Religion and education William Slater Calverley (1847–1898) was born at
Kibworth, Leicestershire in 1847. After completing his formal education he entered
New College, Oxford, but left to take up private tuition before attaining his degree. During this period he began to study art at the
South Kensington School of Art and according to contemporary reports could have achieved the gold medal but for illness. This period of study proved very useful later in life. Notwithstanding his artistic ability he chose to enter the church. He was ordained
deacon by
Bishop Goodwin at
Carlisle, Cumberland, in 1872 and afterwards became curate of
Eskdale parish, South Cumberland. In the following year he took priest's orders and assumed an appointment as
curate at
Maryport, moving in 1874 to
Dearham, where he served three years as curate and eight years as vicar of the same church. Under his guidance the church was restored, the vicarage and church yard enlarged and improved, and the district church at
Ellenborough founded. In 1885, he became vicar of
St. Kentigern's Church, Aspatria. One important feature of his pastorate of Aspatria was the acquisition of a peal of bells for the church.
Antiquarianism , and based on the Dearham Cross Calverley ignited an interest in local and
ancient history during the church restorations at Dearham, which brought to light remains of ancient art. Through the study of pre-
Norman stones and artefacts he became one of the world's foremost antiquarian scholars. After finding several pre-Norman sculptures he contacted leading authorities, and formed a close working relationship with the English born professor,
George Stephens of
Copenhagen University. Stephens incorporated and embodied Calverley's discoveries and descriptions into one of the chapters of his book
Old Northern Runic Monuments The communications with Stephens encouraged Calverley to delve deeper into the subject and in 1883 he announced to the Archaeological Institute at Carlisle, his reading of
Edda myths on the Christian cross at
Gosforth, West Cumberland. The news created a sensation; prior to these discovery authorities held that Christian monuments contained nothing but Christian subjects. Although others had tried to make a connection with
Buddhism,
Druidism, and
Astronomy, Calverley identified the '
Pagan overlap' in English relics. His critics were finally silenced after the Rev.
G. F. Browne (later Bishop of
Bristol) published his research into the meaning of the Scandinavian legends on the cross at Leeds, and the one at
Kirk Andreas,
Isle of Man. In February 1891, Calverley interpreted the
Völsung myth at
Halton in a lecture to the
Lancaster Philosophical Society and later that year he read a paper on the same subject to an audience at the
Royal Archaeological Institute at
Edinburgh. ==Calverley at Aspatria==