Viking age stone grave markers go on display
Two Viking era stone grave markers thought to be 1,000 years old have been put on display in a church in the north of the Isle of Man.
The carved monuments, known as the Manx crosses, were revealed when a storm knocked down part of the wall in St Patrick's Church in Jurby in early 2022.
Thought to be from the ninth or tenth century, the stones have now become a permanent feature of the church, which is open daily from 10:00-16:00 BST.
Sandra Kerrison, secretary of the Friends of Jurby Church group, said finding the crosses had changed the significance of the site.
They are a legacy of both Christian faith and Viking settlement on the island, with carvings ranging from simple crosses to complex depictions of Christian and Scandinavian themes.
The two stones were taken to the Manx Museum for recording and safe-keeping until they could be securely displayed.
The stones were carved as memorials at the site of an early chapel or keeill, and in 1700 some of the large crosses from the keeill were broken up and used for the construction of the old parish church.
When the old church was demolished in the early 1800s, the stones were reused for the wall of St Patrick's Church, which was where they were found in 2022.
The Friends of Jurby Church, which works to refurbish the 200-year-old building, received an £8,000 grant from the Ann Harrison Trust for the construction of a cabinet to house the larger 34kg stone, as well as to install both crosses into the Church.
A new path has been completed to the church, which the charity said has made the building more accessible.
Read more stories from the Isle of Man on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X.
Viking era Manx stone crosses discovered in wall
Grant for new paths to improve access to church
Friends of Jurby Church
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Cosmopolitan
6 hours ago
- Cosmopolitan
Titan: The OceanGate disaster – the full list of victims in the submersible implosion
A new Netflix documentary will explore the OceanGate submersible disaster of 2023, which left five people dead. The Titan submersible was heading down to the wreckage of the Titanic on 18 June. It was an exclusive trip reserved for only the very richest of society, with each seat on the submersible costing $250,000. However, as the Titan approached the wreckage, it stopped communicating and seemingly vanished into thin air. A four-day search and rescue mission took place in the Atlantic Ocean, before debris from the Titan was found nearly 4000m under the sea. It was thought that the Titan imploded, with the submersible's carbon fibres being unable to withstand the extreme pressure of the deep sea. Titan: The OceanGate Disaster will explore how businessman Stockton Rush and his deep-rooted desire to make extreme tourism a reality cost him, and four others, their lives. Here is the full list on who was on the Titan submersible at the time of the disaster. The 61-year-old businessman who co-founded and was CEO of OceanGate, a deep-sea exploration company. Rush had faced criticism from others in the field, and his own employees about the safety of the Titan submersible. Most submersibles are made of titanium or steel – however, the hull of the Titan was made of filament-wound carbon fibre, This made the vessel lighter, and less costly, but carbon fibre was more unpredictable. The Titan was also not 'classed' by an external body or third party. Despite warnings, Rush was confident in his contraption, which made 13 successful trips to the Titanic wreckage before the ill-fated excursion in 2023. A former employee, who was not named, told the BBC: 'Rush was very level-headed, he knew what needed to be done," he said. "He went on every sub dive, he was the pilot for every single one, and that's because he trusted the safety of the sub.' The 77-year-old French sea explorer and Titanic expert had a deep love and interest in the 1912 Titanic shipwreck, to the extent he was nicknamed 'Mr. Titanic' by loved ones. Before his death, he was the director of underwater research for RMS Titanic, the company that owns the salvage rights to the storied shipwreck, and the author of the book In the Depths of the Titanic. He had previously made 35 dives towards the wreckage, and was once a decorated commander in chief in the French navy. Nargeolet was reportedly aware that the Titan was a somewhat ramshackled operation. Friends told Vanity Fair that they 'all tried to stop him' from taking part in excursions on the vessel. Somewhat nobly, he reportedly told loved ones: 'Maybe it's better if I'm out there, I can help them from doing something stupid or people getting hurt.' The 58-year-old British adventurer and businessman had a life filled with opportunity and extremes; he previously earned a pilot's license while he was studying for a degree in Cambridge, and launched the first regular business jet service to the Antarctic with his company Action Aviation. Due to his line of work, Harding regularly visited the South Pole. He accompanied Buzz Aldrin in 2016 when the former astronaut became the oldest person to reach the South Pole, age 86. A lifelong aviation buff, in 2019 Harding was one of a team of