Medieval English Architecture
The architecture of medieval England, as covered here, is architecture in England after the Norman conquest in 1066. This article is looking at how the invasion of the Normans also shaped the architecture of England. For earlier periods, see Anglo-Saxon architecture. The Norman conquest brought with it beautiful and brilliant forms of architecture that arose all over England during these years. Military structures like the castle or keep, were largely introduced by the Normans, and played a significant role in English politics and warfare, as well as new styles of churches and cathedrals.
Religious architecture
Churches, cathedrals, and monasteries were at the center of many people's lives in medieval England. Churches started to be built on a large scale all over western Europe in the 11th century, partially because there were larger states rising to power that supported and funded the building of religious structures. The Normans were one of these groups that funded the building of architecture in England. These first churches that were rising up during the 11th century were built in a style known as Romanesque.[1] Normans are attributed with bringing this style from mainland Europe into England, although it had begun to penetrate before the Conquest. The style that soon followed was more elegant, beautiful and complex; it was known as Gothic architecture. This style would persist through the majority of the Middle Ages.[1] But it is in a way the natural outcome of Romanesque from a structural point of view. Therefore, the Normans can be accredited with part of this change from Romanesque to Gothic architecture.[2] Gothic Churches and cathedrals were defined by soaring spires, slender arches, flying buttresses and stained glass windows.[1]
The churches and cathedrals of medieval England were mostly built by skilled guild members for the masonry, and other laborers.[3] Wealthy Norman elites were the decision makers on where, when, and how big these cathedrals and churches would be. Guilds were people that all specialized in one trade, in this case skilled masons, and some other skills such as glass-makers. The later Gothic churches arose as a result of more of the laity being able to design the structures. The majority of churches were central within the town. They were in the center of town for two reasons, the first being to symbolize their importance in Norman society at the heart of town. The second reason is for convenience purposes, because the church was supposed to be at the center of the lives of the people, it should be close to everyone so they can make it to services as well as donate to the church at ease.[2] The alter of churches was supposed to face the East as a sign of respect to the holy city of Jerusalem in the east. Normans feeling the need to face the east for prayer led to many churches to be built in the rectangle shape. This shape made it simple for a service to face one direction, the east. However, The Normans around the year 1200 built polygonal shaped churches. This can be proved by the chapter houses such as those of Westminster Abby built in 1250, and the cathedrals of Old St. Paul in London in 1240, Salisbury, York, and Wells.[3] The Stained glass windows were also a key feature of these churches and cathedrals. These multi-colored windows often depicted stories of the Scriptures that people could look at for reference during a service.[1] The elevation of English cathedrals was different from continental cathedrals in that, the open galleries of Norman tradition being replaced by the decorate styles by ornamented clerestories which run in a straight line and emphasize the length rather than the height of the structure.[1] When the Normans made changes like this to their traditional continental architecture it can be seen as them shifting their style to better suit their new territory and its inhabitants. The Normans wanted to make sure the inhabitants of England that were there before them remained loyal, and therefore appeased them. One of these appeasements was the strong emphasis on religion, which the Saxons valued as a very religious society. The focus on the length over the height drew from a desire to make churches feel bigger. Many of the first English traditions being built by the Normans were built with French influence but molded into their own way. An example of direct influence from France can be seen from the redefined and clear vaulting in the choir and sacristy Bristol Cathedral which was inspired from the intermediate arches of “Chappelle Basse,” of the Sainte Chappelle in Paris, with the later being more transparent and complicated.[3] The architects that designed these magnificent structures were held at the highest prestige because they were designing a house for God.[2]
Churches were present in almost every major English town, and also on the monasteries that were self sufficient hubs of religious men or women that gave their lives to God. The most common in England were Benedictine. The Norman Elite valued religion in its culture and some wealthy families funded the building of monasteries. The first of its kind was the Priory in Tonbridge built in 1135. The monastic life meant living in solitude from the secular world. Meaning there had to be everything on the monastery's grounds that was a necessity for life. The architecture was designed to facilitate social interaction between residents.[4] This meant their living quarters were near areas of recreation, known as the calefactory, as well as the dining hall, known as the refractory. Here there would be long tables for eating, and the monks were divided to sit at different tables based on status within the ranks of the monastery. Connecting all the different parts of the monastery was a covered walkway known as a Cloister.[4] In the center of most Monasteries was the Church or Abby in this case.[4] Much like how the church was the center of the town the Abby was the center of the monastery. Around the Abby would be a courtyard sometimes with a small garden. This was for the purpose of peace and tranquility while praying near the Church. Surrounding the monastery was often some form of wall. This wall had what was known as a gatehouses at the entrance, often huge and elegant as they were the first thing people would see entering a Monastery and served as a sign of status and wealth of the monastery.[4] The architecture that surrounded people in monastic life in a way framed the way their lives took place.
