Bears . . . or are they?

A brilliant evening spent with Appleby Archaeology Group at Dacre Church, near Penrith. A really good turnout of Group members and some local people. A fascinating church, which I had never visited, I don’t know why.
 
Archaeological investigation has revealed that the present church is built on the site of a very early monastery, mentioned by Bede. Our guide for the evening was Rachael Newman from Oxford, who was involved with the investigation, and she certainly knew all about it. She walked us through the church and then round the churchyard, pointing out the evidence, for example the rather fine 9th century carved stone that was once part of a cross – see extra. 

On the way round, as she showed us where excavations had taken place and described what had been found, we visited each of the famous Dacre Bears. There is one of these in each corner of the churchyard and they are a complete mystery. No one can date them with any certainty; no one knows why they were there, or what they represent. They have always been called Bears and stories have been told around them, but actually no one knows . . . !

 
Here is our guide and few of the group as they examine one of the ‘bears’. A really good evening. And a wonderful drive home as the sun went down. There will be some fabulous sunsets for those who can see them. (I dare not ask how Carlisle has got on - Gordon is watching the last few minutes of play.)
 
This is done in haste, as we have a train to catch in the morning. I will return to this – so many links with what I have been reading and finding out about.