Saint Gregory

Pope Gregory I was deeply concerned with missionary work and saw England as a key frontier, even though Celtic Christianity had already made its mark. His decision was influenced by the famous story of seeing Anglo-Saxon slaves in Rome, whom he described as “not Angles but angels.” By sending Augustine, Gregory ensured Roman Christianity took root in England, shaping its ecclesiastical structure. He reigned from 590–604, and in 596, commissioned Augustine and about 40 monks to travel to Kent, beginning the Gregorian Mission that converted King Æthelberht and established Canterbury as the seat of the new archbishopric. His cult was strong in early Saxon England, although dedications to him are far less common than to other saints.

 

King Alfred

We know he was a great fan of Saint Gregory. Gregory’s emphasis on rulers serving their people resonated with Alfred’s own vision of Christian kingship. In the 890s, Alfred launched a programme to translate key Latin texts into Old English. Gregory’s Pastoral Care was the first, chosen because Alfred believed it was essential for restoring proper governance and religious life. His writings gave Alfred a blueprint for Christian kingship: rulers must serve their people, clergy must guide with humility, and education must underpin governance. Quite a manifesto? Alfred commented: “When I remembered how learning had decayed in England, I translated this book into English from Latin, and sent a copy to every bishop in my kingdom, because I wished it to be a teaching for all the people, since it is very necessary that one should know how to govern a kingdom with wisdom.”

 

The King’s Demesne

The Manor of North Curry, which included what is now Stoke, was in the King’s Demesne in Saxon times, until King Cnut made Harold Godwinson Earl of Wessex (the same Harold who during his brief reign defeated the Danes at Stamford Bridge and then lost to the Normans outside Hastings!). This meant that the land was under the direct control of the king, and not let to ealdormen or other lords of the land. The farmland we now see between Woodhill and the Parret, north of West Sedgmoor main drain, would have been a royal hunting forest (hemce the name Parks), and King Alfred may well have spent time there with his men. It also meant that, when a chapelry was established some time during the Saxon period, it would have been the King who would have made the decision, which would then have to be approved by the church.

 

The Present Church

The dedication of the present church in Stoke St Gregory to St Gregory the Great likely dates back to the early 13th century, with the first recorded mention appearing in a Wells document from St Mark’s Day, 1223. While the current building mostly dates from the 14th and 15th centuries, the site itself ties in with earlier places of worship, almost certainly from Saxon times. We know that our church began as a daughter church of North Curry. Despite this subordinate status, Stoke St Gregory did have its own dedication. This suggests that even as a dependent chapel, it had a distinct spiritual identity. That wasn’t uncommon: daughter churches often bore separate dedications, especially when they served growing communities or had local patrons with particular devotional preferences, as in our, sometime local, King Alfred the Great.

 

And here he is in one of our most impressive church windows, with Gregory on the left and Alfred 2nd from the right. Make up your own mind . . . . .