Dell is an American based technology company. It develops, sells, repairs, and supports computers and related products and services. Dell is owned by its parent company, Dell Technologies. Dell sells personal computers (PCs), servers, data ...

.’ It was said that a large stone in the field, ‘on which the holy shepherd was in the habit of sitting,’ held miraculous properties.

Veneration

Cuthmann was venerated as a saint in the Steyning area before the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conque ...

. In charters of William the Conqueror, Steyning is sometimes called "St Cuthman's Port" or "St Cuthman's Parish". The translation of his relics to Fécamp led to his becoming well known on the continent and even to his feast being celebrated at many of the religious houses of Normandy. This can be seen most clearly in a German engraving of him with his "cart" by

Martin Schongauer Martin Schongauer (c. 1450–53, Colmar – 2 February 1491, Breisach), also known as Martin Schön ("Martin beautiful") or Hübsch Martin ("pretty Martin") by his contemporaries, was an Alsatian engraver and painter. He was the most important ...

, and the inclusion, transcription (from an anonymous source) and printing of his Life in the saints' lives collected in 1658 in the

Bollandist The Bollandist Society ( la, Societas Bollandistarum french: Société des Bollandistes) are an association of scholars, philologists, and historians (originally all Jesuits, but now including non-Jesuits) who since the early seventeenth century h ...

''Acta Sanctorum'', giving his feast day as 8 February. There is also a choir seat carving at

Ripon Cathedral The Cathedral Church of St Peter and St Wilfrid, commonly known as Ripon Cathedral, and until 1836 known as Ripon Minster, is a cathedral in Ripon, North Yorkshire, England. Founded as a monastery by monks of the Irish tradition in the 660s, i ...

dating from a few decades after 1450 (with him and a three-wheeled wheelbarrow) and at his birthplace of Chidham there was a Guild of St Cuthman, subject to a tax in 1522 under

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

. Though the church he founded at Steyning was later re-dedicated to Andrew not Cuthmann, moves began in January 2007 within the parish to have it rededicated to "St Andrew and St Cuthman", giving the apostle Andrew precedence but reincluding Cuthmann – these moves succeeded and the church is now dedicated to "St Andrew and St Cuthman". The church also has a Cuthmann chapel and a statue of him outside by artist Penny Reeve, while a picture of him with his wheelbarrow also continues to be Steyning's logo on its town sign.

Christopher Fry Christopher Fry (18 December 1907 – 30 June 2005) was an English poet and playwright. He is best known for his verse dramas, especially ''The Lady's Not for Burning'', which made him a major force in theatre in the 1940s and 1950s. Biograph ...

wrote a play on him in 1938 called ''The Boy with a Cart'', performed at the Lyric Theatre,

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. ...

, in 1950, directed by

John Gielgud Sir Arthur John Gielgud, (; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Briti ...

and with

Richard Burton Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s, and he gave a memorable pe ...

as Cuthman, from which the following is a quote:

Gallery

Image:CuthmanShepherd.jpg, Cuthmann the shepherd from a window in the south aisle of St Andrew's, Steyning Image:CuthmanBuilder.jpg, Cuthmann the Builder, in the same window Image:St_Andrew's_Church,_Steyning.jpg, St Andrew's, Steyning File:Stained-glass window depicting St Cuthmann of Steyning (Cuthmann Chapel, Steyning, 2006).jpg, Window in the Cuthmann Chapel

Notes

References

Bibliography

*''Acta Sanctorum'
February volume II, Feb. 8th, p.197-199
*G. R. Stephens, W. D. Stephens, 'Cuthman: A Neglected Saint', ''Speculum'', Vol. 13, No. 4 (October, 1938), pp. 448–453 *C. Grant Loomis, 'The American Tall Tale and the Miraculous', ''California Folklore Quarterly'', Vol. 4, No. 2 (April, 1945), page 119 – tells of Cuthmann hanging his gloves upon a sunbeam

External links

*
Latin text and English translation of the medieval "Life" of St Cuthman (BHL 2035)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cuthmann Of Steyning 681 births 8th-century deaths South Saxon saints People from Steyning 8th-century Christian saints Steyning English hermits 7th-century English people 8th-century English people People from Chidham and Hambrook