Slide Shows on Cathedral and Church Architecture - by Michael G Hardy

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Anglo-Saxon Churches

Details of Slide Show - by Michael G Hardy

Description of Slide Show      Timings of Slide Show

Contents, and Number of Slides Shown

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Description of Slide Show

 

This show looks at the very earliest churches to appear in England, and it examines the characteristic features of Anglo-Saxon Churches which can be surprisingly easy to recognise, but are often concealed by later additions or changes.

Part One starts by looking at the earliest churches, so St Martin's at Canterbury has to be first. Then we look at the two basic types of plan that were used when churches started to spread. In the South the Basilican plan came from Rome, and we look at three sites in Kent and Essex. In the North the Celtic plan was brought from Ireland via Scotland, and we look at three sites in County Durham. We consider churches with crypts and wooden church buildings before we look at the main characteristics of stone built Anglo-Saxon Architecture. These are all quite easily recognisable, and can be easy to see in churches around the country. The features include different types of quoins on the corners of churches, the facings and shapes of windows, doorways and other arches, and decoration used on walls.

Next we look at how church plans developed, the simplest having just two cells. A western or central tower would make a church into a three cell building, while in other places a tower would actually be used as the nave, and is now known as a 'turriform' nave. Other churches had porticus or side chapels in increasing numbers and in some churches these eventually became large enough to be called transepts. We then find that plans had developed right through to some very large and sophisticated cruciform churches with central towers and transepts. We discover that the side chapels or porticus seem to start joining together and become aisles accessed through a series of arches in the nave walls. We then find a church where pillars are used to support these arches, which all makes a true arcade.

Some architectural items of sculpture such as capitals are also seen, but they can only act as a mere introduction to the wealth of Anglo-Saxon sculpture that there is to be seen and studied in England.

 

Part Two largely concentrates on Anglo-Saxon church towers of which around 100 survive in England. As bells became more widely available, large towers were increasingly built at the western end of churches. Thanks to the remarkable skills of their builders many have survived and Anglo-Saxon church towers are now the most common architectural feature in the English landscape from before the Norman Conquest.

We look at examples of 'Porch Towers' which developed over porches at the western end of churches. Next we look at a number of English Carolingian Towers which have varying amounts of decoration, in the form of horizontal string-courses and vertical pilaster strips, and sometimes extra decoration, really added as pure decoration rather than forming any useful part of the structures.

Next we look at many examples of Lincolnshire towers, which are usually remarkably plain towers, only having a maximum of one string-course, below the belfry level.  We then see two towers which are effectively camouflaged with later buttresses added. However we realise that  most Anglo-Saxon towers are instantly recognisable by their unique belfry openings.

We consider staircase turrets, rounded structures which were added to existing towers to improve access, and then we see some of the round towers of East Anglia. We also look at a remarkable large square tower in Essex which looks as if it was built purely to disprove some established building theories, but is actually an amazing testament to the skills of the Anglo-Saxon builders.

Moving on from towers, we see some unusual remains of five churches from before the Norman conquest, then we look at five sites where Anglo-Saxon churches had effectively been lost, but have now been re-discovered. In the Full Version Only we look at three examples of Anglo-Saxon churches which are still probably hidden to most casual onlookers, but are very clearly visible to the discerning eye.

Finally we look at what is often described as "the most imposing architectural monument that survives from the 7th century north of the Alps". This is the remarkable and vast church at Brixworth in Northamptonshire, thought by some people to be Roman, as they could not believe the Anglo-Saxons could build such a structure. Although I cannot imagine how they roofed it, they certainly did build it, but the biggest mystery is why was such an obviously important building erected at Brixworth, and who was it built for ?

We conclude by remembering how it is our duty to look after all these buildings that were built over 900 years ago.

 

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Timings of Slide Show:

Anglo-Saxon Churches

 

Full

Version

Abridged

Version

Part One

  50 minutes

40 minutes

Part Two

  44 minutes

34 minutes

TOTAL

94 minutes

(maximum)

74 minutes

(minimum)

 

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Contents, Number of Slides Shown

 

Part One

Contents

Full

Version

Abridged

Version

Historical Scene and Introduction

12

9

The Earliest Churches and Plans

5

4

      Basilican Plan Churches

18

16

      Celtic Plan Churches

29

25

      Crypts

3

x

Wooden Churches

7

6

Saxon Building Characteristics

36

34

Simple Church Plans

2

1

      2 Cell Churches

14

12

      3 Cell Churches with West Tower

6

5

      Turriform Churches

17

13

      3 Cell Churches with Central Tower

14

14

Complex Church Plans

77

71

Total Slides in Part One:

240

210

 

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Part Two

Contents

Full

Version

Abridged

Version

Towers

2

2

      Porch Towers

10

9

      English Carolingian Towers

40

31

      Lincolnshire Towers

31

22

      Staircase Turrets

17

17

      Round Towers

36

32

Unusual Remains

33

24

Discoveries

28

24

Looking for Evidence

15

x

Brixworth, Northamptonshire

17

14

Conclusion

2

2

Total Slides in Part Two:

231

177

 

Slide Show on "Anglo-Saxon Churches"

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This page last modified on 15th December 2005