The English Village Explained: Britain’s Living History by Trevor Yorke
Authors: Trevor Yorke
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evident from the earlier structure, like a section of original wall, a blocked Saxon window or an old font. Apart from those built from scratch in the past 300 years they are rarely all of one date. Most will have had parts rebuilt and additions made tothe ancient core and will today be a conglomeration of styles and forms. A church may even predate the settlement itself, having been founded in the early Saxon period when it served a group of surrounding hamlets, only for a village to be established around it later, perhaps when an open field system was introduced. Although there are around 15,000 medieval churches surviving today, each with its own peculiarities and regional characteristics, there are some common details and features which can help date the parts and often identify a prosperous period in a village’s history.
FIG 8.2: A labelled drawing of a church as it may have appeared in the 14th century. Churches are laid out with the altar at the east end, a ceremonial doorway and often a tower at the west end and the everyday entrance to the south. The parts will usually be of different dates with towers, aisles and chapels being common later additions. Most walls were originally limewashed or rendered; the removal of this during restoration usually reveals a rustic patchwork of material showing where bits were added or repaired. The nave, which was the responsibility of the parish and hence could have a wealthy benefactor, was frequently reconstructed on a grander scale while the chancel in the hands of the poor priest was just patched up as parts wore out and may have been only rebuilt in the Gothic revival of the Victorian period. When churches have been excavated they are often found with a series of ever smaller foundations from earlier buildings under the floor of the nave, like a set of Russian dolls .
Saxon and Norman churches
The earliest churches which survive today date from the 7th and 8th centuries and around 1,000 of them have parts or features which predate the arrival of the Normans in 1066. These are of stone, which at the time was an exclusive building material in most areas, so many of them could have been central minsters or associated with monasteries. Their distinctive characteristics are tall thin naves, thick walls, small round or triangular headed windows, doors with a semi-circular top and long and short stones up the corners. Most Saxon churches were built in timber and so have long since gone (though one example remains at Greensted, Essex).
The invading Normans brought with them experienced masons and as they became established in their new domain they began building churches primarily in stone. These late 11th andearly 12th-century edifices were still simple structures relying upon thick walls and stout columns to give them stability, which is revealed at window openings and doorways, both of which had semi-circular heads. Towers were rare at this date but those which the Normans erected tended to be in the centre between the nave and chancel and although many have since been replaced by a later structure at the west end, there may still be evidence of where they once stood. The chancel often had a semi-circular addition at the end called the apse in which the clergy could sit during mass; a few survive although there are many more Victorian copies. By the late 12th century these simple structures were becoming lavish in decoration with bands of figures under the eaves, receding bands of chevrons and other patterns around openings and dramatic scenes carved within the semi-circular head of doorways called a tympanum.
FIG 8.3 EARLS BARTON, NORTHANTS: A late-Saxon tower with distinctive triangular and round arched openings and long and short stones up the corners. The vertical stone bands may have been replicating forms used on the more common timber churches at the time .
FIG 8.4: A drawing with labels of a large Norman church as it may have appeared when first built. Most
FIG 8.2: A labelled drawing of a church as it may have appeared in the 14th century. Churches are laid out with the altar at the east end, a ceremonial doorway and often a tower at the west end and the everyday entrance to the south. The parts will usually be of different dates with towers, aisles and chapels being common later additions. Most walls were originally limewashed or rendered; the removal of this during restoration usually reveals a rustic patchwork of material showing where bits were added or repaired. The nave, which was the responsibility of the parish and hence could have a wealthy benefactor, was frequently reconstructed on a grander scale while the chancel in the hands of the poor priest was just patched up as parts wore out and may have been only rebuilt in the Gothic revival of the Victorian period. When churches have been excavated they are often found with a series of ever smaller foundations from earlier buildings under the floor of the nave, like a set of Russian dolls .
Saxon and Norman churches
The earliest churches which survive today date from the 7th and 8th centuries and around 1,000 of them have parts or features which predate the arrival of the Normans in 1066. These are of stone, which at the time was an exclusive building material in most areas, so many of them could have been central minsters or associated with monasteries. Their distinctive characteristics are tall thin naves, thick walls, small round or triangular headed windows, doors with a semi-circular top and long and short stones up the corners. Most Saxon churches were built in timber and so have long since gone (though one example remains at Greensted, Essex).
The invading Normans brought with them experienced masons and as they became established in their new domain they began building churches primarily in stone. These late 11th andearly 12th-century edifices were still simple structures relying upon thick walls and stout columns to give them stability, which is revealed at window openings and doorways, both of which had semi-circular heads. Towers were rare at this date but those which the Normans erected tended to be in the centre between the nave and chancel and although many have since been replaced by a later structure at the west end, there may still be evidence of where they once stood. The chancel often had a semi-circular addition at the end called the apse in which the clergy could sit during mass; a few survive although there are many more Victorian copies. By the late 12th century these simple structures were becoming lavish in decoration with bands of figures under the eaves, receding bands of chevrons and other patterns around openings and dramatic scenes carved within the semi-circular head of doorways called a tympanum.
FIG 8.3 EARLS BARTON, NORTHANTS: A late-Saxon tower with distinctive triangular and round arched openings and long and short stones up the corners. The vertical stone bands may have been replicating forms used on the more common timber churches at the time .
FIG 8.4: A drawing with labels of a large Norman church as it may have appeared when first built. Most
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