Anglo-Saxon architecture

Modern knowledge of Anglo-Saxon architecture is limited by a number of factors. One is that many of their buildings, particularly domestic dwellings, were wooden, and so have not survived. Another is that people of later ages built over the top of earlier foundations, thus obliterating or confusing the evidence of what was there before.

Often this was accidental, but in the case of the Normans there were deliberate attempts to build from scratch as a way of imposing themselves on the defeated native population after the Conquest of 1066. This meant that many buildings, such as churches, were swept away and new ones built in the Norman style. However, there were also many that survived or were adapted rather than destroyed, and some can still be seen to the present day.

Knowledge of Anglo-Saxon domestic architecture comes largely from archaeology, but also from descriptions in early writings. During the early Anglo-Saxon period, from the 5^th to the 7^th centuries, most people would have lived in wooden huts, either raised above the ground on stout wooden posts or incorporated into workshops such that the working part would have been sunk below ground level.

The typical wall construction was “wattle-and-daub” which consisted of panels woven from thin strips of wood and made watertight by applying a mixture of mud, clay and animal dung. This was a technique that goes back to ancient times and was certainly not unique to the Anglo-Saxons. Roofs would have been made from reed thatch or wooden shingles.

Many early settlers lived in isolated buildings, such as in forest clearings, or two or three families might live in closer proximity. The earliest villages would have been small, with the most dominant family having a larger house or hall, built on a rectangular pattern, in which members of the extended family would also live.

Some Anglo-Saxon sites have been excavated that show that several large buildings were built close together, either as monastic sites or royal palaces. For example, at Yeavering in Northumbria King Edwin built a palace based on an earlier Iron Age hill fort. The earliest buildings were a wooden fort with parallel palisades, to which were added a large timber hall and an amphitheatre. The hall was later rebuilt with the new structure being over 100 feet in length, with an earlier pagan temple replaced by a Christian church and cemetery.

The arrival and spread of Christianity in England from the early 7^th century onwards led to the building of churches and monastic buildings and the development of more formal villages in which the population worked on shared fields and lived within easy walking distance of the church. Village boundaries would be marked by raised earthworks, which in some cases would have had a defensive purpose but were often there to prevent farm animals from wandering and protect them from wolves and other wild animals once a wooden fence had been erected on top.

Larger communities were formed within more extensive earth walls, sometimes based on much older settlements such as Roman towns and cities. The development of the “burh”, meaning a defended place and the origin of the “borough”, was accelerated when the Vikings threatened the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in the 9^th century.

Although most early churches were wooden, like the houses, these were often rebuilt in stone, especially in the burhs. A typical Saxon church was small and rectangular, but tall with a high roof. The windows were small and few, so the interior would have been dark and lit by candles.

An excellent example of a late Saxon church is St Martin’s at Wareham in Dorset, built on the wall that borders the north side of the town, the boundaries of which are clearly traceable some 1,300 years after they were built. The original 8^th century church was destroyed by the Danes in 1015 but soon rebuilt. Later alterations did not change the basic design of the church, many features of which are original. The church is still in use to this day.

Another remarkable survival is Greensted Church is Essex, part of which is wooden and, although its dating as belonging to the Saxon period has been questioned, was certainly built (or rebuilt) in the Saxon style from split oak tree trunks that are more than 900 years old. It is believed to be the oldest wooden church in the world.

At Deerhurst in Gloucestershire a Saxon church tower can be seen, built in five stages at different dates. Close by are the remains of another Saxon building, which was clearly a chapel consisting of a nave and chancel, both rectangular and each measuring about 40 feet in length.

Although Saxon churches generally followed a rectangular pattern, it is known that the cruciform shape was introduced before the Conquest. Although most such churches did not have fully developed transepts, a few did, such as that at Breamore, Hampshire. Another feature often found in Saxon ecclesiastical buildings is the apse, this being a semicircular projection at the eastern end which can be seen in Romanesque buildings throughout Europe.

Other typical Saxon features include pilaster strip-work (narrow bands of stonework standing proud of a vertical surface and defining a series of panels) and quoining (the use of large stones at wall corners, sometimes arranged to give an alternate “long and short” appearance with each course).

