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Anglo-Saxon architecture

Anglo-Saxon architecture was a period in the history of architecture in England from the mid-5th century until the Norman Conquest of 1066. Anglo-Saxon secular buildings in Britain were generally simple, constructed mainly using timber with thatch for roofing. No universally accepted example survives above ground. Generally preferring not to settle within the old Roman cities, the Anglo-Saxons built small towns near their centres of agriculture, at fords in rivers or sited to serve as ports. In each town, a main hall was in the centre, provided with a central hearth.[1]

There are many remains of Anglo-Saxon church architecture. At least fifty churches are of Anglo-Saxon origin with major Anglo-Saxon architectural features, with many more claiming to be, although in some cases the Anglo-Saxon part is small and much-altered. It is often impossible to reliably distinguish between pre- and post-Conquest 11th century work in buildings where most parts are later additions or alterations. The round-tower church and tower-nave church are distinctive Anglo-Saxon types. All surviving churches, except one timber church, are built of stone or brick, and in some cases show evidence of re-used Roman work.


The architectural character of Anglo-Saxon ecclesiastical buildings range from Celtic influenced architecture in the early period; Early Christian basilica influenced architecture; and in the later Anglo-Saxon period, an architecture characterised by pilaster-strips, blank arcading, baluster shafts and triangular headed openings. In the last decades of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, a more general Romanesque style was introduced from the continent, as in the now built-over additions to Westminster Abbey made from 1050 onwards, already influenced by Norman style. In recent decades, architectural historians have become less confident that all undocumented minor "Romanesque" features post-date the Norman Conquest. Although once common, it has been incorrect for several decades to use the plain term "Saxon" for anything Anglo-Saxon that is later than the initial period of settlement in Britain.

Northamptonshire

All Saints' Church, Brixworth

(7th century nave with parts of possible earlier origin)

St Martin's Church, Canterbury

(648) (only foundations remain, but are marked out)

Old Minster, Winchester

Bradwell-on-Sea, Essex (c. 654, on the site of a Roman fort, with reused materials[19])

St Peter-on-the-Wall

crypt (c. 670)

Ripon Cathedral

crypt (674)

Hexham Abbey

Northumberland (c. 675)

Monkwearmouth-Jarrow Priory

County Durham (c. 680)

Escomb Church

In contrast to secular buildings, stone was used from very early on to build churches, although a single wooden example has survived at Greensted Church, which is now thought to be from the end of the period. Bede makes it clear in both his Ecclesiastical History and his Historiam Abbatum that the masonry construction of churches, including his own at Jarrow, was undertaken morem Romanorum, "in the manner of the Romans", in explicit contrast to existing traditions of timber construction. Even at Canterbury, Bede believed that St Augustine's first cathedral had been 'repaired' or 'recovered' (recuperavit) from an existing Roman church, when in fact it had been newly constructed from Roman materials. The belief was "the Christian Church was Roman therefore a masonry church was a Roman building".


The earliest surviving Anglo-Saxon architecture dates from the 7th century, essentially beginning with Augustine of Canterbury in Kent from 597; for this he probably imported workmen from Frankish Gaul. The cathedral and abbey in Canterbury, together with churches in Kent at Minster in Sheppey (c.664) and Reculver (669), and in Essex at the Chapel of St Peter-on-the-Wall at Bradwell-on-Sea (where only the nave survives), define the earliest type in southeast England. A simple nave without aisles provided the setting for the main altar; east of this a chancel arch, perhaps a triple arch opening as at Reculver, separated off the apse for use by the clergy. However there is no surviving complete 7th-century church with an apse. Flanking the apse and east end of the nave were side chambers serving as sacristies; further porticus might continue along the nave to provide for burials and other purposes. Exceptions to this include the Old Minster, Winchester.


