A statue of King Æthelstan above the west door of Exeter Cathedral.
According to THIS link (
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"The West Front Image Screen of Exeter Cathedral is one of the great architectural features of Medieval England. The screen is covered in a wealth of carving, dominated by three rows of statues in niches. At the bottom are angels appearing to support all the figures above. Most of the figures of the middle row represent Kings of Judah. In the upper row, to right of centre, is a representation of God. On His right hand would have been a seated figure of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Her image was destroyed in the Reformation and, later, mistakenly replaced by King Richard II."
I disagree, as the arms below would appear to be those of King Æthelstan,
a cross fleurie on a mound having in the fesse point a crown, impaling those of the Diocese of Winchester,
Gules, two keys addorsed in bend the upper or the lower argent between them overlying the uppermost key a sword in bend sinister point upright of the third hilt and pommel or; Winchester at that time of the 10th century (924 to 939) being the first and former capital city of England.
As with the statue of King Richard II (
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"Athelstan was the first king of all England, and Alfred the Great's grandson. He reigned between 925 and 939 AD. A distinguished and courageous soldier, he pushed the boundaries of the kingdom to the furthest extent they had yet reached.
In 927 AD he took York from the Danes, and forced the submission of Constantine, King of Scotland and of the northern kings. All five of the Welsh kings agreed to pay a huge annual tribute. He also eliminated opposition in Cornwall. In 937 AD, at the Battle of Brunanburh, Athelstan led a force drawn from Britain, and defeated an invasion made by the king of Scotland, in alliance with the Welsh and Danes, from Dublin.
Under Athelstan, law codes strengthened royal control over his large kingdom; currency was regulated to control silver's weight and to penalise fraudsters; buying and selling was largely confined to the burhs, encouraging town life; and areas of settlement in the Midlands and Danish towns were consolidated into shires. Overseas, Athelstan built alliances by marrying off four of his half sisters to various rulers in western Europe.
He was also a great collector of works of art and religious relics, which he gave away to many of his followers and churches in order to gain their support. He died in 939 AD at the height of his powers, and was buried in Malmesbury Abbey. This was a fit burial place for him, as he had been an ardent supporter and endower of the abbey."
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"Legends -
One 19th-century author claimed that an 11th-century missal asserted that King Æthelstan, the previous century, had brought together a great collection of holy relics at Exeter Cathedral; sending out emissaries at great expense to the continent to acquire them. Amongst these items were said to be a little of "
the bush in which the Lord spoke to Moses", and a "
bit of the candle which the angel of the Lord lit in Christ's tomb"."
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