Castle Acre

This is the report of research excavations and salvage recording both inside and outside the standing Romanesque church. Evidence was seen of three pre-Conquest churches. The first was a ground standing timber building. The second was a Brixworth-type stone building. The third was a T-shaped church with a continuous transept and a tiny eastern apse. The evidence for these interpretations is presented. Documentary evidence is given and parallels are discussed. Additional information about the succeeding Romanesque church is presented. It had a rectangular crossing and tower, and evidence of a large added eastern chapel, reasoned to have been a new setting for the Holy Cross of Waltham, is discussed. Finds include floor tiles and stone. A burial close to the first church probably dates to the seventh century and suggests that Waltham was a minster church from the early years of the conversion. A herring-bone masonry wall is attributed to Harold.     

Carlisle: Function and Change between the First and Seventh Centuries AD

Archaeological excavations combined with antiquarian observations shed considerable light on the evolution of Roman Carlisle. From being a fort in the northern advance under Cerialis and Agricola, Carlisle developed as a nodal hub supported by a number of activity ‘zones’. By the early third century most had become absorbed into the newly created civitas capital. The Roman town declined and stone buildings became ruinous, a process that probably commenced before the fourth century and continued until the land was taken over by the kings of Northumbria and the church in the seventh century. Scanty archaeological records for the sub- and post-Roman periods are supplemented by implications for socio-political structures drawn from texts.     

Archaeological Intelligence

The county of Norfolk is well known for its huge number of ruined and abandoned medieval churches. ‘St Mary's Chapel’ at Ashwellthorpe has not usually been, reckoned among these. Although local tradition always maintained that it was the parish church of the lost village of Ashwell, some architectural historians have been sceptical, suggesting that it is merely a post-medieval domestic building on which part of a church roof has been re-used. Renovation of the property has not only confirmed its ecclesiastical origin, but revealed that it is the chancel of a church later used as a chantry chapel, with a major refurbishment in the fifteenth century.     

The Strange Birth of Anglican Synods in Australia and the 1850 Bishops' Conference

The emergence of synods in Australian Anglicanism and their shape flowed in large measure from the social democratic forces at the time and these were for the most part expressed by Anglican lay people. While the Bishops' conference in 1850 identified the issue of church governance and lay involvement the precise recommendations of the conference were nowhere followed. The popular memory of this process which gives determining influence in shaping the form of church constitution to the theological opinions of the local bishop owes its origins to some key interpretations at the beginning of the twentieth century which were part of the political debate about a national church constitution, a debate which was being argued with theologically shaped rhetoric. The reality in the middle of the nineteenth century was quite different but nonetheless implied a theological perspective which validated the use of contemporary social and political ideas in shaping church structures. In order to secure a model which incorporated the whole church community the synods used the mid nineteenth century parliamentary model. Whether that remains the best model for synods is a question.     

The identification of the medieval church of St Sabas in Jerusalem in the light of new documentary evidence

ABSTRACT

For over a century the church that the Greek monks of Dayr Mar Saba are known to have possessed inside the walls of Jerusalem in the twelfth century has usually been associated with a chapel surviving inside the Disy family house opposite the police barracks south of the Citadel, while the Zāwiyyat al-Shaykh Ya?qūb (Ya?qūbiyya), on the east side of Christ Church, has been identified as having originally been built in the twelfth century, possibly by Monophysites, as a church dedicated to St James the Persian, or the ‘Cut-up’ (Intercisus). New documentary research, however, now makes it appear more likely that Mujīr al-Dīn was correct in attributing the building of the Ya?qūbiyya to the Greeks and that it was also the church referred to by pilgrims in the twelfth century as that of St Sabas. This means that the identity of the church in Dār Disy, if indeed it was a church, remains to be determined.     

Propaganda in Stone: Medieval Style in 17th Century Anglican Churches

It has long been realised that it was not until a long time after it was deployed in secular architecture in England that the Renaissance style was used systematically in English church building. The use of Perpendicular Gothic continued until the middle of the 17th century at least. Among those churches which used Gothic style, however, was smaller number of churches which did not use the Perpendicular version, but deployed motifs going back to the 14th century, notably in window tracery. It is suggested here that these features were included in the building of churches under James I and Charles I and to the 1660s in order to reinforce a particular view that the Anglican Church had a special place within the story of the Reformation in general.     

Glastonbury Abbey: Archaeological Investigations 1904–79

Abstract

Netley Abbey began to attract visitors in the 18th century, of whom John Milner was amongst the first to leave an account of the ruins. Certain carvings he saw in the south transept led him to suppose that Richard Fox, bishop of Winchester (1501–28), had been a benefactor to the abbey church. Subsequent historians then followed Milner's supposition. This paper refutes Fox's patronage and reveals the true identity of the patron of Netley. It discusses the nature of the patron's gift to the abbey church and how his friendship with William Paulet, who was granted Netley after the Dissolution, preserved it. The article concludes by presenting details of some of the carved imagery from Netley that survives and other remains recorded in the 19th century which may have formed part of the final phase of building and ornamentation of the abbey church prior to its dissolution.     

