page_title: Repton Abbey
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Repton Abbey / History
caption_attribution_description: St Alfthritha at St Wystan's in Repton, Derbyshire. The original church here was established way back in early Anglo-Saxon times. This window commemorates St Alfthritha, the local abbess in the late 6th century.
context_page_description: Repton Abbey was an Anglo-Saxon Benedictine abbey in Derbyshire, England. Founded in the 7th century, the abbey was a double monastery, a community of both monks and nuns. The abbey is noted for its connections to various saints and Mercian royalty; two of the thirty-seven Mercian Kings were buried within the abbey's crypt. The abbey was abandoned in 873, when Repton was overrun by the invading Great Heathen Army.
context_section_description: The abbey is traditionally recorded as being founded in about 600 AD by Saint David. However, another source states that the abbey may have been founded around 60 years later by the Mercian royal family.
  The abbey was a double monastery, housing both monks and nuns and headed by an abbess. The first abbess is recorded as being Saint Werburgh or Werberga (d. 699), daughter of Wulfhere, King of Mercia and Saint Ermelida (who was daughter of Eorcenberht, King of Kent). The monks and nuns of the abbey were almost exclusively nobles and aristocrats, with many of the abbesses, such as Werburgh, related to royalty.
  In 697 the abbey, when under the control of Abbess Alfthritha, was visited by St Guthlac, who wished to receive "the tonsure and religious dress, determined to do penance for his sins". Guthlac left the abbey to live a solitary life as a hermit.
  The abbey's crypt was constructed in the first half of the 8th century (before 740), and is thought to have originally been a baptistery, as it is built on top of a natural spring. It was later converted for use as a mausoleum, with the first interment being that of King Æthelbald of Mercia, who was murdered at Seckington in Warwickshire in 757.
  The east-end of the abbey church (the chancel), and the crypt, were renovated by King Wiglaf of Mercia. King Wiglaf was buried within the crypt following his death in 839.
  Wiglaf was succeeded to the Mercian throne by his grandson, Wigstan. King Wigstan was murdered in 840, and his remains were also placed within the crypt in 849. After reports of miracles at his tomb the abbey became a place of pilgrimage, and from the 9th century Wigstan was considered a saint. This upsurge in visitors led to the need for additional staircases to be constructed to manage the flow of visitors into and out of the crypt.
  Around the 9th century porticoes were added to the north and south of the abbey church. The church itself is known to have been decorated with multi-coloured stained glass, stone sculptures and stucco wall mouldings.
caption: Stained glass window depicting St Alfthritha, former Abbess of Repton
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