Our Homeland Churches and How to Study Them Part 2

CHAPTER III.

THE SAXON AND NORMAN STYLES.

As we have seen in the previous chapter, the whole subject of pre-Saxon church building is still very obscure, and for some considerable time after the Anglo-Saxon invasion little is known concerning church architecture, nor has it yet been fully ascertained whether any buildings of this period exist. By the year 588 the Saxons were in complete possession of the land. Christianity was to all appearance wiped out and the Church, to the superficial observer was dead. In his "_History of English Church Architecture_," Scott expresses the opinion that the oldest English churches may be divided into three groups.

First, those which preceded the Danish invasion; secondly, those from the above epoch to the invasion of Sweyn; and thirdly, those onward to the Norman Conquest.

[Side note: Saxon Architecture.]

What exactly const.i.tuted Saxon architecture has long been a controversial point and one which will probably never be definitely settled. Parker, in his "_Glossary of Architecture_," says:--

"For a considerable time, after they (the Anglo-Saxons) had established themselves in this country, their buildings were of wood, and this appears to have been the prevailing material employed at the time of the Conquest, although stone had been occasionally used several centuries earlier.... No timber-work of Saxon date can be in existence at the present time, but it is contended by some antiquaries that several of our churches exhibit specimens of Saxon masonry; the truth of this theory, however, is not fully established, nor has the subject of Saxon architecture been yet sufficiently investigated to clear away the obscurity in which it is involved."

Probably few of our so-called Saxon churches were built earlier than thirty or forty years before the Norman Conquest, and it seems certain that for some years after they had settled in England, the Normans employed Saxon masons to build in the Saxon manner, as is seen by the tower of S. Michael's Church, Oxford, which, although showing all the characteristics of reputed Saxon masonry was built many years after the Battle of Hastings. Certain it is that these pre-Norman buildings in England were singularly rude and rough and show how much our Saxon ancestors were, at that period, behind the Italians, French and Germans in architectural skill.

[Side note: Saxon Churches.]

Our best examples containing Saxon work are possibly the churches at Sompting and Bishopstone, Suss.e.x; Bradford-on-Avon; Wootton Wawen (sub-structure of tower); Wing; Brixworth, and Barnack, Northants; Greenstead in Ess.e.x; and S. Martin's at Wareham, Dorset. Of towers of this date the best are possibly those of S. Mary's and S. Peter's, Lincoln and S. Benet's, Cambridge. Of crypts, the finest examples are at Ripon Cathedral, York Minster (part) and S. Mary's Church, York. In addition to these, many other churches have chancel arches, doorways or some other less important features which are considered to be of Saxon origin.

These early buildings generally show the semi-circular arch on the doorways, but the windows usually have a triangular head; at Sompting church, however, the windows have the semi-circular arch. It is necessary to say a few words in detail about the more important churches of this era.

[Side note: S. Lawrence, Bradford-on-Avon.]

The church of S. Lawrence at Bradford-on-Avon is one of the oldest unaltered churches in England, and it seems to be beyond question that it is the actual church built by Ealdhelm at the beginning of the eighth century and dedicated by him to S. Lawrence. It consists of a chancel, nave and north porch, and among its remarkable features is its great height and the extreme narrowness of the round-headed arch between the nave and the chancel, a feature it has in common with the Saxon church of S. Martin at Wareham; the ground-plan measurements of both these churches are identical. At S. Lawrence's church, an incised arcade is seen outside the walls, and on either side of the west aspect of the chancel arch are two sculptured figures of angels, which are thought to represent the earliest extant fragments of church carving in England.

[Side note: Brixworth, Earls' Barton and Barnack.]

Brixworth church is possibly older than S. Lawrence's and it is said to have been in continuous use for Divine Service ever since it was erected. The tower appears to be of rather later date than the nave and rests upon the walls of a "narthex" or portico, which may have extended along the whole breadth of the front, as is still to be seen in churches at Rome and Ravenna. The curious pile of masonry built up against the tower may have been added for defence, as it could hardly have formed part of the original design.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Tower of Earls' Barton Church.

Generally considered to show characteristics of Saxon masonry.]

Earls' Barton and Barnack churches both have towers so covered with narrow projecting strips of stonework that the surface of the walls appears divided into rudely formed panels. The west doorways of both show primitive imitations of Roman mouldings in the imposts and architraves. The tower of Earls' Barton consists of four stages, each of which is slightly smaller than the one below. In that of Barnack church, the upper stages of the tower represent the period of transition from Norman to Early English.

[Ill.u.s.tration: An Example of a Norman Tower.

Bishopstone, Suss.e.x. _Homeland Copyright._]

S. Michael's, Oxford, has a ma.s.sive tower of solid masonry, unpierced in its lowest stage by either door or window, the second stage shows but one window and the highest is pierced by several windows of more elaborate construction.

[Side note: St. Michael's Church, Oxford.]

Although generally consisting of rubble and stone, Saxon churches were sometimes built of wood as we see from the existing nave of the parish church of Greenstead, Ess.e.x.

[Side note: Greenstead Church, Ess.e.x.]