Military architecture
When William the Conqueror came over with the Normans in 1066 to conquer England, his cavalry over ran the realm, but his castles is what would prove to hold it over the years. The first castles that were built during the invasion and moving into the next century were mostly wooden. These castles can be attributed to the Normans victory over the native Saxons of England.[5] The Saxons were focused on religious buildings, while the Normans proved to be a more militaristic society. Some were called castles, but were really just nothing more than a wooden fort with a tower at the center. This was because wood was an abundant resource and easy to transform into a working fort quickly. This was a necessity for protection and rest for large groups of soldiers. It allowed for the Normans to throw up a fort quickly and provide a safe place for troops in a hostile environment. They helped to create strong points all over the realm that could be used in strategic defensive ways against rebels or invaders. The only remains that can be seen from the wooden structures today are the mound on which they stood. These mounds were called mottes and were man made or natural mounds of earth with a flat top. This was a Norman strategy of building forts and proved superior to the Saxon natives of England. A top the flat top of a motte would be a castle or keep.[5] In less valuable defensive locations there would only be a tower on top the motte. In many cases these towers and keeps had supports built into the motte all the way down to the ground level. As archaeologist dug them up they found beams that went straight down to the ground mean the mounds would have to have been built around the support beams.[5] The technology to dig that deep was not around in the time, so this would be the only way the supports could reach so far down into the motte. Castles of this kind became known as the motte and bailey style, and was by far the most common used by the Normans over the first hundred years after the conquest. The bailey was an open courtyard in front or all the way around the center keep.[5] This was surrounded by a wall to keep out outsiders. The wall would have a walk way around it that could be used to look down at invaders trying to gain entrance. Most of the wooden castles have rotted away over the hundreds of years since the conquest.
After the realm was under steady Norman control many of the most valuable castles began to get transformed into more lasting stone structures. These were more fortified than their wooden counterparts and become started to resemble the image imagined when a regular person thinks of a castle. The first stone castle in England were Rochester castle, Dover castle, the White Tower.[6] These massive structure not only served as defense but also as a psychological deterrent for invaders, as there was nothing like them around there. A castle would be put in strategic defensive locations. This meant often near a river or water way, road, towns, or in some cases on the outskirts of larger castles. Often there would be a central castle which was the stone one and it had smaller wooden castles that surrounded it, so that if an invading army wanted to lay siege to the main castle they would have to deal with the smaller ones doing hit and run raids from behind.[7] This strategy proved valuable in the Norman conquest as the Saxons did not have an answer. Having you fighting force not in a single central location meant they can still come to the aid of castles under siege whose men could not safely get out. There was an estimate of 500 to 600 castles in England around the height of the conquest in 1100.[7] This includes wooden and stone castles. With men having to watch over and guard each one, this statistic shows how much of the soldiers of medieval England would spend their time. Time would be spent building, guarding and maintaining these castles, and would prove to be a time-consuming and expensive task. Most stone castles consisted of an inner stronghold atop the motte and one or two outer stone towers or fortified structures. The inner keep was always the biggest and strongest built as it was the last line of defense in a siege.[7] If the front line of defense were to give out men would retreat to the inner strong hold to mount a final stand. Early castle were mostly square or rectangular shaped however, this left blind spots in the corners it also meant if one corner was destroyed it could lead to both walls collapsing which would be a devastating blow to the defenders. An example of this is when rebels were held up in Rochester castle in 1216 when the army of King John famously used pig fat to burn down the corner supports of the southeast tower leading sections of the walls connected to it to collapse allowing the invades easy entrance.