Anglo-Saxon Art and Architecture

I

Introduction

Anglo-Saxon Art and Architecture, the art and architecture of the Anglo-Saxons, the Germanic peoples who began settling in England in the 5th century ad, gradually conquered the country, and ruled until the Norman Conquest in 1066. Most Anglo-Saxon art is Christian, and the date 597, when St Augustine of Canterbury made the first evangelizing mission from Rome to England, is sometimes taken as a convenient starting point from which to discuss the subject. Neither this date nor 1066, however, is a rigid boundary. There was Anglo-Saxon art before the coming of Christianity, and although the Norman Conquest brought England rapidly into the mainstream of Romanesque art and architecture, Anglo-Saxon traditions were not completely submerged and influenced the art of the Normans into the 12th century.

Our knowledge of Anglo-Saxon art is extremely fragmentary. Intentional or accidental destruction and the rebuilding of later centuries mean that few Anglo-Saxon buildings survive in anything like their original state. The interiors of churches would once have glowed with colour, but now almost nothing remains of the wall paintings nor of the costly fabrics (sometimes made of silk interwoven with gold) that adorned the altars. Articles made of gold and silver were prime targets for plunder during the Viking invasions, and almost all of the fine Anglo-Saxon metalwork that we now possess has been dug up after being buried for safekeeping. We know from literary accounts that the Anglo-Saxons attached great importance to beautiful and costly objects such as church plate and royal regalia, but the destruction of these has been so wholesale that C. R. Dodwell begins his book “Anglo-Saxon Art: A New Perspective” (1982) with the words “The Anglo-Saxon arts which attract most attention today would have had little interest for the Anglo-Saxon writers”.

There is another way in which our knowledge of Anglo-Saxon art is fragmentary, for we often know little or nothing about the precise circumstances in which surviving objects were made. Anglo-Saxon artists occasionally signed their work, and we know the identity of others from documents, but they are usually nothing but names. By the same token, most Anglo-Saxon art can be dated only approximately. Sometimes there are inscriptions to help us, and objects that are found in the tomb of a known person can usually be associated with the time of that person, but Anglo-Saxon sculpture, for example, generally has to be dated solely on the grounds of style (by comparison with manuscript illustrations of known date). Historians of architecture sometimes differ by centuries in the date they assign to Anglo-Saxon buildings or parts of them.

Nevertheless, in spite of all these difficulties, the broad outlines of the development of Anglo-Saxon art can be discerned reasonably clearly. There were two main periods of achievement, with between them a bleak time when the country was overrun by invaders from Scandinavia. Remains dating from before the 7th century are extremely scanty and belong more to the realm of archaeology than to art. The first great achievements are the magnificent jewelled objects found in a ship burial at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk, dating from about 625. These are pagan, but thereafter the finest works were predominantly produced for the Christian Church. At this time England was divided into a number of small kingdoms and initially the artistic lead was taken in Northumbria, in the north of the country, where monks from Ireland (rather than Rome) were the major missionaries (St Aidan came to England from Ireland in 635 and founded a monastery on Lindisfarne, or Holy Island, under the auspices of St Oswald, the Christian king of Northumbria). Towards the end of the 8th century, the Vikings (followed by the Danes) began to raid England and later to settle. They caused great destruction, and the kingdom of Wessex, in the south of the country, was the only one to survive. Alfred the Great, who reigned from 871 to 899, led the revival against the Scandinavian invaders, and in the 10th century his successors as kings of Wessex gained control over the rest of the country. From this time until the Norman Conquest, the south dominated the country artistically as well as politically, Winchester being the main cultural centre. This period, and particularly the century before the Norman Conquest, is sometimes referred to as the “golden age” of Anglo-Saxon art; certainly, the finest English art of this time was a match for anything produced on the Continent.

II

Architecture and Allied Arts

The Anglo-Saxon verb “to build” is “timbran”, and as this suggests, wood was initially the favoured building material. However, because wood is perishable, very little physical evidence survives of its use. We know from sources such as the poem Beowulf and the writings of the chronicler Bede (both 8th century) that early chieftains held court in great communal wooden halls, but our knowledge of their appearance now has to come from excavation rather than from anything visible above ground. The main remains are at Yeavering in Northumberland, where King Edwin built a palace in the early 7th century. Its site was discovered when cropmarks were spotted from the air in 1949, and excavation has revealed that the great hall was more than 20 m (65 ft) long. There was also a theatre-like building, with concentric rows of banked seating for about 300 people focused on a small dais. It was perhaps used as a royal assembly or for preaching.

