Site of the cell of Christine Carpenter, Anchoress of Shere, enclosed 1329, re-enclosed 1332.
Withdrawing from secular society so as to lead an intensely prayer-orientated, ascetic life, anchorites lived voluntarily entombed within the walls of small churches.
In the close confines of her cell, the anchoress inhibits a liminal space between this world and the next and relegated to a dwelling hardly bigger than that of a confession booth, eeks out the rest of her days seeking spiritual enlightenment through solitary study as a form of living sainthood,
a being unfastened from the corporeal world.
As well as providing the psychical structure wherein an anchorite could commence the arduous journey towards unification with god and the zenith of spiritual sublimity, the anchorhold also provided a psycho-celestial linchpin for the village, with the spiritual needs of it’s population nourished by the static inhabitant. Although isolated from the community at large by stone and mortar, the anchorite lay at the very nucleus of it’s parish, with it’s cell viewed as a sort of communal womb, from which ‘an idealised sense of that community’s own reborn potential could emerge’.
Upon being walled in, anchorites committed themselves to a life of uncompromising, irreversible enclosure, entering their cells elatedly singing aloud the antiphon from the burial service “here shall be my rest forever”. By 1539, the Dissolution of the Monasteries had brought about an end to the anchoritic tradition. Most anchorholds were promptly destroyed, with very few standing churches today baring traces of their structural remnants.
'Christine's anchorcell'. Acrylic on canvas. 92 x 61 cm.
'Hagioscope II'. Cut polystyrene. 80 x 43 cm.
'Shoreham Hovel'. Acyrlic and emulsion on canvas. 32 x 24 cm.
Instalation view - Camberwell College of Arts Degree Show, Summer 2017.
'Three Anchorites'. Oil paint, graphite stick, powder and putty, charcoal, chalk and eraser on canvas, timber, headphones, meadia player, sound (4 minutes 30). 165cm x 360cm.
“The re-enclosure of the Anchoress of Shire. 1332 John etc: To the Dean of Guildford; we greet you with grace and blessing. Christine of Schire having approached us on the eighth day of October last, to whom, as is elsewhere set forth, having the consent of the Rector and parishioners there, and being moved by certain legitimate causes in this matter, we had granted a licence for her enclosure, she having by solemn act and observance taken herself into a certain enclosure adjoining the church there; now, however having as we have been informed withdrawn herself from such enclosure, she has brought us the below written letters: To the venerable father in Christ by the grace of God Bishop of Winchester, or his Vicar spiritual, brother John of Wrotham, Princarius of the Lord Pope sends greetings in the Lord. His sister Christine, an anchoress of Schire in your diocese, the bearer of these, has by humble confession shown us that Whereas at one time as is known to you, choosing enclosure in the life of an anchoress she made a solemn vow of continence, promising to remain in that place, now forswearing this life and conduct that she assumed, she left her cell inconstantly, and returned to the world. Now, with God’s help changed in heart, wishing to return to her former abode and calling, she has humbly petitioned us that she may be treaded mercifully by Apostolic See in this matter. Therefore we, who strive for the salvation of the souls of her and of all mankind with fervent longing, wishing to take care of her soul send you, according to the form of the Church, absolution for her by the authority of the Lord Pope, from the excommunication usually promulgated against such persons, if she incurs one for this reason and by her transgression of that vow, committing her to your circumspection by the same authority and beseeching you in the Lord Jesus Christ that in the manner of a good father of a family rejoicing in the finding of a lost sheep, and the said anchoress having come to you humbly within the space of four months from this our order, you shall cause her to be re-enclosed in the same place, or elsewhere if she would not be safe there, lest by wandering any longer about the world she be exposed to the bites of the rapacious wolf and, which Heaven forbid, her blood be required at your hands. And after she has been re-enclosed there and has for some time conducted herself in a worthy manner, you shall enjoin upon her by the aforesaid authority a salutary penance in proportion to her sin; if, however, she neglects to come to you within the aforesaid time, without any legitimate excuse, thenceforward she shall relapse into the sentence of excommunication, if she was bound by such, and these present letters shall relapse into the sentence of excommunication, if she was bound by such, and these present letters shall be of absolutely no moment. Given at Avignon the sixth day of the Kalends of August (27th July) in the sixteenth year of the pontificate of the Lord Pope. Concerning which, we order and command you that she Christine shall be thrust back into the said re-enclosure and that with suitable solicitude and competent vigilance you shall take care to guard her, thus enclosed, in due form, that she may learn at your discretion how nefarious was her committed sin, and that thereafter dedicating herself worthily to God, having first offered to God that which is inflicted on herby us, she maybe enabled to achieve her salvation, nor shall the said Christine wander from the laudable intention otherwise solemnly undertaken and again run about, being torn to pieces attacks of the Tempter, which Heaven forbid, objectors and rebels in this matter being canonically repressed by the censure of the Church. Given at Farnham, the 10th day of the Kalends of November (23rd October) in the year of the Lord 1332. “
2017