A brick chancel has been added at the east and a timber belfry at the west end, but the old Saxon portion is composed of large chestnut trees split asunder and set upright close to each other with the round side outwards. The ends are roughly hewn so as to fit into a sill at the bottom, and into a plate at the top, where they are fastened with wooden pins. There are 16 logs on the south side where are two doorposts, and on the north side twenty-one logs and two s.p.a.ces now filled with rubble.

There is a tradition that this church was erected to receive the body of S. Edmund, on its return from London to Bury, in 1013.

The semi-circular arch has long been considered to be one of the most distinctive marks of Norman architecture, but Mr. Rickman, who made an exhaustive study of the early churches of France and England, says:--

"In various churches it has happened that a very plain arch between nave and chancel has been left as the only Norman feature, while both nave and chancel have been rebuilt at different times; but each leaving the chancel arch standing. I am disposed to think that some of these plain chancel arches, will, on minute examination, turn out to be of Saxon origin."

It would be tedious to enter into any more minute account of the Anglo-Saxon ecclesiastical remains, and the reader whose enquiries conduct him to the more elaborate works on the subject will be startled by the contrary opinions that he will surely encounter.

In concluding these brief remarks on early buildings, we must again quote from Parker's work to which reference has already been made:--

"The cla.s.s of buildings referred to as being considered to belong to this style contain some rather unusual features, and they require to be particularly described, both because they are in themselves remarkable, and because there is a probability that some of them may be Saxon."

[Ill.u.s.tration: A Norman Pier Arcade.

Abbots Langley, Herts. _Photograph Mr. A. W. Anderson._]

The Norman style of church architecture with its varied forms of columns, moulded and recessed arches and vaulting, may be roughly stated to have been introduced into England at the time of the Conquest. The Saxon masons do not appear to have understood vaulting sufficiently well to have roofed over any large s.p.a.ce with stone, and for this reason alone the Saxon form of building was bound to give way before the Norman, which of all the earlier styles was the most advanced in this respect.

[Side note: Norman Architecture.]

Generally speaking, Norman arches were semi-circular, but they were by no means universally so, for a form frequently found is one in which the spring of the arch does not take place from the abacus, or upper member of the capital, but at some distance above it and when it a.s.sumes this form it is called a "stilted" arch, suggested by some authorities to have been unintentional and the result of imperfect construction or planning. _See page 10._

[Ill.u.s.tration: Examples of Norman Mouldings.

Chevron or Zig-zag. Star.

Alternate Billet. Square Billet.

Double Cone. Lozenge.

Beak Head. Bird Head.]

The main features in the ornamentation of this period are the sculptured bands worked round the arches, which, although generally called "mouldings," are more in the nature of decoration, and in some instances they appear to be additions carved on the originally unadorned surface of the masonry.

[Side note: Ornament.]

The earliest and most general ornament is the chevron or zig-zag, which is frequently found doubled, trebled and quadrupled. The next most common form is the beak-head, consisting of a hollow and large round.

In the hollow are placed heads of beasts or birds whose tongues or beaks encircle the round. On the west doorway of Iffley church, Oxford, are many of these beak-heads extending the whole length of the jamb down to the base moulding. They also figure prominently among the ornamentations of the hospital church of S. Cross, near Winchester. The zig-zag moulding is very common on Norman churches and is so easily recognised that no further description is needed here. The less prominent decorations of Norman mouldings include the alternate billet, the double cone, and the lozenge, together with an immense number of others less commonly found.

[Side note: Windows.]

The Early Norman window was little better than a narrow slit finished with a plain semi-circular head, and was generally only a few inches wide. They were, it is believed, filled with oiled linen and the sides of the aperture were splayed towards the interior. Later in the period, the windows were enriched by the zig-zag and other mouldings and at a still later period an improvement was made by inserting nook-shafts in the jambs similar to those in doorways.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A Late Norman Parish Church.

Castle Rising, Norfolk. _Drawn by Gordon Home._]

The towers of Norman churches often show windows of two lights separated by a central shaft, all enclosed under a large semi-circular arch, the spandrel of which is rarely pierced. Plain circular windows of small dimensions are sometimes found in other positions and in churches of later date, and occasionally in gable walls. Larger windows of the same form, with small shafts radiating from the centre and connected at the circ.u.mference by semi-circular or trefoiled arches, are also found as at Barfreston church, Kent, where there is a fine example.

[Side note: Doorways.]

Norman doorways are found in great numbers and variety, even in churches which present no other features in this style. The most usual form consists of a semi-circular-headed aperture with a hood-mould springing from plain square-edged jambs. Frequently, however, the doorways are recessed, having a nook-shaft in the angle formed by a recession from the capital, in which case it presents two soffits and two faces, besides the hood-moulds. The depth of these doorways is largely due to the great thickness of the walls usual in buildings of this period, but in many cases that portion of the wall in which the entrance is inserted is made to project forward beyond the general face, which projection is finished either with plain horizontal capping, or a high-pitched gable.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _West Doorway Rochester Cathedral_ Duncan Moul.]

Norman porches thus have generally but little projection, and are frequently so flat as to be little more than outer mouldings to the inner door. They are, however, often richly ornamented and have rooms above, which rooms are wrongly called "parvises." The shallow aperture often follows the form of the arch, but is frequently square-headed, having a semi-circular tympanum of masonry filling the s.p.a.ce between the lintel of the door and the intrados of the arch.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Tympanum of Norman Doorway.