Overview

This book provides a comprehensive guide with detailed explanations, illustrations and photographs of late-7th century to 11th century Anglo-Saxon Churches and stone sculpture. It is divided into four parts. The first part includes an extensive glossary explaining the terms likely to be encountered, it explains Celtic and Roman Church practices and the Synod of Whitby, how Anglo-Saxon churches were established and their plans, and also provides a summary to the settlements of the Anglo-Saxons, Vikings and Hiberno-Norse in England. The second part provides a comprehensive description of the construction and architectural features of extant Anglo-Saxon Churches including their walling, plinths and quoining, archways, doorways, windows and belfry-openings of whatever shape or format or wherever their location. It also explains features such as string-courses, pilaster-strips, pilaster-buttresses, hood-moulding and strip-work. Also included are extant Anglo-Saxon stairways and crypts. Explanations are included on porticus, galleries, the use of rooms in towers, roofs, church seating and other furnishing, balusters and baluster-shafts. The third part provides a comprehensive description of Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Scandinavian Decoration on stonework. It details all the designs and patterns involved including those which also have scenes depicting creatures, beasts, birds, serpents and humans, figures, and scenes from Christianity and Norse Mythology. It explains and provides examples of the stonework on which these designs and patterns appear namely standing crosses, cross-heads, cross-shafts and cross-bases; grave-markers, grave-covers, grave-slabs and grave-memorials and crosses; sarcophagi and shrine chests; wall friezes and wall panels; fonts; and sundials. The fourth part provides an alphabetical list of 183 recommended churches and museums with summarised information on their individual architectural features, and/or stone sculpture. Many of the churches are further expanded in detail in the text in the second and third parts. Also provided is a page and photographic index of all the churches and museums where they are referred to in the text. All the places referred to in the text have been personally visited by the author.

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9780993033964

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For over 35 years the author has travelled and researched extensively in the UK. His first publications were concise guides to historic Orkney and Shetland, and Northumberland and Tyne & Wear, covering places of interest from prehistory to the twentieth century. In the last 20 years he has focussed on the Anglo-Saxon period producing gazetteers of Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Scandinavian sites as indicate above, as well as “The Combined Anglo-Saxon Chronicles: A Ready-Reference Abridged Chronology” a single narrative in chronological order of the information provided in the extant manuscripts identifying in the process the source manuscripts. His books are for those readers who wish to learn more about Anglo-Saxon church architecture and Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Scandinavian stone sculpture. Intended for the student and non-specialist alike, as well as those who already have some knowledge of the subjects covered, it bridges the divide between an academic approach and that of the interested general public. The aim is to provide an informed introduction to the subjects so that the reader will be able to confidently recognise Anglo-Saxon church architectural features and Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Scandinavian stone sculpture.

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