Today we visit the church of St Lawrence in Biddulph, Staffs to see some medieval tomb lids and investigate their connection to a local legend. The story refers to 'The Black Men of Biddle' (Biddle being local dialect for 'Biddulph'), a local folk tale relating to a supposed group of Saracens brought back to Biddulph by crusader knights returning from the Holy Land in the middle ages. To this day there are families living in Biddulph Moor who claim to be descendants of this group and, indeed, there are genetic signs amongst the local population that show this to be the case.
The Islamic influence on the architecture of St Chad's church in Stafford has also been attributed to the Saracens of Biddulph who counted stonemasons amongst their number, although this link is quite tentative.
The tomb lids themselves depict motifs which are consistent with those on tomb lids of knights throughout Europe. An elaborate cross with a sword motif is a common design to indicate the tomb of a noble. The axe is not generally considered a noble weapon but it is sometimes featured on tombs of warriors from the period. It is likely that these were the tombs of knights and it is certainly possible that they fought in the crusades given the local connection. They have even been mentioned in connection with the Knights Templar although there is no tangible evidence of this. The Templars had a preceptory at nearby Keele so it isn't impossible that local noble families would have been connected with the order but to say these tombs were those of Templar knights is a stab in the dark.
For more information on the story see the following links:
www.thefreelibrary.com/PERSPEC...
www.stchadsstafford.co.uk/page...
Below is the link to a similar tomb unearthed in Edinburgh:
www.livescience.com/27914-medi...