Southminster: A Secondary Minster in Essex

Abstract

The earliest standing fabric of the church of St Leonard, Southminster, is the early-12th-century nave, but the place-name betrays earlier origins. It was almost certainly the minster of Denesige mentioned in the will of Bishop Theodred of London of 942 x 951, but the former may have been founded in the early 8th century, when an earlier bishop of London, Ingwald, was granted a substantial amount of land in the Dengie Peninsula in eastern Essex in which Southminster is situated. Though test-pitting at Southminster has failed to reveal Anglo-Saxon pottery, metal detecting has revealed a number of sceattas nearby. Moreover, neighbouring Asheldham, which has produced middle Saxon ceramic, may have been a ‘home farm’ of Southminster. The latter was one of a number of ‘directional’ minsters in Essex and Kent named from their compass direction in relation to a parent minster. It is suggested that these were founded as a form of ‘outreach’ near to what were already community foci.