[6] This flaw in the design of castle would be adapted to and solved with the use of round towns. After peace time came around the Castle at Rochester would be rebuilt with round towers to prevent this from happening. This became the regular for castles to have round or in some cased polygonal shaped towers. This led to less of a build spot for defenders as they looked down at invaders. The later castles featured strong stone walls that would have a moat of water dug out around it. This meant the attackers would only be able to lay siege from the sides without water. A strong defensive advantage. A draw bridge that could be raised or lowered was used for the defenders to get in and out as needed. These were concentric castles meaning they had a smaller outer wall with a larger inner wall. Basically more walls meant it took longer to lay siege to the castle. Harlech was an example of this kind of structural defense. This castle was under siege multiple time and held strong until the 15th century when it fell in a long siege by Owain Glyndwr and become the headquarters of the Welsh rebellion that destabilized Henry the IV reign. It then fell again the Henry V in another long siege. The length of the sieges suggest that the defense were almost impenetrable with this design.[6] The invaders resulted to staving out the defenders over a long period of time. This advance in the defense of castles made laying siege to one increasingly difficult. In many cases large numbers of casualties were the only way to gain entrance to a properly defended castle. Kings resulted in basically throwing bodies at the defenders to overwhelm they by pure numbers and force. The result in this would be armies laying siege trying to starve out the defenders. All supplies would be cut off and no castle no matter the size would be able to sustain a fighting force long without steady supplies coming in. This disadvantage of siege warfare led to tunnels and secret exits becoming a normal thing in castles. Hidden exits in the walls were also used for small raids on the invaders at night and then soldiers would retreat back before the invaders could find the hidden entrance. These secret exits could be devastating to the defenders if found by the invaders by allowing them an easy way in. Thus only high-ranking members knew their whereabouts to keep it a secret. Both Dover and Nottingham castles both had these tunnels and used them in defense.[6]
Civil architecture
Civil or residential architecture is at the heart of every day lives of humans. Where we eat, sleep and spend our free time in our own private spaces shapes us as humans. It was no different for humans in medieval England. They spent much of their time in their residences making it a central part of their lives. Social class and wealth status played a vital role in the size and type of house one lived in, in England. In the years after the Norman Conquest in 1066 the vast majority of land in England was under the control of the wealthy land-owning upper class of Normans. This shifted the society to be more of a feudal system. These lords would often rent out parts of their land to the common people to live on. The commoner would tend the land and live off of it, as well as share in the profits with their lords from any surplus they produce. This was known as a copyhold tenure.[8] These commoners often lived in single room homes, the wealthier ones would have an extra room for storage of food or grains. They were often built as temporary homes, builders knew the cheap materials would rot over time. One could expect these homes to last about one generation. These homes were scatted across the rural countryside, and were where the vast majority of commoners dwelt.[9] There were some in cities and urban centers as well. These started to appear more after markets became a central part of the Medieval economy. Markets allowed these small farmers a place to sell their goods. This centralization of the markets leads to massive economic growth. The growth in the economy allowed for many to commoners to have enough resources to build more lasting houses out of brick or stone.[10] Examples of homes like this would be a crunk house. Crunk houses are built around pairs of timbers, or cruck blades, that extend from the ground all the way to the apex of the roof in a single sweep, forming an arch-like truss.