2.7 The Cerne Abbas Giant

This episode sees us take a lighthearted look at the famous chalk giant of Cerne Abbas. Is he Hercules? Or a Saxon diety? Was he drawn by the Romans as a sign of victory or by the hordes of Wessex as a mustering point? Read on as we take you through our favourite theories about the Cerne Abbas Giant.

The Origins of the Giant

There are many things that remain unknown about the Cerne Abbas Giant. Why is he there? What was his original purpose? Who does he depict? And, most tantalisingly, when did he first appear?

Like everything else in folklore, there are many stories and theories about the giant and his purpose. We cover two of these on the show. But we also mentioned a recent bit of research from The University of Oxford which suggests that the giant was carved at some point in the early Medieval period as a mustering point for the armies of the West Saxons. The article is here for anyone who wants to read up on the new dating information from the study. They suggest that the giant was originally carved in the figure of Hercules, which would seem to fit with both the club and the evidence that that figure originally had a cloak draped over one arm. Perhaps this might also explain the giant member too!

Lord Holles vs. The Lord Protector

This blog is too short to even begin to go over the causes, factions and events of the first and second English civil war. If you want to know the what, where, how and who, then I’d really recommend both The Restless Republic by Anna Keay and The English Civil War: A People’s History by Diane Purkiss.

All we need to know is that Denzil Holles, Lord Holles, was part of the breakaway Peace Party which formed during the first English Civil War. While he was keen to limit the powers of the monarchy and the bishops, he had very little time for extremists like Oliver Cromwell and The Levellers.

Perhaps it is Holles’s activity antipathy that gave rise to stories amongst the locals that the giant had been re-cut under orders from Holles as an act of defiance against Cromwell, who was sometimes referred to as ‘The Hercules of England’. No doubt the puritan Cromwell would have been enraged and offended at the shocking sight of the giant’s enormous manhood so visible to all.

The Dissolution of Abbots

Thomas Cromwell, who was the great-uncle of Oliver, made his name in the history books by overseeing the reformation of the monasteries on behalf of Henry VIII. We won’t go into the full overview here as to why Henry chose to break with the church in Rome and make his smash and grab raid on the church’s holding in England. Because it essentially doesn’t matter, for our purposes, why he did it.

What does matter is that during his years-long quest to root out corruption in monastic estates, Cromwell came across many monasteries which were essentially being run as private estates for the sole benefit of the abbot. And one of these places was Cerne Abbey.

The abbot in charge at the time of Cromwell’s investigation was one Thomas Corton, rumoured to be a greedy venal soul who was dissolute in every sense of the word. He was rumoured to be keeping a mistress and he had allowed the abbey lands to fall into disrepair. It was the judgement of Cromwell that the abbey should be disbanded and the estate sold on via the Court of Augmentations. Like most monastic estates, most of the land and buildings belonging to Cerne Abbey were soon snapped up by John Tregonwell, who had been the commissioner sent by Cromwell to assess the rumours of dissolute behaviour.