Anglo-Saxon architecture was a period in thehistory of architecture inEngland from the mid-5th century until theNorman Conquest of 1066.Anglo-Saxon secular buildings inBritain were generally simple, constructed mainly usingtimber withthatch 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 ofAnglo-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. Theround-tower church andtower-nave church are distinctive Anglo-Saxon types. All surviving churches, exceptone timber church, are built of stone or brick, and in some cases show evidence of re-usedRoman work.
The architectural character of Anglo-Saxon ecclesiastical buildings range from Celtic influenced architecture in the early period;Early Christianbasilica influenced architecture; and in the later Anglo-Saxon period, an architecture characterised bypilaster-strips,blank arcading,baluster shafts andtriangular headed openings. In the last decades of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, a more generalRomanesque style was introduced from the continent, as in the now built-over additions toWestminster Abbey made from 1050 onwards, already influenced byNorman style. In recent decades, architectural historians have become less confident that all undocumented minor "Romanesque" features post-date theNorman 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.
Anglo-Saxon secular buildings were normally rectangular post-built structures, where timber posts were driven into the ground to form the framework of the walls upon which the thatched roofs were constructed. Only ten of the hundreds of settlement sites that have been excavated in England from this period have revealed masonry domestic structures and confined to a few quite specific contexts. The usual explanation for the tendency of Anglo–Saxons to build in timber is one of technological inferiority or incompetence. However it is now accepted that technology and materials were part of conscious choices indivisible from their social meaning. Le Goff suggests that the Anglo-Saxon period was defined by its use of wood,[2] providing evidence for the care and craftsmanship that the Anglo–Saxon invested into their wooden material culture, from cups to halls, and the concern for trees and timber in Anglo–Saxon place–names, literature and religion.[3] Michael Shapland suggests:
The stone buildings imposed on England by the Romans would have been 'startling' and 'exceptional', and following the collapse of Roman society in the fifth century there was a widespread return to timber building, a 'cultural shift' that it is not possible to explain by recourse to technological determinism.[4]
Anglo–Saxon building forms were very much part of this general building tradition. Timber was 'the natural building medium of the age':[5] the very Anglo–Saxon word for 'building' is 'timbe'. Unlike in the Carolingian world, late Anglo–Saxon royal halls continued to be of timber in the manner of Yeavering centuries before, even though the king could clearly have mustered the resources to build in stone.[6] Their preference must have been a conscious choice, perhaps an expression of 'deeply–embedded Germanic identity' on the part of the Anglo–Saxon royalty.
Though very little contemporary evidence survives, methods of construction, including examples of later buildings, can be compared with methods on the continent. The major rural buildings were sunken-floor (Grubenhäuser) or post-hole buildings, although Helena Hamerow suggest this distinction is less clear.[7] An excavated example is atMucking inEssex. In addition to the sunken huts, vernacular buildings from the migration period found at Mucking included more substantial halls up to 50 feet (15 m) long and 25 feet (7.6 m) wide with entrances in the middle of both longer sides.[8]
Even the elite had simple buildings, with a central fire and a hole in the roof to let the smoke escape and the largest of which rarely had more than one floor, and one room. Buildings vary widely in size, most were square or rectangular, though some round houses have been found. Frequently these buildings have sunken floors; a shallow pit over which a plank floor was suspended. The pit may have been used for storage, but more likely was filled with straw for winter insulation. A variation on the sunken floor design is found in towns, where the "basement" may be as deep as nine feet, suggesting a storage or work area below a suspended floor. Another common design was simple post framing, with heavy posts set directly into the ground, supporting the roof. The space between the posts was filled in withwattle and daub, or occasionally, planks. The floors were generally packed earth, though planks were sometimes used. Roofing materials varied, with thatch being the most common, though turf and even wooden shingles were also used.[9]
The most archaeologically striking example of a royal palace is found atYeavering (Northumbria). Excavated by Hope-Taylor, the 1977 site report illustrates a complex set of wooden halls, axially aligned.[10] However, John Blair has made clear that, from c. 600 to c. 900, elite settlements are archaeologically invisible.[11] From the mid-10th century onwards, a uniquearchitectural form emerges at high-status thegnly sites – the Long Range. Comprising a combined hall and chambers, these are understood to represent a deliberate set of performative symbols of power and status put in play by the newly powerful thegnly class.[12]
During the 9th and 10th centuries, fortifications (burhs) were constructed around towns to defend against Viking attacks. Almost no secular work remains above ground, although theAnglian Tower in York has been controversially dated to the 7th century. Recent evidence opens up the possibility thatSt George's Tower, Oxford, may be a surviving part of the defences surrounding the Anglo-Saxon burh of Oxford.[13] There is a reconstruction of an Anglo-Saxon settlement atWest Stow inSuffolk, and contemporary illustrations of both secular and religious buildings are sometimes found inilluminated manuscripts.