[8] The roof structure could be seen to have beam moldings, crown posts and bracing patterns. Another style of home much similar in layout to the crunk is the box frame. Here the name says it all the support of the house comes from the box shape. The inside of the homes however is what shaped the commoners life style. Since there is only one room, that room had to serve multiple purposes.[9] Central hearth for cooking and heating of home which sometimes connected to a chimney. Small homes would have to have windows near the hearth because the fire would need ventilation if there is no chimney. The kitchen area would be filled with brass pots and pans that could be used for cooking or storage.[11] There would often be a large bakestone that could be placed on top of the fire for cooking. It was also not uncommon for these people to have a small brewing station in their homes because alcohol was cleaner then most sources of water.[11]
Manors are the massive houses that were scattered across England. These began to appear after the 12th century due to the feudal system. They were the homes of wealthy lords or landowners. In contrast to the commoners homes these manors were built to last. Part of the intention of the building was to have it symbolize the family and their legacy. These manors would normally be passed down the generations in the families that built them. The size of a manor was a direct representation of wealth of the lord. Most English Manors had followed the Anglo-Saxon style of architecture with a central hall for gatherings and eating with groups of people. Later, the solar was the lord's private space of work and living. There were also food storage room, kitchen to the right of main hall. The separate rooms often had their own roofs that formed at a right angle to the roof of the central hall. An example of a manor like this is in Stokesay, Shropshire.[12] Because manors were a centralized location of wealth they had to be fortified. Most bigger manors could be almost as fortified as a castle, sometimes even with a moat and drawbridge, as well as a gatehouse. This allowed for the lord to protect his wealth within his manor.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Gaffney, Seamus (June 1952). "Church Architecture, A Brief Survey". The Irish Monthly. 80 (948): 236–242.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Fernie, Eric (1989). "Archaeology and Iconography: Recent Developments in the Study of English Medieval Architecture". Architectural History. 32: 18–29. doi:10.2307/1568559. JSTOR 1568559. Unknown parameter
|s2cid=ignored (help) - ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Rosenau, Helen (Mar 1935). "Cathedral Designs of Medieval England". The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs. 66 (384): 128–137.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Irvine, Richard D.G. “Stability, Continuity, Place: An English Benedictine Monastery as a Case Study in Counterfactual Architecture.” In Religious Architecture: Anthropological Perspectives, edited by Oskar Verkaaik, 25–46. Amsterdam University Press, 2013.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Hope-Taylor, Brian (1958). "Norman Castles". Scientific American. 198 (3): 42–49. Bibcode:1958SciAm.198c..42H. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0358-42.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Cybulskie, Danièle (2017). "From towers to tunnels: Game Changers in English Castle Building". Medieval Warfare. 7 (2): 24–25.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Painter, Sydney (1935). "English Castles in the Early Middle Ages: Their Number, Location, and Legal Position". Speculum. 10 (3): 321–332. doi:10.2307/2848384. JSTOR 2848384 – via JSROR. Unknown parameter
|s2cid=ignored (help) - ↑ 8.0 8.1 Alcock, Nat (2014). The Medieval Peasant House in Midland England. Oxford: Oxbow Books. ISBN 9781782977148. Search this book on
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Johnson, Matthew (2013). "What do Medieval Buildings Mean?". History and Theory. 5 (3): 380–399. doi:10.1111/hith.10675.
- ↑ Hilton, Rodney (1982). "Towns in Society, Medieval England". Urban History Yearbook. 9: 7–13. doi:10.1017/S0963926800006076.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Woolgar, C. M. (2016). The Culture and Food of England, 1200-1500. New Heaven: Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300181913. Search this book on
- ↑ Kowaleski, Maryanne (2014). "Medieval People in Town and Country: New Perspectives from Demography and Bioarchaeology". Speculum. 89 (3): 573–600. doi:10.1017/S0038713414000815. hdl:2027.42/149364. Unknown parameter
|s2cid=ignored (help)
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