New Architectural Models and Building Tradition: A Dialogue in Early Modern Sardinia – The Jesuit Church in Sassari

Architecture in early modern Sardinia is characterized by a strong continuity with previous practices. In the second half of the 16th century, new models join the Gothic building tradition, linked in particular to trends in military engineering and Classicism of the Catholic Counter-Reformation. The Jesuit church in Sassari offers an interesting example of the intertwining of these architectural modes, which originated with a sudden change of leadership at the site. Giovan Maria Bernardoni, an Italian Jesuit architect, initially modeled the church after the Gesù in Rome, and it was partially built under his direction. After his departure from Sardinia, local master builders finished the construction, following the Gothic tradition and possibly some external influences. This article analyzes the church, particularly focusing on the challenges presented by its articulated vaulting system completed between 1587 and 1609.     

The ‘Injunction of Jeremiah’: papal politicking and power in the Middle Ages

Throughout the Middle Ages, the ‘Injunction of Jeremiah’ (Jer. 1:10) was employed by countless ecclesiastical writers. Building on an established tradition, medieval contemporaries began applying the allegory of ‘uprooting and destroying, building and planting’ with an intentionally moral and political message. This article examines the Old Testament call narrative with a view to understanding how and why it served medieval popes and other high-ranked ecclesiastics as a political and rhetorical mechanism for legitimising ecclesiastical authority. It argues for a noticeable and deliberate shift in textual interpretation in the ninth century, after which period medieval popes and influential church figures alike marshalled the Injunction to help strengthen the centralising ideology of Rome and her bishop. The effect, it is concluded, contributed ultimately to reinforcing the papacy's claims to govern spiritual and temporal matters throughout Christian society.     

Recent Historical and Archaeological Publications

It has been said that there was a stagnation in church building during the late sixteenth century, but this seems to be a myth, brought about because work of this period may be almost indistinguishable from earlier products and many church towers have been mistakenly attributed. A major breakthrough in campanological technology is demonstrated which led to over half the county's church towers being strengthened, improved or rebuilt. A notch found in newel stairs helps to identify those of this period, as does the revival of Decorated style features. The era is seen as one of Mixed Gothic motifs.     

Anarchy in Our Churches? The American Architectural Press, 1944–65

In the mid-twentieth century American architectural journals, including Architectural Forum, Architectural Record, and Progressive Architecture, routinely ran features on the state of contemporary church architecture in the United States. Rapid suburban expansion and the revival of religious life in the post-Depression, postwar era generated tremendous amounts of construction, with a great deal of work available for architects. This article examines the concerns and hopes of modernist editors in the 1940s–1960s, as they sought to stabilize a “direction” for church architecture. Specifically, it examines the role of the architectural press as the self-established gatekeepers for acceptable church design, and their relationship with theologians, liturgists, and building commissions within the Catholic Church. Questions of authority (who was competent to determine whether a church design was successful?) and expertise (whose theological knowledge should be weighted more heavily?) lay behind the stark assertions commonplace in these discussions. Editors, generally not themselves Catholic, used their professional positions to weigh in on hot debates within the Catholic Church over the purpose of a church building, the relationship of the Church to modernity (and modernism), and the appropriateness of new materials and engineering techniques.     

The Geochemical Fingerprint of Tufo Lionato Blocks from the Area Sacra di Largo Argentina: Implications for the Chronology of Volcanic Building Stones in Ancient Rome

We use trace element discrimination diagrams to provide a geochemical fingerprint for Tufo Lionato, the volcanic rock most commonly used in the ancient Roman dimension stone technique. Based on the comparison of their geochemical signatures, we identify different rock facies of Tufo Lionato employed since the fourth to third centuries and through the second century bce in the construction of the temples of the Area Sacra di Largo Argentina. These rock facies correspond to two previously identified building stones: Aniene Tuff and Monteverde Tuff, named after their supposed source areas located in the Aniene River Valley and in the homonymous locality of the Tiber River Valley, respectively. However, the results of our study demonstrate previous misidentification of these volcanic rocks in the different construction phases of Temple C, providing a revision of the dating system currently accepted for the diffusion of Tufo Lionato architecture. We show that the Aniene facies has been exploited since the end of the fourth century bce and that it was employed along with Tufo Giallo della Via Tiberina in the podium and staircase of Temple C, whereas observations at Largo Argentina suggest that the ‘Monteverde Tuff’ was only sporadically used in the early phases of the dimension stone construction technique.     

