Architecture and Sculpture in Early Britain: Celtic, Saxon, Norman

362 Pages·1967·115.1 MB·English

by  Robert Stoll

Architecture
and Sculpture in
Early Britain
CELTIC SAXON NORMAN
ROBERT STOLL
PHOTOGRAPHS B Y JEAN RO U BIE R
The achievements of the Romanesque style—often
referred to in Britain as Saxon and Norman—can in
many ways be more fully appreciated in Britain than
anywhere else in Europe. No other country can boast
such a magnificent series of cathedrals built between
the late 1 ith century and 1300: Durham, Winchester,
Ely, Peterborough, Norwich, Chichester, Rochester,
to name some of the finest. Hardly less imposing are
the abbeys and priories now used as parish churches:
Southwell, Christchurch, Worksop, Blyth, Romsey
and many more. And hundreds of smaller churches
survive all over the country, from Kilpeck in Here­
fordshire to Barfreston in Kent. Now nearly nine
hundred years old, they have grown into the English
countryside and have become an integral part of British
culture and history. To them must be added what
remains of pre-Conquest architecture (small in scale
but often exquisite in quality) and the contribution of
Ireland, with its superb series of Celtic crosses. From
these buildings a wealth of sculpture survives, much
of it still in situ—tympana, capitals, fonts, decora­
tive motifs on façades and arches—leading us abruptly
into the teeming world of the Romanesque imagi­
nation : the passion of Christ and His saints inextricably
blended with the monsters of a more remote mytho­
logy. Many of these works, such as the reliefs of the
Harrowing of Hell and the Raising of Lazarus at
Chichester, are masterpieces comparable with any of
later times ; and surviving wall-paintings, though few
and mutilated, have the same sombre power.
These marvels of medieval art are fully represented
in this book in a sequence of over 250 new photo­
graphs, which capture both the total 1 mpression given
by a Romanesque building and the sti ange fascination
of its details. Each plateis accompanied by an authori­
tative commentary which conveys the essential his­
torical and architectural information. Here is the
essence of a style and of an age—an age in which
grandeur was combined with delicacy and strength
with beauty ; and in which the faith that was moulding
medieval Christianity found its first and most com­
manding expression.
on the jacket Ely Cathc Irai,
seen froi- K >rth-\\ st
With 260 black-and-u photogravure

ARCHITECTURE AND SCULPTURE
IN EARLY BRITAIN

A R C H I T E C T U R E
A N D S C U L P T U R E IN
EARLY B R IT A IN
Celtic Saxon Norman
ROBERT STOLL
with photographs by Jean Roubier
A STUDIO BOOK
THE VIKING PRESS • NEW YORK
Translated from the German by
J. MAXWELL BROWNJOHN
BRITANNIA ROMANICA
© 1966 BY ANTON SCHROLL & CO., VIENNA
ARCHITECTURE AND SCULPTURE IN EARLY BRITAIN
THIS EDITION © 1967 BY THAMES AND HUDSON, LONDON
PUBLISHED IN 1967 BY THE VIKING PRESS, INC.
625 MADISON AVENUE, NEW YORK, N.Y. 10022
ILLUSTRATIONS PRINTED BY BRAUN ET CIE, MULHOUSE, FRANCE
TEXT PRINTED IN GERMANY BY BOSS-DRUCK UND VERLAG, KLEVE
BOUND IN HOLLAND BY VAN RIJMENAM, N.V.
CONTENTS
ARCHITECTURE AND SCULPTURE IN EARLY BRITAIN 7
Scope and Definition 8
The Irish 10
The Anglo-Saxons 13
Christianization and Early Prime 15
Excursus on the Anglo-Saxon Hall 18
The Age of Reform 21
The Age of Transition 24
The Norman Era 26
Norman architecture 30
THE PLATES 35
NOTES ON THE PLATES 277
Kent and Sussex 277
Wessex 286
Mercia 293
Ireland 307
Scotland 320
Northumbria 322
Lindsey and Central England 332
Essex and East Anglia 340
MAP OF BRITAIN 351
INDEX OF PLACE NAMES 352