Such remains are fascinating, but as far as surviving buildings go, Anglo-Saxon architecture is synonymous with church architecture. There must once have been many wooden Anglo-Saxon churches, but only one (or part of a church) survives—the nave of St Andrew at Greensted-Juxta-Ongar in Essex. The walls are built of oak logs, split in half and arranged vertically. They vary in thickness from about 12 to 25 cm (5 to 10 in). The church was evidently in existence by 1013, when the body of King Edmund is said to have rested there on its way to burial in Bury St Edmunds, and scientific tests on the wood suggest that it may date from about 150 years earlier than this.

St Andrew is a small church—the nave is just under 9 m (30 ft) long internally—and this is a characteristic it shares with most surviving Anglo-Saxon buildings. We know that some Anglo-Saxon churches were much larger, but unfortunately none of these has survived. Shortly before the Norman Conquest, for example, King Edward the Confessor built or rebuilt Westminster Abbey on an impressive scale; the church was about 100 m (330 ft) long (almost as long as the present building), but nothing of it remains above ground. By far the largest surviving Anglo-Saxon church—about 45 m (150 ft) in total length—is All Saints at Brixworth in Northamptonshire. This dates from the 7th century and at the time it was built it must have been one of the most imposing buildings anywhere north of the Alps. It is therefore unwise to draw general conclusions about Anglo-Saxon architecture from what happens to survive. In terms of quality, the finest churches we have lost (such as Westminster Abbey) may have been as far above run-of-the-mill buildings as Canterbury or Chartres cathedrals are above modest parish churches of their period.

The standard work on the subject (H. M. and J. Taylor, Anglo-Saxon Architecture, 3 vols, 1965-1978) lists more than 400 churches in England (together with four in Scotland and one in Wales) that still appear to have some trace of Anglo-Saxon workmanship. They are fairly evenly distributed around the country, with particularly strong concentrations in East Anglia and in the area between London and the south coast (Kent and Sussex). Most of these churches date from the later period of Anglo-Saxon art (after the Scandinavian invasions), but in Kent there is a group of ten built by St Augustine or his converts early in the 7th century. Sadly, little of them remains above ground, but excavations show that they were all similar in size (very small) and plan (they have no aisles, but side-chambers called porticus; the singular and plural forms of this word are usually the same, although the form porticuses is sometimes used). The chief building material was brick from demolished Roman structures. Churches built in Northumbria in the early period are generally longer and narrower than those in the south. The gem among them is St John at Escomb in County Durham (7th century), one of the very few Anglo-Saxon churches to survive substantially complete and relatively unaltered. It is extremely simple in shape (little more than a box) and built of blocks of reused Roman stone.

In the later period of Anglo-Saxon architecture, churches became somewhat more elaborate in plan and structure, sometimes having aisles or a tower. The most impressive tower is that of All Saints at Earls Barton in Northamptonshire, usually dated to about 1000. The plastered exterior of the tower is decorated with little strips and arches of stone. Although the workmanship is fairly crude, the overall effect is engagingly vigorous—the finest example in architecture of the love of flat pattern that is considered typical of Anglo-Saxon art as a whole.

Little survives of the original decoration of Anglo-Saxon churches. No wall paintings remain in situ, but there are a few precious fragments in museums, the earliest (probably late 9th century) being in Winchester City Museums. The situation is better with architectural sculpture, for there are several impressive pieces either still in their original position or built into stonework of Anglo-Saxon or Norman workmanship. They include a majestic over-lifesize Crucifixion set into an outer wall at Romsey Abbey in Hampshire and two flying angels over the chancel arch at the church of St Lawrence, Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire. Very occasionally Anglo-Saxon churches may have had stained glass. A window at St Paul's church, Jarrow, County Durham, contains excavated glass in a colourful abstract pattern that is believed to be the oldest stained glass in Europe (it is possibly as old as the 680s and certainly no more recent than the 860s).

