Minor Cruciform Churches in Norman England and Wales

Summary

INTRODUCTION

This paper examines some cruciform churches which are here called ‘minor’ so as to differentiate them from the ‘major’ cathedral and monastic churches built in Norman England on a huge scale that emulated Constantinian basilicas in Rome. The majority of them are aisleless, some have one nave aisle, others two, and on rare occasions the presbytery is aisled. Many have been gathered together by John Blair in a series of articles that deal with former Anglo-Saxon minster churches. Blair's starting point was a careful analysis of references to ‘superior’ churches in Domesday Book which he supplemented with various documentary sources and analysis of the fabric of a select number of churches. The aim here is to examine the fabric of some of the ex-minster churches listed by Blair and to consider other Norman cruciform churches for which there is little or no documentary evidence. Our starting point is the architectural scene for our building type in 1066. This involves introducing certain pre- or immediately post-Conquest churches and their counterpart in Normandy. We then consider two churches, possibly from the time of Edward the Confessor, which have not received sufficient recognition. There follow two case studies where the core of the Anglo-Saxon church has been elaborately rebuilt in the twelfth century. Different associations of minor cruciform churches are examined: early collegiate and monastic establishments, cenotaphs and relics of saints, churches connected with bishops, Benedictine priories and nunneries, and Augustinian priories. Finally, some later medieval churches built on former minster sites are analyzed to see how they might reveal the form of their Anglo-Saxon and Norman predecessors. No attempt is made to find new documentation for former minster churches. Rather, emphasis is placed on reading the fabric of the churches, although documentation is included where it elucidates our understanding of the work.

Anglo-Saxon Cruciform Churches

The church of St Mary in Castro, Dover (Kent), is a classic example of a pre-Conquest minster church. It has a crossing tower with an aisleless nave of the same width, a narrower, square-ended chancel and even narrower porticus to the north and south offset towards the east in relation to the crossing tower. The arches to the porticus are not original. The round-headed east and west crossing arches have two orders; the outer is continuous while the inner order springs from a richly moulded impost.