The story of Rumwoldstow begins in 885 AD. The wealthy widow Cyneswithe has dedicated herself to the reestablishment of a minster sacred to Rumwold, the infant saint born in the hamlet of Walton near her home of Sutton in Mercia. The old minster fell into disrepair and was abandoned following Viking incursions over the last fifty years, but Cyneswithe remembers her mother describing the minster and how the nuns would sing the hours, tend the gardens, study their books and aid the villagers. A small group of nuns and monks have joined with her to refound Rumwoldstow in the old Roman fort at Sutton, which they feel will be more secure than the exposed site of the old minster and current parish church.
Cyneswithe puts her trust in nearby Bannasburg, a Mercian fortified town of long standing. However, the Vikings are threatening to extend the Danelaw into Northamptionshire and see everything east of the Cherwell as fair game. Indeed the little settlement just across the Cherwell from Bannasburg has so many Danish settlers and traders that some people are calling it Grimsby – a most un-Christian name, Grim being a name of Woden, the old pagan god who we remember in legend but would hardly name a village for him. And Sutton is on the wrong side of the Cherwell…
So despite being in the heart of Mercia, and close to Bannasburg, the monastics of Rumwoldstow are on uncertain ground. They lack a powerful (royal) sponsor. But there is a holy spring with healing water, and surely the relics of St Rumwold will draw pilgrims?
Further South, the Mercian (or Wessex) burg at Oxnaford is unlikely to be of material aid, though we do look to St Frideswithe’s abbey for support.
The first members of Rumwoldstow are:
– Cyneswithe, self styled abbess
– Ælfrun, skilled weaver and scholar
– Brother Alf, the smith
– Æthelwine scribe
Future members of Rumwoldstow are likely to include:
– Monks and nuns, possibly nuns who were driven out of Barking Abbey in 871, or who have come from Oxford in a spirit of adventure
– Inhabitants of Sutton
– Warriors who will defend Rumwoldstow