The Church triumphant: the Masham column and the art of the Church in ninth-century Anglo-Saxon England.

The Masham Column, dated to the early 9th century, is one of a group of monuments produced at a workshop active in the Anglo-Saxon Northumbrian sub-kingdom of Deira. Examination of the carved decoration of these monuments indicates that this centre had access to high quality sources not too far removed from ultimately early Christian origins, and that these models were adapted in keeping with liturgical and iconographic innovations current in the Carolingian world. Analysis of the Masham Column indicates further that those responsible for its design were seeking both to express the presence and status of the Church In the region, and to define its identity.