There are around 400 examples of Anglo-Saxon church buildings in England, although these vary from foundations on which later buildings were erected to a very few examples that have survived virtually complete from when they were built. Strangely enough, some of the best survivals have been of buildings that ceased to be churches centuries ago and were only recognised for what they really were in relatively recent times. This is true of the well-preserved examples at Bradford-on-Avon (Wiltshire) and Bradwell-on Sea (Essex). The latter building was a grain barn for much of its existence.

The fact that such buildings, if left alone, can survive for around 1,000 years (the chapel at Bradwell-on-Sea is around 1,400 years old) is testament to the skill of their builders. By sticking to simple methods of stone construction, and not over-reaching themselves, the Anglo-Saxons showed that they could build to last.

© John Welford

St Paul's Cathedral, London

The itinerary of every tourist who visits London should include St Paul’s Cathedral. This is the seat of the Bishop of London, and the place where many great state occasions take place, such as royal weddings and celebrations, and the funerals of famous people.

However, what you see today is not what the architect, Sir Christopher Wren, originally planned. A scientist by training, Wren’s experience as an architect consisted of only two buildings, but one of those was the Sheldonian Theatre at Oxford, a circular domed building, modelled after a classical Roman design. He was also a great admirer of St Peter’s Basilica at Rome, with its massive dome designed by Michelangelo.

Not surprisingly, when it came to submitting designs for the new St Paul’s Cathedral, a dome was always going to be a prominent feature. Indeed it was only a matter of days after the Great Fire of 1666, which destroyed Old St Paul’s and much of the surrounding city, that 34-year-old Wren presented his first ideas, leading some cynics to wonder who really started the fire! King Charles II quite liked Wren’s plan, which was to rebuild the whole area on a grand classical plan with broad avenues, but this was too radical for most people, especially as the pressing need was to build new houses as fast as possible.

Plan B consisted of a cathedral in the shape of a Greek cross, surmounted by - you’ve guessed it - a massive dome. However, the clergy objected to this as being too “Romish”, meaning “Catholic”. If you visit the Cathedral today, one thing you can see (by appointment) is a scale model of this design, and decide for yourself if this would have been better or worse than what you see today.

Plan C was therefore a compromise. Wren could have his dome, but a small one, please, and surmounted by a tall spire, which was the dominant feature of the old cathedral. Wren eventually got to work in 1675, nine years after the fire, and proceeded steadily to build the walls. King Charles had given Wren a little leeway, in the shape of a clause in the contract that allowed for “variations, rather ornamental than essential”. Wren took this to mean that he had virtual carte blanche to do what he wanted, but he erected screens around the walls so that prying eyes could not see what he was up to. When the screens came down, it was too late for anyone to change was what obviously under construction, namely a huge dome in place of a spire, as well as several other neo-classical (and thus pagan) features that the clergy would never have sanctioned.

From beginning to end, St Paul’s took 33 years to build, which was a remarkable achievement in itself. By the time it was finished in 1708, King Charles was long dead, which is why the statue outside the cathedral entrance is of Queen Anne. The West Front is impressive in its own right, being based on a classical temple design, with a double colonnaded portico, flanked by towers, and a pediment displaying in stone the conversion of St Paul.

You will also be struck by the whiteness of the stone from which St Paul’s was built, and which has recently been cleaned. This is Portland stone, one of the world’s finest building stones, brought by sea from Dorset to the Thames by barge. If you visit Portland today you can see where the blocks of stone were lowered onto the barges, and there are even a few blocks lying around that were rejected as being sub-standard.

Inside the nave, you will be struck by how light and airy the space is. There is no “dim religious light” here, and there is as much plain glass as stained. There are also no pillars or screens to block your view along the length of the building, which comprises one continuous space. The only pillars in the building support the arches of the broad aisles and the dome.

There are many memorials to famous people in St Paul’s, some of which were rescued from the ruins of the old cathedral. These include a memorial to John Donne, the poet of “no man is an island” fame, who was also Dean of St Paul’s. Prominent memorials include those of Lord Nelson and the Duke of Wellington. Most of the memorials will be found in the crypt. However, only a plaque commemorates Sir Christopher Wren. This reads “Lector, si monumentum requiris, circumspice”; “Reader, if you seek a monument, look around you”.

