Making a Christian Landscape

Sam Turner

Description

Sam Turner’s important interpretation of early medieval patterns of landscape development traces landscape change in the South West from the introduction of Christianity to the Norman Conquest (AD c. 450–1070).

The book stresses the significance of political and religious ideology in both the ‘Celtic’ west (especially Cornwall) and the ‘Anglo-Saxon’ east (especially the Wessex counties of Devon, Somerset, Wiltshire and Dorset). Using innovative new research methods, and making use of archaeology, place-name evidence, historical sources and land-use patterns, it challenges previous work on the subject by suggesting that the two regions have much in common.

Using modern mapping techniques to explore land-use trends, Turner advances a new model for the evolution of ecclesiastical institutions in south-west England. He shows that the early development of Christianity had an impact on the countryside that remains visible in the landscape we see today. Accessibly written with a glossary of terms and a comprehensive bibliography, the book will appeal to both veterans and newcomers to landscape archaeology.

Acknowledgements

Definitions, Glossary and Abbreviations

1 Introduction: Churches and the early medieval landscape

2 Studying early medieval landscapes in south-west Britain

3 The location and form of early churches in south-west Britain

4 Ecclesiastical centres and changing settlement patterns

5 Ecclesiastical centres and early medieval administrative structures

6 The changing ritual landscape of the conversion period

7 Developing medieval landscapes: The multiplication of churches and other Christian monuments

8 From south-west Britain to the wider world

Bibliography

Index

Sujets

• Religion
• Christianisme
• Norman Conquest
• Medieval
• HISTORY
• Histoire
• Sudoeste de Inglaterra
• Cornualles
• Edad Media
• History of the British Isles
• Southwest
• General officer
• Ireland
• Norman conquest of England
• South West England
• Middle Ages
• History of religions
• History of Europe
• Celts
• Christianity
• Stephen Ireland
• Great Britain
• South West
• General
• Celtic
• Cornwall
• Devon
• Anglo-Saxons
• Wessex
• 1500
• Europe

Informations

• Publié par: University of Exeter Press
• Date de parution: 02 mars 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780859899284
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 7 Mo

