Forgotten faith? Tracing early Christianity in western Britain and Ireland

It used to be said that Christianity in Roman Britain was a short-lived phenomenon that sputtered out in the 5th century, needing the missionary efforts of St Columba, St Ninian, and St Augustine of Canterbury to revive it in the later 6th century. But there is now an increasing body of evidence that the religion continued to thrive as a force for learning, culture, and social organisation in the western parts of England and Wales, with links to Brittany and Ireland. Chris Catling goes in search of the latest thinking.

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Current Archaeology

March 5, 2021

Llansadwrn, on Anglesey, not only retains the name of the founding saint (Sadwrn, or Saturnus), but it also has Wales’ earliest Christian tombstone. Dating from c.600, it reads: ‘Here lies blessed Saturninus and his holy wife. Peace be with you both.’ ALL photos: Elizabeth Rees. In that rather simplistic view of the early medieval period that regards Romanitas (‘the Roman way’) as the norm and everything else as falling short, the idea prevails that Britain descended into barbarism from the late 4th century. And there was no surer sign of this than the abandonment of Christianity, which was given legal status by the Emperor Constantine’s Edict of Milan in AD 313 and made the E

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