American visitors will almost certainly want to visit the American Memorial Chapel in the apse behind the High Altar. Although St Paul’s escaped relatively unscathed from the wartime bombing that created a second “Great Fire”, the apse was one part that was destroyed and had to be rebuilt. This chapel contains the roll of honour of 28,000 American servicemen who died during World War II whilst stationed in the United Kingdom.

The choir stalls are worth a second look, as they were carved by Grinling Gibbons, Britain’s greatest ever woodcarver. Gibbons also decorated the casing of the organ, which was once played by Mendelsohn.

However, the outstanding feature of St Paul’s has to be the dome, which is the world’s second largest after St Peter’s. You can stand at the centre of the cathedral and look straight up above you, nearly 200 feet, bearing in mind that those relatively slender columns on either side of you are supporting a total weight of 65,000 tons! Or you can make the climb up a series of staircases to the top of the dome.

259 steps up, you come to the Whispering Gallery, from which you can look down into the cathedral interior. The peculiar geometry of the dome means that words spoken in an ordinary voice on one side of the gallery can be heard perfectly clearly on the far side, 112 feet away.

Keep going upwards, and at 378 steps you reach the Stone Gallery that runs around the base of the dome itself, above the colonnade. From here, at 173 feet above floor level, you get a wonderful, relaxed view over London.

The dome is really three domes, with a conical brick structure sitting on top of the inner dome and supporting the wood and lead fabric of the outer dome. A series of staircases between the cone and the outer dome allows you to reach the Golden Gallery at the top of the dome, just below the ball and cross at the very top. This is 280 feet above ground level and you will have climbed 530 steps to get here. The view from here is amazing, but there is not a lot of room at this level and your visit may have to be brief. Whether you would have fancied being hauled up to here in a basket from street level, once a week, is another matter. This is what happened to Wren in his later years as he inspected the work in progress, and in 1708, at the age of 76, he witnessed his son putting the final stone in place.

When I first visited St Paul’s, more than 40 years ago, it was possible to go even higher, into the golden ball that supports the cross, but this is no longer allowed. At that time, St Paul’s, at 355 feet, was the tallest building in London, but it has now been outstripped by several buildings in the “Square Mile”, which is the name given to the Central Business District that is only about a mile away.

On one of my visits some years ago I came across a cathedral guide who was clearly fed up with being asked questions all day. In the Whispering Gallery, a party of schoolchildren were clustered round and one of them, gazing up into the interior of the dome, which is covered with murals depicting incidents from the life of St Paul, asked, “How did they get to do those paintings, all the way up there?” The guide replied, “Long brushes”. I’m sure Sir Christopher would have been amused.

© John Welford

Wicken Fen, Cambridgeshire

Wicken Fen, which is a few miles south of Ely in Cambridgeshire, is Britain’s oldest nature reserve, being cared for by the National Trust since 1899. It comprises 254 hectares of fen and reedbeds and is a rare survivor of the wetland wilderness that once covered virtually the whole of East Anglia.

The importance of the site can be seen from the fact that it is a National Nature Reserve, a Site of Special Scientific Interest, a Special Area of Conservation, and a RAMSAR site – this being an international wetland designation.

For centuries, the site was managed by sedge-cutting and peat-digging to create a habitat that is rich in wildlife, particularly invertebrates. It is an important site for molluscs, water and other beetles, caddis flies, spiders and bees.

Bird species are regularly seen here include great crested grebe, snipe, reed warbler and bittern.

There are several open water areas within the Fen that attract water birds, and hides are available from which these can be seen and photographed. There are miles of tracks and boardwalks that connect the hides and other features of interest.

© John Welford

Gribbin Head Daymarker

This tall square tower stands on Gribbin Head, southwest of Fowey on the south Cornwall coast. To all intents and purposes it looks like a lighthouse, complete with red and white stripes, apart from one fundamental difference – no light!