Like several major Anglo-Saxon churches, St Paul's, Jarrow, was originally part of a monastery. Together with the nearby St Peter at Wearmouth, it was founded by St Benedict Biscop (died 689), an important figure in establishing monasticism in England. It was at Jarrow that the Venerable Bede (died 735), our chief literary source for early Anglo-Saxon England, spent most of his life as a monk. Nothing of his monastery survives above ground but, from his account of it and from excavations, we can see that it must have been an impressive complex of buildings; indeed to contemporaries who were used to primitive huts it must have been awe-inspiring. Two large stone buildings 15 m (50 ft) long, were perhaps a refectory and a guest-house. They seem to have had lead roofs and concrete floors, and their windows were glazed—a great luxury at this time.

III

Sculpture

Apart from architectural carving, mentioned above, there were other types of Anglo-Saxon sculpture, of which the most important are large outdoor stone crosses and ivory carvings. It is safe to assume that Anglo-Saxon artists also made woodcarvings, but none of these has survived. The stone cross is a type of sculpture found only in Britain and Ireland at this time. In England it is said to have originated when King Oswald of Northumbria set up a wooden cross before a successful battle against Cadwallon, the pagan king of North Wales, in 633. Stone crosses served various purposes. They were used as centres of outdoor worship, as the gravestones of eminent men, as markers of places where funeral processions of saints had halted, and as signs indicating the boundaries of sanctuary. Thousands of these crosses (or fragments of them) survive. Most are in the north of England and there are several fine examples still further north, in Scotland, including probably the most famous and impressive of them all, at Ruthwell in Dumfriesshire. The Ruthwell Cross stands about 5.5 m (18 ft) high and is decorated with vigorously carved Gospel scenes, vine leaves (a common symbol of Christ), and runic inscriptions (see Runes). It probably dates from the 8th century, as does another outstanding example at Bewcastle in Cumberland.

Ivory carving was used for various purposes, secular as well as religious, in Anglo-Saxon England. The secular uses included seals, scabbard mounts, and clasps and strap-ends for clothing. However, the most impressive products were made in the service of the Church, including altar crosses, book covers, and pyxes (small boxes in which the consecrated bread of the Eucharist is placed). Most Anglo-Saxon carvings of this type were made from walrus rather than elephant ivory, and one of the most famous pieces is made of whalebone. This is the Franks Casket (named after Sir A. W. Franks, who presented it to the British Museum, London). It dates from about 700 and is remarkable for being decorated with scenes from ancient history and northern mythology as well as the Bible. Its original purpose is unknown.

IV

Manuscript Illumination

Anglo-Saxon illuminated books have, in general, survived in much better condition than architecture, sculpture, or large-scale painting, so it is in them that the artistic genius of the people can best be appreciated. In the early period, Northumbria was the leading centre of production. The celebrated masterpiece of the time is the Lindisfarne Gospels (British Library, London), which was written and decorated in the monastery at Lindisfarne in about 698. It includes figures of the four Evangelists, but the most striking illuminations in this manuscript are complete pages of pure ornament and elaborate enlarged initial letters at the beginning of various passages. The exuberant, spiralling, intertwined ornament is influenced by the Celtic art of Ireland.

The earliest surviving manuscripts produced in southern England date from about the mid-8th century. St Augustine's Abbey at Canterbury was an important centre of production. The style of the illustrations in Canterbury books is more classical than those of Northumbria, with more naturalistic figures and less lavish ornament.

In the period of recovery after the Scandinavian invasions, the lead in Anglo-Saxon manuscript illumination passed to the south, where St Dunstan and Ethelwold helped to re-establish monasticism in the mid-9th century. In the 10th century a distinctive style called “Winchester School” developed. When this name was invented it was believed that all manuscripts in the style were produced in Winchester, but we now know that other centres in southern England produced work of the same type. The distinctive features of the style are rich colours, animated poses and figural expressions, fluttering draperies and—most obviously—the use of bold, leafy borders. There is often a sense of nimble lightness of touch in the draughtsmanship. The most famous manuscript of the Winchester School is the Benedictional of St Ethelwold (British Library, London), which must have been made (or at any rate commissioned) between 963 and 984, when Ethelwold was Bishop of Winchester. It is a book of blessings to be said by a bishop and its illustrations include full-page pictures of saints.