Church designs at the time differed between the North of England, which are narrow with square ended chancels, rather than the apses of the south. In Northumbria the early development of Christianity was influenced by the Irish mission, important churches being built in timber. Masonry churches became prominent from the late 7th century with the foundations of Wilfrid at Ripon and Hexham, and of Benedict Biscop at Monkwearmouth-Jarrow. These buildings had long naves and small rectangular chancels; porticus sometimes surrounded the naves. Elaborate crypts are a feature of Wilfrid's buildings. The best preserved early Northumbrian church is Escomb Church.[18]

Derbyshire (crypt c. 750, chancel walls ninth century)

St Wystan's Church, Repton

Gloucestershire (c. 930)

St Mary's Priory Church, Deerhurst

Northamptonshire

All Saints' Church, Earls Barton

St Helen's Church, , North Yorkshire (tower c. 960)

Skipwith

North Lincolnshire (tower c. 970, baptistery possibly ninth century)

St Peter's Church, Barton-upon-Humber

Wiltshire

St Laurence's Church, Bradford-on-Avon

Little is attributable to the 8th and 9th centuries, due to the regular Viking raids. Developments in design and decoration may have been influenced by the Carolingian Renaissance on the continent, where there was a conscious attempt to create a Roman revival in architecture.

Essex (1013 with oak palisade walls)

Greensted Church

Lincolnshire (c. 1040 with a small part surviving from 975)

Stow Minster

Cambridge (c. 1040)

St Bene't's Church

Oxford (c. 1040)

St Michael at the Northgate

West Sussex (c. 950 – 1050)

St Nicholas' Church, Worth

West Sussex (c. 1050)

Church of St Mary the Blessed Virgin, Sompting

Deerhurst, Gloucestershire (1056)

Odda's Chapel

Oxfordshire (formerly Berkshire) (after 1050)

St Matthew's Church, Langford

The tower of Holy Trinity Church in , Essex has a pre-Conquest 11th century tower built out of Roman rubble[20]

Colchester

St George's Tower, Oxford, Oxfordshire (now a part of Oxford Castle but possibly of pre-Conquest construction date)

The 11th century saw the first appearance of the High Romanesque style in Britain. The decades before the Conquest were prosperous for the elite, and there was great patronage of church building by figures such as Lady Godiva. Many cathedrals were constructed, including Westminster Abbey, although all these were subsequently rebuilt after 1066. Norman workers may have been imported for Westminster Abbey through the Norman Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert of Jumièges.


Recent arguments and recent archaeological discoveries have raised the possibility that the 11th-century St George's Tower, Oxford, predates both the foundation of Oxford Castle and the Norman Conquest, and functioned as a gate tower commanding the western entrance into the pre-Conquest burh. If so, the tower was then incorporated into the Norman castle built on the site in the 1070s, instead of being constructed along with it as architectural historians have long assumed.[13] It would thus be almost without parallel in England as a purely secular and defensive Anglo-Saxon structure (see below, Secular architecture).

long-and-short ;

quoins

double triangular windows;

narrow, round-arched windows (often using Roman tile);

herringbone stone work;

west porch ().

narthex

There are many churches that contain Anglo-Saxon features, although some of these features were also used in the early Norman period. H.M. Taylor surveyed 267 churches with Anglo-Saxon architectural features and ornaments.[21] Architectural historians used to confidently assign all Romanesque architectural features to after the Conquest, but now realize that many may come from the last decades of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom. Typical Anglo-Saxon features include:[22]


It is rare for more than one of these features to be present in the same building. A number of early Anglo-Saxon churches are based on a basilica with north and south porticus (projecting chambers) to give a cruciform plan. However cruciform plans for churches were used in other periods. Similarly, a chancel in the form of a rounded apse is often found in early Anglo-Saxon churches, but can be found in other periods as well.

Anglo-Saxon England

History of Anglo-Saxon England

Hamerow, Helena; Hinton, David A.; Crawford, Sally, eds. (2011), The Oxford Handbook of Anglo-Saxon Archaeology., Oxford: OUP,  978-0-19-921214-9

ISBN

Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People

Clapham, A. W. (1930) English Romanesque Architecture Before the Conquest, Oxford.

Fernie, E. (1983) The Architecture of the Anglo-Saxons, London.

(1963) An Outline of European Architecture, Harmondsworth.

Pevsner, N.

Savage, A. (1983) The , London.

Anglo-Saxon Chronicles

(1965–1978) Anglo-Saxon Architecture, Cambridge.

Taylor, H. M. and J.

Anglo-Saxon Houses and Furniture on Regia Anglorum

Blockley K. and Bennett P. (1993) Canterbury Cathedral, Canterbury Archaeological Trust Ltd