Instead it is a “daymarker” as opposed to a “nightmarker”. The tower stands 84 feet high (25 metres), and is easily visible to sailors out at sea, but only during daylight hours. It has been in place on the headland since 1832.

So why was it built? 

The problem was that Gribbin Head (known to locals as “The Gribbin” looks very similar from out at sea to St Anthony Head, which is a few miles to the west, on the eastern side of Falmouth Bay. Sailors heading for Falmouth Harbour would naturally steer to the west of St Anthony Head, but if they made the mistake of confusing the two headlands, they would instead sail blindly into the shallow water of St Austell Bay to the west of Gribbin Head and be wrecked.

This mistake was only possible in daylight, because no ships would be attempting to reach port at night, so a daymarker was what was needed to warn them of the danger.

© John Welford

The Senate House Library of London University

This building is the Senate House in the Bloomsbury area of London (next door to the back of the British Museum). It is where I started my first job as a librarian, more than 40 years ago.

This is the central administrative building of the University of London and it houses a library that is open to students and staff who belong to any of the University’s many colleges. The library occupies most of the building in the picture, beginning at the second row of small windows and going all the way up to the top of the tower. When I was there it contained around one million books – what its capacity is today I simply don’t know.

On finishing my degree course (at Bangor, North Wales) in 1974 I was unsure what I wanted to do as a career. I thought that librarianship was a possibility, so I applied to join a scheme that offered one-year placements for graduates at university libraries, at the grade of “student assistant librarian”. This was like an internship, but a proper salary was part of the deal. 

So in September 1974 I started work. I found a place in a hostel in Muswell Hill (north London) and commuted into central London by bus and tube.

I learned a lot at the Senate House. There were three of us who started on the same day, all from different universities, and the library staff devised a plan by which we would work in two different departments in each of the three terms. They shifted us round so that we never worked together at the same time.

I therefore got a grounding in Circulation, Acquisitions and Reference work, as well as working in some specialist subject libraries. It was in the pre-computer age, as far as libraries were concerned, so there were rows and rows of catalogue drawers to file cards into, a highly complicated filing system for Acquisitions records, and a huge row of trays of tickets for the manual issue system. 

A regular job involved searching the closed stacks for rare items and for PhD theses, the latter of which were stored at the very top of the tower – the only part of the building that was not heated!

The library contained a number of special collections that had been bequeathed to the University at various times. The strangest of these had to be the Harry Price Library of Magical Literature. Harry Price had been a noted psychical researcher (i.e. ghost hunter) in the inter-war years and he had acquired a large collection of material on many aspects of the paranormal. The library was stored in a remote part of the building to which the public were not normally admitted. The wind whistled through the pipes to add a distinctly eerie atmosphere, and many of the library staff did not like visiting this collection as they sensed a “presence” when they did so.

In recent years I have often wondered if J K Rowling ever used this library as part of her research for the “Harry Potter” books. She would certainly have gained a lot of information had she done so, and the similarities between the Harry Price Library and that of Hogwarts School are quite striking. I also wonder if that is why Harry Potter is called Harry.

After my year at the Senate House I felt ready to carry on and become a proper librarian. I therefore won a place at the College of Librarianship Wales (at Aberystwyth) where I gained my professional qualification in 1976 (I returned in 1987 to take an additional Masters degree).

© John Welford

The history and architecture of Lichfield Cathedral

Lichfield Cathedral’s claim to fame is that it is the only cathedral in Britain to have three spires (“The Ladies of the Vale”), two at the west end and the third, and tallest at 252 feet, at the crossing. It is unfortunate in that it has suffered from considerable damage over the centuries, and the various efforts at restoration have not always been sympathetic to the original design.

The history of the cathedral

The cathedral began as a shrine to St Chad, an English bishop who died at Lichfield (in south Staffordshire) in 672. There were originally three wooden chapels on the site, dedicated to St Mary, St Peter and St Chad, but these were replaced by a cathedral that was begun in 1085. However, this was in turn replaced by the cathedral that is seen today and which was begun in 1195 and completed in the 1330s, thus offering a variety of styles of English Gothic. 