The Cathedral Church of St Nicholas,Newcastle: ‘A Tangled Story’, or ‘Cutting the Geordian Knot’

This paper argues that, far from being a ‘lost cause’ when it comes to the study of medieval church architecture, St Nicholas at Newcastle reveals a considerable amount of its building history and development. It will also be argued, and evidence offered, that the sweeping restoration and rebuilding of much of the fabric in the 19th century was accrued out according to a ‘restore as was’ policy, meaning that many medieval features were reproduced. Further, it will be argued that some of the architecture may have been misdated, with potentially significant implications for the study of northern English architecture of the early 15th century.     

The Concepts of imitatio and translatio: Perceptions of a Viking‐Age Past

The author presents the results of excavations at Mare Church, North Tr?ndelag. Medieval sources indicate that Mære was the religious centre for Inner Tr?ndelag in pre‐Christian times. It was also the place where the first church (shire church) in Sparbyggjafylke was erected. At Mære if anywhere, therefore, it should be possible to test archaeologically the theory about cult continuity from pagan to Christian times.

Under the present church, which dates from the end of the twelfth century, the remains of an early wooden church surrounded by a churchyard were found, together with vestiges of at least two buildings from pre‐Christian times. On the evidence of loose finds, the oldest of these can be dated to the Migration Period (c. A.D. 500). A series of gold plaquettes were found associated with the later of the two buildings. This find is interpreted by the author as indicating that the building may have been a pagan cult building.     

Law,memory, and priestly office in Rome,c.500

This essay sets the development of Christian thinking about law and clerical office in the wider context of the discussion of office in the later Roman empire. It offers a reassessment of the work of Dionysius Exiguus, a well‐known translator from Greek into Latin of the Acts of the fourth‐ and fifth‐century church councils, and a compiler of papal decretals. The essay attempts to place Dionysius’ work in its immediate Roman context, in the context of fifth‐century canonical activity, especially in North Africa, and in the more general context of the political culture of office‐holding in the late Roman polity. Central here is the tension between bureaucratic regulation and autocratic room for manoeuvre. Dionysius did not attempt fully to resolve this tension, though he did attempt to contain it.     

Notes from County Correspondents.

In 1503, the canons of Ripon Minster initiated a building campaign to replace the church’s nave. Through a careful study of the documentary evidence, including sources that have not previously been considered, this article investigates how Ripon’s clergy organised and funded the project. It offers a more precise chronology of the works and an assessment of their impact on the use of the church by its parishioners. The article also considers the clergy’s motives for rebuilding, proving that the renovation was not a reaction to the old nave’s deterioration so much as an initiative to create a grander architectural setting for processions and more space for burial within the church.     

Remarks on Some of the Churches of Anglesey

Reconsideration of three published reports about the ruined church at Stone-by-Faversham is shown to lead to some new interpretations of its structure and history 1 especially when account is taken of evidence hitherto left latent in the building and of evidence as yet unpublished from an investigation in 1926. Moreover a new weapon for interpretation of the sequence of the several phases of the building has been developed by study of the extent to which material .from the earliest phase has been used in the fabric of later phases; and reasons are given for re-interpreting as nave-altars the masses of masonry which have in the past been regarded as part of a very confosing east wall of the first stone nave. Plans and .floor-levels are shown for the four principal phases of development 1 and we make a suggestion for a small change in the way the monument is displayed 1 in order to make its history more easily understood and also to protect its most ancient parts .from unnecessary risks. The substance of this paper was delivered to the Institute at its meeting on 11 February 1981.     

The Barony and the Churches of Late Nineteenth Century Glasgow

The Barony Parish Church was one of the most important churches in nineteenth century Scotland partly due to its history, size, and location at the heart of the "second city" of the Empire and its Minister, Norman MacLeod. Its congregation represented every tier of Glasgow society in terms of social class and gender and as such, throws light on the more general debates on religion and society in nineteenth century Britain. When compared with other churches and denominations in Glasgow, it builds a more general picture of church and people in the city. The picture drawn reveals a complex pattern of adherence varying between individuals and families. An over emphasis on secular reasons for church membership ignores the important role of faith in determining patterns of adherence. Family letters, diaries, and journals often reveal a deep-seated faith and critical reflections on the preaching of the Word.     

Church and Empire: Free-Church Ecclesiology in a Global Era

Abstract

Jesus was cruelly executed as the alleged "king of the Jews" because of his efforts for grassroots religious renewal and resistance to Roman rule in Palestine through local religious-political elites. By the fourth century CE, however, Christianity had become the official religion of the Roman imperium. An ambiguous account of both resisting and supporting imperialism has shaped all church history. Today the United States of America is widely recognized as the central power in a new global empire.     

Creating a ‘temple society’ in the early medieval west

By the seventh century the church of the early medieval west was extremely richly endowed. This endowment went hand in hand with the increase in the number of clergy and monks, and with the pastoral and liturgical demands made on the church. Because of its pastoral and religious obligations, it should not be seen simply as a section of the elite. In order to understand the socio-economic role of the church in the early Middle Ages it is useful, instead, to draw on the anthropological model of the ‘temple society’.