The fall ofRoman Britain at the beginning of the fifth century, according toBede, allowed an influx of invaders from northern Germany including theAngles andSaxons.
TheAngles and theSaxons hadtheir own religion, butChristianity was on its way.St Patrick, a Romano-British man, convertedIreland toChristianity, from where much of Western Scotland was converted and much ofNorthumbria was reconverted. Links were also established between the Christian communities in Ireland and those inWales and theWest country at sites such asSt Piran's Oratory which represents some of the earliest Christian architecture extant on the British mainland. The architecture though was initially influenced byCoptic monasticism.[14]
Examples of this can be seen today in the form of rectangular dry-stonecorbelled structures such as atGallarus Oratory,Dingle andIllauntannig,Ireland. Christianity and Irish influence came toEngland through missionaries. In 635, a centre ofCeltic Christianity was established atLindisfarne,Northumbria, whereSt Aidan founded amonastery.
In 597, the mission ofAugustine fromRome came toEngland to convert the southern Anglo-Saxons, and founded the firstcathedral and aBenedictinemonastery atCanterbury. These churches consisted of anave with side chambers.
In 664 asynod was held atWhitby, Yorkshire, and differences between the Celtic andRoman practices throughout England were reconciled, mostly in favour of Rome. Larger churches developed in the form ofbasilicas, for example atAll Saints' Church, Brixworth.
TheRomano-British populations ofWales,the West Country, andCumbria experienced a degree of autonomy from Anglo-Saxon influence,[15] represented by distinct linguistic, liturgical and architectural traditions, having much in common with theIrish andBreton cultures across theCeltic Sea, and allying themselves with theViking invaders. This was however, gradually elided by centuries of English dominance. Characteristically circular buildings[16] as opposed to rectangular, often in stone as well as timber, along with sculpturedCeltic crosses,holy wells and the reoccupation ofIron Age and Roman sites fromhillforts such asCadbury Castle, promontory hillforts such asTintagel, and enclosed settlements calledRounds[17] characterise the western Sub-Roman Period up to the 8th century in southwest England[16] and continue much later in independentWales at post-Roman cities such asCaerleon andCarmarthen.
Subsequent Danish (Viking) invasion marked a period of destruction of many buildings in England, including in 793 the raid onLindisfarne. Buildings includingcathedrals were rebuilt, and the threat of conflict had an inevitable influence on the architecture of the time. During and after the reign ofAlfred the Great (871–899), towns (burhs) were fortified. Contemporary defensive banks and ditches can still be seen today as a result of this.Oxford is an example of one of these fortified towns, where the eleventh-century stone tower ofSt Michael's Church has prominent position beside the former site of the North gate. The building of church towers, replacing thebasilicannarthex or West porch, can be attributed to this late period ofAnglo-Saxon architecture.
In contrast to secular buildings, stone was used from very early on to build churches, although a single wooden example has survived atGreensted 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 undertakenmorem 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 withAugustine of Canterbury in Kent from 597; for this he probably imported workmen fromFrankish Gaul. Thecathedral and abbey in Canterbury, together with churches in Kent atMinster in Sheppey (c.664) andReculver (669), and in Essex at theChapel of St Peter-on-the-Wall atBradwell-on-Sea (where only the nave survives), define the earliest type in southeast England. A simplenave withoutaisles provided the setting for the main altar; east of this a chancel arch, perhaps a triple arch opening as at Reculver, separated off theapse for use by the clergy. However, there is no surviving complete 7th-century church with anapse. Flanking the apse and east end of the nave were side chambers serving as sacristies; furtherporticus 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 theNorth 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 ofWilfrid atRipon andHexham, and ofBenedict 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 isEscomb Church.[18]
Little is attributable to the 8th and 9th centuries, due to the regularViking raids. Developments in design and decoration may have been influenced by theCarolingian Renaissance on the continent, where there was a conscious attempt to create a Roman revival in architecture.
The 11th century saw the first appearance of the HighRomanesque style in Britain. The decades before the Conquest were prosperous for the elite, and there was great patronage of church building by figures such asLady Godiva. Manycathedrals were constructed, includingWestminster Abbey, although all these were subsequently rebuilt after 1066.Norman workers may have been imported for Westminster Abbey through the NormanArchbishop of Canterbury,Robert of Jumièges.
Recent arguments and recent archaeological discoveries have raised the possibility that the 11th-centurySt George's Tower, Oxford, predates both the foundation ofOxford 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).
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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 allRomanesque 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 southporticus (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.
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