The oldest part of the cathedral that has survived is the western end of the choir, which demonstrates some late Norman features as well as the typical pointed arches of Early English.

Lichfield Cathedral was built using local sandstone that is notable for its variations in colour, these being more clearly seen on the inside where weathering has not been a factor.

The west front, with the two spires, contains niches for more than a hundred statues. When first built, these represented a mixture of saints, kings and the supposed ancestors of Christ, but nearly all of them were pulled down and smashed by Cromwell’s troops during the Civil War in the 17^th century. The replacements that are seen today are Victorian copies that Alec Clifton-Taylor has described as “passable advertisements for the local hairdresser, every little wisp of hair having been carefully ‘set’ in a fussy little curl”.

The Civil War was a bad time for Lichfield Cathedral, which was a battleground on three separate occasions between the forces of King Charles and those of Parliament. The damage included the destruction of the central spire and the removal of the roof, plus the smashing of all the stained glass. Repairs started soon after the Restoration of Charles II in 1660 but took until the 19^th century to be completed. For example, some of the stained glass seen today (in the Lady Chapel) is of 16^th century origin but was bought from an abbey in Belgium in 1802. 

Lichfield Cathedral also fell victim to the misguided degradations of James Wyatt in the 1790s, but the more sympathetic work of George Gilbert Scott in the 1850s and 1870s helped to undo some of the damage, despite the awful west front statues.

Features of Lichfield Cathedral

Probably the best feature of the cathedral’s interior is the aisled nave, which is 14^th century. The proportions are excellent, being reminiscent of those of Westminster Abbey, of similar date, although the nave is not as lofty. There is a pleasing symmetry in the design, with geometrical patterning in the clerestory windows, the tribune arches and between the nave arcades that traces a progression of three lobes in each pattern at the top, four in the middle and five lower down. This is an excellent example of the “Geometrical Decorated” style of English Gothic. 

An unusual feature of the decoration is the stone carving on the capitals of the arcade and springing-points of the vault. This has been done to represent purely natural objects such as oak leaves and acorns, which adds a pleasing touch and does something, purely coincidentally, to counteract the fact that the vault is only of wood and plaster and not the original stone. 

The chapter house is of interest, being an elongated octagon vaulted from a central pier and dating from 1249. It is situated on the north side of the choir and approached via a vestibule in which is a medieval pedilavium, or a place where bishops (and sometimes kings) would wash the feet of poor people on Maundy Thursday.

It is possible to stand at the west end of the cathedral and see right through to the east end, as there are no screens or other obstructions in the way. At the east end is the Lady Chapel, which forms an extension of the choir and is built to the same height, but without aisles. One can just make out the slight bend in alignment of the Lady Chapel, caused by the need to fit the foundations to the lie of the sandstone bedrock of the site.

Lichfield Cathedral is by no means the greatest of English cathedrals but it is certainly well worth a visit, not least to view some of the treasures it contains such as the Chad Gospels, an illuminated manuscript dating from around 730.

 © John Welford

The history and architecture of Durham Cathedral

Durham Cathedral is surely the greatest example of Romanesque architecture, certainly in England and probably the world. Begun in 1093 and completed in its essentials only 40 years later (later additions included the towers and cloisters) it is a remarkable survival of the years when Norman kings ruled England some 900 years ago.

The history of Durham Cathedral began in the year 995 when a group of monks sought a safe resting place for the remains of St Cuthbert who had died in 687. The saint’s bones had first been taken from their original place of burial on Lindisfarne in 875 and been kept in various places in the meantime. There is a legend that the monks were led to the site at Durham by following a wandering cow which stopped when it reached a bend in the River Wear where the cathedral now stands. Be that as it may, this site was ideal for the purpose as it stands high above the river on an easily protected promontory.

The first shrine on the site was known as the White Church, which was replaced by the current Cathedral. The bones of St Cuthbert were moved to the new building in 1104, long before it was complete.

As was often the case with medieval cathedrals, building began at the eastern (choir) end and it would have been usable by 1128 before the nave was complete. There is some evidence that the vaulting of the choir presented problems, which is presumably why the nave vault was constructed as it was, with every precaution taken against collapse.

