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St John the Evangelist, Ryhall.

St John the Evangelist, Ryhall, Rutland

Posted 23 January 2025.

Whenever one looks into a legend more than 1,400 years old, especially one which is parochial and not widely known, one is immediately faced with an almost impossible challenge due to the lack of evidence, or the difficulty and expense of acquiring that evidence. That said, for a legend to endure, and for it to be perpetuated without contradiction it is essential that the evidence is thin on the ground, or even nonexistent. So it is with the legend of St. Tibba. The documentary sources are few and far between and seem to begin with a passing mention in The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.¹ In relating the name of the Abbots of Peterborough Abbey, the Chronicle's entry for 963 come to the newly appointed Kenulf, later the Bishop of Winchester.

Camden in his great work, "Britannia" ² repeats the story of St. Tibba, calling her "a lesser saint" with the embellishment of her being worshipped by falconers;

Baring-Gould in his entry for March 6th in "Lives of the Saints" writes:³

In Lives of the Saints, Baring-Gould clearly draws upon Camden, but because he fails to provide any referential materials it is difficult to know where he obtained his information. Thomas Cox in his entry for Ryhall in "Magna Britannia" draws upon Camden in retelling the story of St. Tibba, but contradicts Camden on the matter of where she was anchoress;

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First page of the Peterborough Chronicle produced in the early 12th century by monks at Peterborough Abbey after their original copy had been lost in a fire in 1116 which destroyed many of the buildings there.

First page of the Peterborough Chronicle produced in the early 12th century by monks at Peterborough Abbey after their original copy had been lost in a fire in 1116 which destroyed many of the buildings there.

How this character agrees to the pagan Roman Goddess Diana (as Camden asserts), and how St. Tibba came from Godmanchester to be worshipped in Rutland Cox cannot say. However, he does cite Richard Gough's, "Additions to Camden" published in 1789, claiming that Gough "vindicated Mr Camden, as to St. Tibba's being worshipped here [in Ryhall], saying, 'We have the authority of the Saxon Annals, which expressly tell us that she was buried at Rihala, now the same Ryhal".

"Tibba, patron saint of falconers, is believed to have lived in Ryhall, Rutland, in the 7th century. She was buried there, but in the 11th century her relics were translated to Peterborough Abbey, by Abbot Ælfsige (1006–1042). According to legend, St Tibba was a niece of King Penda. The remains of a small hermitage associated with the saint can be seen on the west side of the north aisle of Ryhall church."

As has already been mentioned, the supposed anchorite's cell The remains of the supposed anchorite's cell on the west wall of the north aisle of St John the Evangelist in Ryhall, the roof weather moulding still visible. The cell was equipped with a small altar recess, and a small squint to its right possibly so that the anchoress could witness the Eucharist at the altar, or for confessional purposes. on the west side of the nave is part of the 13th or 15th century building, so this is certainly not that of St Tibba herself.

It is clear that Camden and subsequent writers used the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as their guide, and from where the legend of Tibba springs. However, there is not a single version of the Chronicle, but at least nine (known as versions A to I) written at different times, by different people who produced copies of the original for distribution to monasteries, and in some cases updated and embellished with their own work. One such text was the Peterborough Chronicle (version E) which was written by monks (or a monk) at the Abbey there in the early 12th century after their original had been destroyed in a fire in 1161,⁴ and it is only in this text, in the Annal for AD963 that there is mention of Kyneburga, Kyneswithe and Tibba.⁵ There is likely to be a very good reason for this; versions of the Chronicles written in monastic institutions were prone to modification by the monks who inserted many particulars relating to the history of their own monasteries and their own particular interests. The Peterborough monks may have inserted the references to the translation of the three saints relics to their abbey for purely financial reasons. The cult of the saints was widespread in monastic institutions and churches at the time, with each having its own relics which added greatly to their fame, attracting fee-paying pilgrims and in some cases garnering royal subscriptions in the form of hard cash. There was much rivalry between the monastic institutions to have the most important relics by way of attracting the greatest number of paying pilgrims. The relics of three virgin Christian saints would have added significantly to the abbey's fortunes, so much so that it was reported that the monks of Ramsey Abbey plotted to steal them and install them in their own institution. This does not invalidate the story, but does make one question the truth of the matter, and in particular whether Tibba actually had any connection with Ryhall. Unfortunately, in relation to Tibba, we only have the Peterborough text as there is no other reliable reference of the saint to be found, just folklore.

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1. Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. The Medieval & Classical Literature Library. See entry for AD 963.
2. Camden, William; Britannia, English translation 2nd Ed. with additions by Edmund Gibson.
3. Gould, S. Baring; The Lives of the Saints, New Edition in 16 Volumes 1897. Vol 3: March.
4. Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Wikipedia. Retrieved Jan 2020.
5. See: Points, Guy; The Combined Anglo-Saxon Chronicle; pp50-51: Google Books. Retrieved Jan 2020
   See also; Earle, J. Two of the Saxon Chronicles parallel: Google Books. for a comparison between Version A (the oldest) and Version E (the Peterborough text).