Curiosities of Staffordshire - The Saracens of Biddulph Moor
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- Опубліковано 24 сер 2024
- Today we visit the church of St Lawrence in Biddulph, Staffs to see some medieval tomb lids and investigate their connection to a local legend. The story refers to 'The Black Men of Biddle' (Biddle being local dialect for 'Biddulph'), a local folk tale relating to a supposed group of Saracens brought back to Biddulph by crusader knights returning from the Holy Land in the middle ages. To this day there are families living in Biddulph Moor who claim to be descendants of this group and, indeed, there are genetic signs amongst the local population that show this to be the case.
The Islamic influence on the architecture of St Chad's church in Stafford has also been attributed to the Saracens of Biddulph who counted stonemasons amongst their number, although this link is quite tentative.
The tomb lids themselves depict motifs which are consistent with those on tomb lids of knights throughout Europe. An elaborate cross with a sword motif is a common design to indicate the tomb of a noble. The axe is not generally considered a noble weapon but it is sometimes featured on tombs of warriors from the period. It is likely that these were the tombs of knights and it is certainly possible that they fought in the crusades given the local connection. They have even been mentioned in connection with the Knights Templar although there is no tangible evidence of this. The Templars had a preceptory at nearby Keele so it isn't impossible that local noble families would have been connected with the order but to say these tombs were those of Templar knights is a stab in the dark.
For more information on the story see the following links:
www.thefreelibr...
www.stchadsstaf...
Below is the link to a similar tomb unearthed in Edinburgh:
www.livescience...
Fascinating! Heloed to start Biddulph Historical Society in the late 1960's.
Live in Essex now heloing local Historical Societies and museums here.
Great hobby.
St Chads in Stafford not entirely un-related as there is/was an original inscription in the church stating that "Orm (of Biddulph) caused me to be established"; Source: "W. Beresford's Memorials of Old Staffordshire published 1909." Thanks for the tour as my ancestors were Baileys living on Biddulph Moor.
I’m a bailey ❤️
The tops of stone coffins show not crosses but keys. The cross within the circle is Templar.
I don't know if you are still doing videos of the Curiosities of Staffordshire, but I do appreciate the videos I've come across so far. In regard to the Saracens in the Midlands, you might be interested in UA-cam video ua-cam.com/video/Mm9C4zjRw08/v-deo.html, [BBC - HISTORY COLD CASE] Ipswich Man, provided by ambrecielle and Published on Sep 24, 2011. The forensic work on a medieval skeleton proved he was of african or sub-saharan origin and there was mention of when 6 Saracens were brought to the Midlands by particlar knights, so it is thought he was one of those Saracens. I have many ancestors who came from England, so I love seeing the type of videos you are doing.
i alwayz knew that i were a knight lol
Romans