St. Cedd (c.620 – 26 October 664AD)
One of four brothers: Chad (Ceadda), Cynibil and Caelin, Cedd was born in the kingdom of Northumbria and raised on the island of Lindisfarne by Saint Aidan who arrived from Iona. By 653AD Cedd had become ordained.
In 653AD, Cedd was sent by King Oswiu with three other priests, to evangelise the Middle Angles of Mercia, based on the mid-Trent valley. Peada, son of Penda became a Christian in return for the hand of Oswiu's daughter, Alchflaed. This was a time of growing Northumbrian power, as King Oswiu of Bernicia (r. 642–670AD) reunited and consolidated the Northumbrian kingdom after its earlier defeat by Penda.
St. Cedd, Bishop of the East Saxons
Cedd was recalled from the mission to Mercia by King Oswiu. At the request of King Sigeberht, he was then sent by King Oswiu to the East Saxon kingdom, to convert the East Angles. Accompanied by one other priest, Cedd sailed from Lindisfarne down the east coast landing in the the Panta (present-day Blackwater Estuary). Later he founded a monastery at Ythancester (now Bradwell-on-Sea) around 660-662AD bringing with him a Celtic mission.
Originally the East Saxon kingdom was converted by missionaries from Canterbury, Kent, where St. Augustine established a mission with Roman rites and worship in 597AD.
St Peter-on-the-Wall, Bradwell