aviators that took the Guinness World Record for a circumnavigation of the Earth via the North and South Poles in a Gulfstream G650ER in 46 hours and 40 minutes. Two years later, Harding turned his attention to the deep blue seas; working alongside retired naval officer Victor Vescovo as he dived to the deepest point of the Mariana Trench – a staggering 36,000ft deep. This excursion landed him a second Guinness World Record for greatest distance covered at full ocean depth and greatest time spent at full ocean depth. Harding is survived by his wife, Linda, his two sons and two stepchildren. The family lived in Dubai. The 48-year-old British Pakistani businessman worked as a vice-chairman of the Engro Corporation and as a director of the Dawood Hercules Corporation, where he dealt with mergers and acquisitions. He gave significant amounts to charity; he was a trustee of his family's Dawood Foundation, which focused on education. Dawood also coordinated efforts to fight Covid-19 in Pakistan, as well as providing mental health support. He had a lifelong interest in the Titanic and had bought the trip on the Titan for him and his wife, Christine. The trip was then delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic – Christine then opted to give her ticket to her son, Suleman. Initially, the 19-year-old university student was not due to go on the trip. When his father, Shahzada, bought the tickets, he intended for just him and his wife to go, as Dawood was too young (the minimum age requirement for the submersible was 18.) However, with the trip being delayed due to the pandemic, and her son really wanting to go, Christine gave up her seat. Dawood was reportedly 'really excited' to be heading down to the wreckage. Per the BBC, Christine revealed her son had taken a Rubik's Cube with him because he wanted to break a world record. Suleman reportedly carried the toy everywhere and wanted to solve the puzzle below the remains of the Titanic to set a world record. Speaking of the loss, Christine said: 'We all thought 'they are just going to come up' so that shock was delayed by about 10 hours or so. There was a time … when they were supposed to be up on the surface again and when that time passed, the real shock, not shock but the worry and the not so good feelings started.' Our thoughts are with the families and loved ones of the victims following this tragic event. Kimberley Bond is a Multiplatform Writer for Harper's Bazaar, focusing on the arts, culture, careers and lifestyle. She previously worked as a Features Writer for Cosmopolitan UK, and has bylines at The Telegraph, The Independent and British Vogue among countless others.
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Yahoo
Pastor opens dialogue on Christianity and LGBTQ+ in Rockford
ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — A Rockford pastor is working to bridge Christian theology with the LGBTQ+ community by hosting a conversation on Biblical scripture and sexuality. 'Just because it's not listed [in the Bible], that there are others within that spectrum, it doesn't mean that they're not God ordained,' said Zion Lutheran Pastor Mike Thomas, who led a conversation on Christian scripture and its relation to sexuality on Tuesday afternoon at Katie's Cup, 502 7th Street. Thomas said it took him 30 years to become an LGBTQ+ ally. 'I wasn't advocating. I was spineless,' he said. Today, Thomas is using Pride Month to open a conversation on how Christianity and sexuality intersect. 'We celebrate having conversations like this one today here, as well as at church on Sunday, to talk about what does the Scripture say about people who are in the gay community,' Thomas said. In many denominations, views interpreting homosexuality as a sin or aberration have softened, with recent studies showing a growing number of Americans support the LGBTQ+ community. 71-year-old Debbie Raymond said attitudes toward gay people have come a long way. 'At the beginning, it was very tough. You basically lived in a closet, you know, you didn't talk very much,' she recalled. Now, she's a proud member of the Lutheran church. Raymond credited events such as the one at Katie's Cup for helping to bring her and others back to religion. 'Go talk to pastors, go talk to congregations. You know, do your research, understand the first rule: I was born this way,' she said. 'It's wonderful to be able to change people's perspective on understanding what Scripture says, as well as what the central message of God's grace and mercy, through Christ. In the Gospels, that's the emphasis that we focus on,' Thomas said. Thomas also said he saw more Christian denominations than ever before at this year's on Saturday. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Yahoo
5 takeaways from a major new report on religion around the world
