The first church at Lastingham was a monasteryMonastery The house of a religious community founded by St Cedd in 654, where he died and was buried in 664. His brother St ChadChad, St A disciple of St Aidan and brother of St Cedd of Lastingham, St Chad was caught up in the political struggles which accompanied the Synod of Whitby in 664. Eventually he was appointed by St Theodore, the Archbishop of Canterbury, to be the first bishop of Mercia and Lindsey (effectively the Midlands and Lincolnshire). In 672 he died and was buried at Lichfield. A healing cult associated with his tomb is described by Bede. succeeded him as abbotAbbot Head of an abbey of monks before leaving to become BishopBishop Bishops exercised pastoral care over a diocese and authority to confirm and ordain of Mercia in Lichfield. A small fragment of the stone roof gable survives from the earliest church. The importance of this monastery is shown by the high-quality carving on several fragments of stone crosses and cross heads within the church dating from the 8th to the 10th century. The monastery was probably destroyed in 9th century VikingViking Customarily refers to the Scandinavian explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, and settled in wide areas of Europe and the North Atlantic islands from the late eighth to the mid-eleventh century.There is some debate over the meaning of this word, which is attested but rarely used in the early medieval period. It was revived as a term in Scandinavian languages in the 17th century and in English in the early 19th. In contemporary sources it refers to a raider or pirate, often in association with ships and predatory activity. Some modern scholars try to keep to this restricted definition; others are happy with a wider range of meaning, applying the word to Scandinavians and their culture from approximately 790 to the mid or late 11th century, especially outside the Scandinavian homelands. raids, although the 10th century sculpture shows that it remained in use as a ChristianChristian Name originally given to disciples of Jesus by outsiders and gradually adopted by the Early Church to designate all members of the church. site. The oldest parts of the current church date from a rebuilding of 1078.
References: BedeBede, the Venerable (c.673-735) Anglo-Saxon historian and biblical scholar. Sent to study at the monastery of Wearmouth at seven; later transferred to Jarrow. Renowned in his lifetime for his learning, Bede wrote treatises on poetry, time and cosmography. Historical works include History of the Abbots, prose and verse versions of the Life of St Cuthbert and Ecclesiastical History of the English People., The Ecclesiastical HistoryEcclesiastical History Full title: Ecclesiastical History of the English People. The best known work of the Venerable Bede (c.673-735), a five-book account written in Latin which covers the period from the Roman invasion of Britain to 731CE. It was later translated into Old English of the English People, 3:23