Thesis for Hard Copy Submission Volume One 03.02.14.Pdf
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Ruins to Re-use: Romano-British Remains in Post-Conquest Literary and Material Culture Volume One of Two Jane-Heloise Nancarrow A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of York Centre for Medieval Studies July 2013 Abstract This thesis examines the re-use of Roman material culture in England following the Norman Conquest at St Albans, Chester, and Colchester. It argues that the material legacy of Roman Britain conveyed a sense of imperial authority, antiquity and longevity, and an association with the early Christian church, which were appropriated to serve transitional Norman royal, elite, monastic and parochial interests in different architectural forms. Importantly, this thesis examines literary evidence describing the Roman past, Roman buildings, and even instances of re-use, which were produced at each town as part of the intellectual expansion of the twelfth century. This thesis comprises of two introductory chapters, followed by three central case study chapters, and culminates in a comparative discussion chapter which evaluates re-use in the context of competing socio-political interests following the Norman Conquest. It expands upon previous understandings of re-use by focusing on topography, building material and hidden reuse, in addition to the re-use of portable remains and decorative emulation. The aim of this thesis is to develop an interdisciplinary methodological and theoretical approach to examine re-use, in the knowledge that this yields a more comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon. In addition to literary and archaeological evidence, it draws theoretical perspectives from history, art history, and literary criticism. The underlying tenet of this thesis challenges the view that re-use was often unremarkable. Through an examination of multi-disciplinary evidence, it becomes clear that re-use was a complex, nuanced and, above all, meaningful part of the architectural endeavours of the Normans, and was used to secure their primacy at these towns and across their emerging nation. i Table of Contents List of Illustrations (Volume 2) ................................................................................................................. iii Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................................... vii Declaration ..................................................................................................................................................... viii Chapter One: Introduction ...........................................................................................................................1 Chapter Two: Methodology and theory of interdisciplinarity and re-use ................................ 14 2.1 Interdisciplinary approaches to re-use traditions ................................................................................... 14 2.2 Some theoretical perspectives .......................................................................................................................... 21 2.3 Towards a model of re-use ................................................................................................................................. 24 Chapter Three: St Albans ............................................................................................................................ 36 3.1 Introduction and history of St Albans ............................................................................................................ 36 3.2 The re-use of Roman material culture in the textual and archaeological record ........................ 47 3.2.1 Stone robbing at Verulamium and later Anglo-Norman textual description ............................ 56 3.2.2 The Roman theatre: In the landscape and the medieval imagination .......................................... 59 3.2.3 The legacy of Roman remains in re-use in parish churches ............................................................. 62 3.3 Re-use in the Norman abbey ............................................................................................................................. 66 3.3.1 The re-use of Roman building material ..................................................................................................... 69 3.3.2 The emulation of building and decorative techniques........................................................................ 72 3.3.3 Portable material remains in the life of the abbey ............................................................................... 76 2.5.4 Patronage and the Romanesque: Paul of Caen, Lanfranc and Robert the Mason .................... 79 2.6 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................................. 82 Chapter Four: Chester .................................................................................................................................. 86 4.1 Introduction and history of Chester ............................................................................................................... 86 4.2 The landscape of medieval Chester ................................................................................................................ 99 4.2.1 Lucian’s De Laude Cestrie and the topography of the city ................................................................. 99 4.2.2 Rebuilding and re-use of the Roman walls of Chester ...................................................................... 101 4.2.3 The Roman principia, St Peter’s at the Cross and the Holy See ..................................................... 104 4.2.4 Re-imagining the town: Twelfth-century traditions of realistic observation ......................... 110 4.2.5 Local parish churches and the importance of topography .............................................................. 113 4.3. Monasteries and re-use: negotiating transition ..................................................................................... 117 4.3.1 The Roman amphitheatre and the Augustinian church of St John’s ............................................ 117 4.3.2 Re-use at St Werberg’s ................................................................................................................................... 124 4.4 Vernacular, decorative and portable re-use ............................................................................................. 128 4.4.1 The re-use of other Roman monumental buildings ........................................................................... 128 4.4.3 Portable and decorative Roman artefacts at Chester ........................................................................ 133 4.4.4 Shrine to Minerva in St Edgar’s fields ...................................................................................................... 137 4.5 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................................... 138 ii Chapter Five: Colchester .......................................................................................................................... 142 5.1 Introduction and history of Colchester ....................................................................................................... 142 5.2 Topography and re-use in the local landscape ........................................................................................ 148 5.2.1 Continuity, robbing and decorative emulation of the Roman walls ............................................ 163 5.2.2 Medieval parish churches: Re-use in the local landscape ................................................................ 165 5.3 Re-use of the Temple of Claudius and Colchester Keep ....................................................................... 148 5.3.1 The Roman Temple of Claudius in historical writing and the archaeological record .......... 148 5.3.2 Colchester Castle in historical writing and the archaeological record ....................................... 151 5.3.3 Patronage and re-use at Colchester Castle............................................................................................. 160 5.4 The Roman theatre and St Helen’s Chapel ................................................................................................. 169 5.4.1 The Roman theatre .......................................................................................................................................... 169 5.4.2 St Helena in the twelfth-century literary tradition ............................................................................ 172 5.5 Major monastic houses ...................................................................................................................................... 178 5.5.1 St John’s Abbey .................................................................................................................................................. 178 5.5.2 St Botolph’s Priory ........................................................................................................................................... 180 5.6 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................................... 183 Chapter Six: Discussion ...........................................................................................................................