Extrait

Paperback artwork 8/6/06 2:54 pm Page 1
Making a Christian
Landscape
From the rocky isolation of the Cornish coast to the rolling hills
of Devon, from the marshy Somerset Levels to the chalk
downlands of eastern Wiltshire and the gentler clay vales of
north Wiltshire and Dorset, the countryside of south-west Britain
is strikingly varied. Nevertheless, there are underlying
similarities in the pattern of settlement across the landscape
and common factors determining the way it has developed.
When the ancient kingdoms of the South West—Wessex and
Dumnonia—converted to Christianity, a process was set in
motion that would change not only the people’s beliefs but also
the landscape in which they lived.
The earliest evidence of Christian influence appears in
monastic sites, burial grounds and carved stone monuments.
Over time, the profound influence of religious ideology on
emerging settlement patterns gave rise to a distinctive pattern
of development crystallized around important churches,
monasteries and royal centres.
Using modern mapping techniques and carefully selected
The countryside in early medieval
illustrations, Sam Turner demonstrates that the early
development of Christianity had an impact on the countryside
Cornwall, Devon and Wessex
that remains visible in the landscape we see today.
SAM TURNER
ISBN 0-85989-785-0
ISBN 0 85989 785 0
UNIVERSITY OF EXETER PRESS
9 780859 897853
www.exeterpress.co.uk
TURNER
Mak
ing a Christian Landscape1Making a_Prelims 9/6/06 8:24 am Page 1
MAKING A CHRISTIAN LANDSCAPE
Making a Christian Landscape is an important new interpretation of early
medieval patterns of landscape development.
Sam Turner’s new book traces landscape change in south-west Britain from
the introduction of Christianity to the Norman Conquest (AD c. 450–1070).
It stresses the significance of political and religious ideology in both the
‘Celtic’ west (especially Cornwall) and the ‘Anglo-Saxon’ east (especially the
Wessex counties of Devon, Somerset, Wiltshire and Dorset). Combining
innovative new research methods with archaeology, place-name evidence,
historical sources and land-use patterns, it challenges previous work on the
subject by suggesting that the two regions have much in common.
Employing modern mapping techniques to explore land-use trends,
Turner advances a new model for the evolution of ecclesiastical
institutions in south-west Britain. He shows that the early development of
Christianity had an impact on the countryside that remains visible in the
landscape we see today.
Accessibly written with a glossary of terms and a comprehensive
bibliography, the book will appeal to both veterans and newcomers to
landscape archaeology.
Sam Turner is lecturer in archaeology at Newcastle University and editor
of the Devon Archaeological Society Proceedings.1Making a_Prelims 9/6/06 8:24 am Page 21Making a_Prelims 9/6/06 8:24 am Page 3
MAKING A
CHRISTIAN LANDSCAPE
The countryside in early medieval
Cornwall, Devon and Wessex
Sam Turner1Making a_Prelims 9/6/06 8:24 am Page 4
First published in 2006 by
University of Exeter Press
Reed Hall, Streatham Drive
Exeter, Devon EX4 4QR
UK
www.exeterpress.co.uk
© Sam Turner 2006
The right of Sam Turner to be identified as author of this work
has been asserted by him in accordance with
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is
available from the British Library
HARDBACK ISBN 10: 0 85989 774 5
HARDBACK ISBN 13: 978 0 85989 774 7
PAPERBACK ISBN 10: 0 85989 785 0
PCK ISBN 13: 978 0 85989 785 3
Front and back cover images by Mick Sharp.
Typeset in 9.5/12pt Plantin
by Exe Valley Dataset Ltd, Exeter
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
J. H. Haynes & Co Ltd, Sparkford,Yeovil1Making a_Prelims 9/6/06 8:24 am Page 5
To Cathy, Grace and Libby,
with love1Making a_Prelims 9/6/06 8:24 am Page 61Making a_Prelims 9/6/06 8:24 am Page 7
CONTENTS
List of plates, figures and tables viii
Acknowledgements xi
Definitions, Glossary and Abbreviations xii
Colour plates section xv
Detailed captions with cross-references to the main text are provided on the
pages immediately before and after the colour plates
1 Introduction: Churches and the early medieval landscape 1
2 Studying early medieval landscapes in south-west Britain 15
3 The location and form of early churches in south-west Britain 35
4 Ecclesiastical centres and changing settlement patterns 71
5 Ecclesiastical centres and early medieval administrative structures 107
6 The changing ritual landscape of the conversion period 131
7 Developing medieval landscapes:The multiplication of churches
and other Christian monuments 145
8 From south-west Britain to the wider world 171
Bibliography 191
Index 2131Making a_Prelims 9/6/06 8:24 am Page 8
Plates, figures and tables
Front cover
St Piran’s Cross, Perranporth, Cornwall.The cross stands close to the remains of
the ruined churches of Perranzabuloe and St Piran’s Oratory. It is probably the
cross mentioned in the charter boundary clause of Tywarnhayle in AD 960
(S684).
Colour plates (between pp. xvi and xvii)
1. St Just in Roseland church, Cornwall.
2a. Wells Cathedral, Somerset.
2b. Earls Barton, Northamptonshire.
3a. St Laurence’s Chapel, Bradford-on-Avon,Wiltshire.
3b. Anglo-Saxon sculpture from West Camel, Somerset.
4a. Tintagel: the 1985 survey of the Island.
4b. General view of Tintagel Island.
5. ‘Site C’,Tintagel Island.
6a. Interior of Madron Well, Cornwall.
6b. Inscribed stone at South Hill, Cornwall.
6c. St Neot cross-shaft, Cornwall.
7. Inscrt Cardinham, Cornwall.
8a. Aerial view of Shapwick, Somerset.
8b. The landscape of the Blackdown Hills, Devon.
9a. Glastonbury Tor, Somerset.
9b.ury town with the ruins of St Mary’s Abbey.
10a. Porth Chapel, St Levan, Cornwall.
10b. St Julitta’s chapel,Tintagel Island, Cornwall.
11a. Cross at Lanivet, Cornwall.
11b. King Doniert’s Stone, St Cleer, Cornwall.
11c. Hogback stone at Lanivet, Cornwall.
12. Fragments of a cross-shaft at Dolton, Devon.
13a and 13b. The baptistery of St Jean at Poitiers.
14a. St Kew church, Cornwall.
14b. The Cornish landscape: Lanteglos by Fowey.
15a. Four Hole Cross, St Neot.
15b. Three Hole Cross, St Kew.
16. Bodmin Moor in winter.
viii1Making a_Prelims 9/6/06 8:24 am Page 9
Black and white figures
1. The counties of south-west England .................................................. 2
2. ‘Rounds’ in Cornwall ....................................................................... 21
3. H.P.R. Finberg’s map of Tavistock ..................................................... 23
4. Leper fields, Little Torrington ........................................................... 27
5. Historic Landscape Characterisations (HLCs) of St Neot and
Tintagel ........................................................................................... 30
6. Possible early monasteries in Cornwall .............................................. 36
7. Late Saxon hundreds and important early medieval churches
in Devon .......................................................................................... 37
8. Latant early churches in Dorset ........... 39
9. Latant early churches in Wiltshire ......... 40
10. Illustration from the late-Saxon Lanalet Pontifical ............................. 42
11. St Michael’s Mount, Cornwall ........................................................... 45
12. The locations of minsters in south-east Wiltshire ................................ 48
13. Crantock, north Cornwall ................................................................. 50
14. Fragment of a cross from Glastonbury Abbey..................................... 52
15. Early medieval royal vills and monasteries in Cornwall ...................... 58
16. Aerial view of Tintagel and St Matheriana’s church ........................... 60
17. A middle Saxon site at Cowage Farm, Foxley,Wiltshire ..................... 69
18. Newberry Round, St Teath, Cornwall ................................................ 73
19. Medieval settlements with tre place-names in Cornwall ...................... 77
20. Aerial view of St Neot church ........................................................... 83
21. The location of the case-study areas in Cornwall ............................... 84
22. Topography and parish boundaries in the St Neot case-study area ..... 84
23. The landscape of the Tintagel area..................................................... 86
24. Topography and paries in the St Keverne case-study area .. 86
25. The HLC of the St Neot study area .................................................. 87
26. The HLC of the Tintagel study area ................................................. 87
27. The HLC of the St Keverne study area ............................................. 88
28. Rounds in the St Neot study area 88
29. Rounds and tre place-names in the St Neot study area ....................... 89
30. The church of St Neot and tre place-names....................................... 90
31. Late medieval parish churches in the St Neot study area .................... 91
32. English place-names in the St Neot study area .................................. 92
33. Rounds and tre place-names in the Tintagel study area ...................... 92
34. English place-names and tre place-names in the Tintagel study area ... 93
35. Rounds in the St Keverne study area ................................................ 94
36. Gweek Round, Gweek. ...................................................................... 95
37. The church and village of St Keverne and its landscape...................... 96
38. Late medieval parish churches in the St Keverne study area ............... 96
39. Aerial view of St Buryan.................................................................... 98
40. Arable land in prehistoric and medieval West Overton and
Fyfield, north Wiltshire. ..................................................................... 102
41. Historic landscape of Sha