The Stowe Gardens Saxon Deities
Tucked away along
the Path of Liberty as it passes through the Hawkwell Field are the Stowe
Gardens Saxon Deities. The seven deities are arranged in a circle and surrounded
by hedging, which makes the area feel dark and powerful. The Saxon Deities are
from the Germanic mythology and called Mona, Tiw, Woden, Thunor, Friga, Seatern,
and Sunna. The days of the week as we know them, have their origin in these old Germanic gods.
The original Stowe Gardens Saxon Deities were commissioned in 1727 and were sculpted from Portland stone. They were subsequently sold in the early twentieth century, but have been traced and moulds taken to makes copies. The only one missing is Thuner who has yet to be made.
The original sculptures of Sunna and Thuner are in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, while Mona and Friga are on display in the Discover Buckinghamshire County Museum in Aylesbury.
The Saxon Dieties in Stowe Gardens © essentially-england.com
Meet the Stowe Gardens Saxon Deities
I have listed the Saxon Deities as per the days of the week.
Monday,
the Moon God
Stowe Saxon Deities - Mona © essentially-england.comWednesday, the King of Gods
Tuesday,
the God of War and/or Sky
Stowe Saxon Deities - Tiw © essentially-england.comThursday, the God of Thunder
Stowe Saxon Deities - Woden © essentially-england.com
Stowe Saxon Deities - Thunor Plinth © essentially-england.comFriday, the Goddess of Marriage & Childbirth
Stowe Saxon Deities - Friga © essentially-england.comSaturday, the Muse of Sacred Poetry
Stowe Saxon Deities - Seatern © essentially-england.comSunday, the Sun Goddess
Stowe Saxon Deities - Sunna © essentially-england.comWe have described our adventures exploring Stowe Gardens and the Stowe Estate as we tried to find as many of the Stowe Monuments as we could. A pictorial summary of all the monuments we discovered can be found here.
For more information on Stowe Gardens and Parkland and opening times and events please visit the National Trust website here.
If - like us - you want to take a couple of days to find all the monuments of Stowe Gardens, then a short break or long weekend might be on the cards for you. Look for local accommodation using our Booking.com search box.
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