I think we can probably establish this as having a pre-historic origin.
In 270 a.d., the Emperor Aurelian declared worship of the sun god, Sol Invictus, an official religion throughout the empire. He dedicated the Sol Invictus Temple in Rome on December 25th., 274, and declared that day Dies Natalis Solis Invicti – the Day of the Birth of the Unconquered Sun. Our midwinter festival has been held on 25th. ever since.
If this spring had previously hosted a winter solstice festival, then the Romans patrolling the nearby Wade's Causeway would have referred to it as Fontana Natalis – the 'Birth Spring', or 'Winter Solstice Spring' (the winter solstice being the birth of the year – in the Welsh language, Christmas is Nadolig, in Cornish it's Nadelik, both words derived from Latin natalis - 'birth').
Centuries later, a folk rendition of Latin fontana natalis (perhaps influenced by Norman French 'fontein') was all they could manage. But it's there to this day – Nattie Fonten. Roll on, roll on.
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Origin of name and cross on top :
In 1121, King Henry 1 married Adeliza, daughter of Godfrey de Louvain, Duke of Lower Lorraine. As part of her entourage, came her half-brother, Josceline de Louvain. Shortly afterwards, Josceline married Agnes de Percy, whose family owned this moorland. (Her brother was Alain de Percy, whose name is preserved in Allen Tofts). It is thought that this cross was raised on top of the howe to commemorate the wedding. It couldn't have been much later because, when Alain died without legitimate heir in his father's lifetime, Josceline de Louvain changed his surname to Percy in order to preserve his wife's illustrious dynasty
The cross was broken – along with about thirty others on these moors – by Puritan 'iconoclasts' who regarded them as idolatrous. This would be during the Commonwealth period (1649 – 1660).
Louvain Howe marks the junction of roads from Whitby and Robin Hood's Bay on the way south to Thornton-le-Dale. There is a well here, served only by surface water, and, consequently, often dry. It's roughly eight feet deep and three feet square – I once sheltered in it during a storm!
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The name is often said to be from Welsh 'plu maen', meaning parish stone. Problem with that is Welsh 'plu' means feathers! Parish is 'plwyf'
Cornish 'plyw' (pronounced, I think, 'ploo') means parish, and that fits the bill better. But Cornish for stone is 'men'
We're left with either Welsh plwyf maen, or Cornish plyw men. But neither are a million miles away, and 'parish stone' looks plausible.
The problem now is establishing how early this "parish" was. First mention of parishes in English was in 'Life of Cuthbert' by anon of Lindisfarne, circa 700. Its "parrochia of Osingadun" was in N. Yorks, and held by Abbess Aelfflaed, but is now lost.
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14th. August, 2006.
Hello,
My name's Hotaire. I've been based in Pickering, North Yorkshire, for 30 years. My interests include just about everything on the North York Moors prior to the Norman Conquest.
I started out by photographing the place – three consecutive annual exhibitions at the National Park Centre (1994, '95, & '96). But then, sick of not knowing a hell of a lot about what I was photographing, I followed the trail into academia. My M.A. thesis was on the Ragnarsson dynasty of York – the first (Danish) of the two Viking settlement waves here.
My two favourite reads are Bede's 'Historia Ecclesiastica' and Steinbeck's 'Cannery Row' - don't ask! And now I've turned writer, having just completed a 200 page tome called 'Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme'. No publisher yet, but it's early days.
Thank you for visiting me.
Hotaire.
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