The Galilee Chapel at the west end of the nave was built later in the 12th century, and the Chapel of the Nine Altars, next to the Shrine of St Cuthbert at the eastern end, dates from the 13th century.

Early medieval cathedrals were much more concerned about interiors than exteriors, so were often built without those features that people today associate with great cathedrals, namely high towers and spires. The three towers of Durham Cathedral, which now seem so iconic and architecturally correct, were an afterthought, with the two western towers, although begun in the Romanesque style, being completed in 1226 in the Gothic style that was then current. The central tower was built in the late 15th century, replacing an earlier construction, and some of the finishing on the towers dates from Victorian times.

The bulk of the cathedral as seen today, at least from the inside, is Norman-Romanesque. The impression as one enters is of solidity and yet great beauty at the same time.

One of the most striking features of the interior of Durham Cathedral is the massive piers that line the nave, choir and transepts. These alternate between pairs of circular and composite piers as one walks along. The composite piers (as if composed of vast bunches of sticks) sweep upwards without interruption and the circular piers are incised with geometrical patterns including spirals and chevrons. It is possible that the incisions were once filled with metal but they are now bare.

The stone vaulting of the nave is particularly fine, and is the earliest example in England of a vault that uses a pointed arch. Transverse arches cross between the composite piers but between the round piers the ribs are formed as St Andrew’s crosses. The transverse arches take off from quite low down on the triforium level (the middle of the three rows of arches in a typical cathedral nave); this may be objected to from an aesthetic viewpoint but it has the advantage of adding strength to the ceiling construction and reducing the stresses on the uppermost clerestory level.

Just to be on the safe side, the architect also included flying buttresses to prevent the weight of the roof from causing the walls to bulge outwards. These are not visible from the outside of the building because they are hidden by the roofs of the side aisles.

Taken together, the massive piers, the ingenious stone vaulting and the flying buttresses have certainly stood the test of time. Despite not having the advantages of modern technology to calculate all the stresses involved in a building of this size, its designers would doubtless be delighted to learn that, some 900 years later, their work is still in place.

Another architectural feature of interest at Durham is the Galilee Chapel at the west end. This is the cathedral’s Lady Chapel, which in every other English cathedral would be found at the east end, typically behind the high altar. However, the legend has it that St Cuthbert was a well-known hater of women whose spirit could not abide the presence of an altar to the Virgin Mary so close to his own shrine, especially as this was the only part of a monastic church that women were permitted to enter. He therefore, so it is said, caused the foundations of the chapel to collapse when efforts were made to build it in the 1170s, hence its positioning at the opposite end of the cathedral. When the Chapel of the Nine Altars was later built at the eastern end it suffered from none of the earlier problems, presumably having St Cuthbert’s blessing.

Be that as it may, the Galilee Chapel is a low projection set against the west front of the cathedral, right against the edge of the drop to the river. The restorer James Wyatt, working in the late 18th century, proposed to demolish the Galilee Chapel to enable a roadway to be opened across the front of the cathedral but was fortunately dissuaded from this act of vandalism.

The architect who designed the Galilee Chapel must have visited Moorish Spain at some time and been impressed by the Islamic building styles that were in evidence there. Durham’s Galilee Chapel therefore imitates the Great Mosque of Cordoba with its slender pillars and arches. At Durham the space is divided into five aisles and the round arches are decorated with a zigzag pattern that recollects the chevron incisions on the pillars in the main cathedral. This chapel is the resting place of the Venerable Bede, whose remains were originally brought to the cathedral in 1020.

Durham Cathedral is a very satisfying building to visit because it retains its Romanesque integrity throughout with little subsequent mucking about to disturb the grand design. The interior and exterior of the cathedral need to be considered quite separately, because the exterior features, which relate so closely to the cathedral’s dramatic setting, are only partly derived from the original concept.

Despite its early origins, Durham Cathedral pointed the way forward to later developments in English cathedral building, not least the pointed vault arches and the invention of flying buttresses. Students of Gothic cathedral architecture would do well to start their investigations at Durham.

 © John Welford