This article was first published in the State of Faith newsletter. Sign up to receive the newsletter in your inbox each Monday night. When people hear that researching religion is part of my job, they often ask me very specific questions about faith-related issues that have been in the news. After I disappoint them by not immediately knowing the answers, I turn to Google for help. My job has made me a search engine expert, not a religion expert. The questions that still trip me up even when I've got a strong internet connection are about the religious makeup of faraway countries. It's hard for me to quickly find info about religious life in the Czech Republic or New Zealand and then talk about what that info means for the athlete or politician who's grabbing headlines in the U.S. But now, I've got an exciting new tool in my trivia tool belt. On Monday, Pew Research Center released an interactive website that shows the religious makeup of nearly every country in the world in a single (very large) table. Once you're on the page, it takes only a few seconds to confirm that New Zealand was 40.3% Christian in 2020 or that the Czech Republic is dominated by religious 'nones.' Pew's interactive table was released alongside a new report discussing how the global religious landscape changed from 2010 to 2020. Based on more than 2,700 censuses and surveys, the report provides an in-depth look at 201 countries and territories — and plenty of fodder for conversations with your friends. Here are five key takeaways from Pew's new analysis of the global religious landscape. Christianity is the world's largest faith group, but it's not keeping pace with global population growth. In 2010, 30.6% of the world identified as Christian. By 2020, that figure had fallen to 28.8%. Islam is the fastest growing religious group. 'The number of Muslims increased by 347 million (from 2010 to 2020) — more than all other religions combined,' researchers wrote. Sub-Saharan Africa is now the region of the world where most Christians live. In 2010, Europe held that title. As of 2020, the United States has the second-largest number of religiously unaffiliated residents. China has the most. The growth of Islam from 2010 to 2020 was mostly due to natural population growth, while the decline of Christianity stemmed, in large part, from religious switching. 'Religious 'switching' — especially people shedding their religious identity after having been raised as Christians — explains much of the unaffiliated population's growth between 2010 and 2020," Pew reported. Americans are divided over religious freedom. The Supreme Court? Not as much How 'Jeopardy!' can save us all, according to Ken Jennings The Supreme Court's surprising decision day This top running back says he believes in God, not the so-called 'Madden curse' A religious school is facing pushback for its partnership with U.S. Customs and Border Protection Hidden Christianity is a unique form of Christianity practiced on some of Japan's rural islands. It gets its name from the fact that its earliest practitioners really were hiding their faith to avoid persecution. 'Hidden Christians were forced to hide all visible signs of their religion after the 1614 ban on Christianity and the expulsion of foreign missionaries. Households took turns hiding precious ritual objects and hosting the secret services that celebrated both faith and persistence,' according to The Associated Press. Early practitioners disguised their Christian icons by making them appear to be Buddhist. Even after it was safe to be openly Christian again, many families continued these secretive practices, in part because they wanted to honor loved ones who'd risked their lives and in part because they didn't fit in with mainstream Christians, the AP reported. 'Many Hidden Christians rejected Catholicism after the persecution ended because Catholic priests refused to recognize them as real Christians unless they agreed to be rebaptized and abandon the Buddhist altars that their ancestors used,' the article said. Hidden Christianity may soon be just a memory in Japan, since most current practitioners are quite old and most young people who grew up with the traditions have moved to cities and either don't want to or can't access the gatherings. A controversial research project featuring faith leaders using psychedelic drugs was released last month after a long delay. The report showed that nearly all of the members of the clergy who took part described their experiences with psilocybin as some of the most spiritually significant of their lives, but health and religion experts don't agree on what type of additional research or policy proposals that finding should inspire, according to Religion News Service. Which groups face the most discrimination in the United States? Pew Research Center recently asked Americans to weigh in, and the survey report offers an in-depth look at how people's political views influence their thoughts about discrimination. My Deseret News colleague Krysyan Edler recently wrote about the inspiring life of Caroline Klein, the chief communications officer for Smith Entertainment Group. After being diagnosed with cancer in her thirties, Klein committed to living every day like there might not be a tomorrow. 'Nothing about my situation is sad to me, but I want to make sure that when I'm gone, I've left people with a lot of great memories that bring them joy, too,' she said. After years of daydreaming about getting back into tennis, I finally started a summer tennis class on Saturday. It felt so good! Take this as the nudge you need to do that thing you've been dreaming about.
