Christianity and the Landscape of Early Medieval South-West Britain 2 Volumes
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Christianity and the Landscape of Early Medieval South-West Britain 2 Volumes (Volume 1) Samuel Charles Turner PhD University of York Department of Archaeology November 2003 Abstract This thesis considers the development of the early Christian landscape of south- western Britain from the conversion period to the Norman conquest (AD c.450- 1070). The study focuses on the early medieval ecclesiastical landscapes of Cornwall and western Wessex (here defined as the four counties of Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire). Rather than focusing on individual sacred sites, it attempts to study the impact of ideological change across the whole landscape. Changes in the structure of the landscape are inferred from archaeological sites, monuments, place-names and the wider cultural landscape of fields and farms. A review of existing models for the development of ecclesiastical landscapes in the region suggests considerable scope for re-assessment (Chapter 1). An interdisciplinary research method is outlined and appropriate source material discussed, together with an example from Cornwall of how the method can be used to study the developing landscape (Chapter 2). Such changes are mapped and studied for Cornwall (in Chapter 3, with detailed case-studies) & western Wessex (Chapter 4), and interpreted as reflecting or being caused by social, political and ideological changes which resulted from a range of adaptations to the new religion. Most obviously these included the foundation of churches, but they also encompassed changes to settlement patterns, the structure of agricultural resources, and the patterns of minor sacred and ritual sites. Chapter 5 compares the development of the early Christian landscape in the two regions. Instead of widely differing practices, it identifies similar trajectories in the development of Christian institutions and landscapes. It suggests that a Christian `ideology of settlement' lay behind much of the landscape organisation of the early medieval period in Britain, and that this is clearly reflected in the landscapes of both Cornwall and western Wessex. 2 List of Contents Volume 1 Page List of Tables 8 List of Figures 9 List of Accompanying Material 12 Acknowledgements 13 Copyright Acknowledgements 14 Chapter 1: Introduction and background 15 1.1 Introduction 15 1.2 Background and research questions 19 The *lann model of early ecclesiastical enclosures in the west 19 Varieties of Christianity in early medieval Britain 26 The church in the landscape 29 Chapter 2: Methods for studying medieval landscapes in south- west Britain 34 2.1 Introduction: landscape archaeology 34 2.2 Categories of data 37 2.2.1 Place-names 37 Problems of interpretation 37 Practical problems 40 2.2.2 Historical information 44 Documents relating to defined areas of the landscape 44 Status and chronology of particular sites 46 Framework and cultural context 47 2.2.3 Archaeological data 49 Data from excavations 49 Standingbuildings and surviving monuments 51 3 Air and ground survey 52 Environmental evidence 53 2.2.4 Historic landscape characterisation 54 Historic landscape characterisation and the present research 57 HLC in the Cornish study areas 59 Rough ground 62 Medieval farmland 63 Woodland 64 Demonstrating the validity of the HLC landscape model 65 medieval Finding and mapping the early landscape 68 2.2.5 Making use of the data 71 Correlation and contrast 71 `Localizable' data 74 The project database and GIS 75 2.3 Tracing the development of the landscape 78 Phase 1: Cornish Settlements from the Iron Age to the Sixth Century AD 79 Phase 2: Early Medieval Settlement Patterns from the Sixth to Ninth Centuries AD 87 Phase 3: Settlement Patterns of the Ninth to Eleventh Centuries AD 94 Phase 4: Later Medieval Settlement 98 Using the Historic Landscape Characterisation 99 Summary: the Development of Cornish Medieval Settlement Patterns 100 2.4 Scales of analysis 101 2.4.1 Spatial scales 101 Region 103 County 103 District 103 4 Local areas 104 2.4.2 Temporal scales 104 Chapter 3: The early medieval church in the Cornish landscape 107 3.1 Introduction 107 3.2 Morphology of ecclesiastical centres 110 3.3 Physical locations 113 3.4 Churches and royal centres 119 Identifying royal centres in Cornwall: archaeological evidence 120 Identifying royal centres in Cornwall: documentary evidence 123 Secular and ecclesiastical centres 126 3.5 Ecclesiastical centres and early medieval administrative structures 133 3.6 Ecclesiastical estates in Cornwall 139 St Keverne 141 St Neot 144 3.7 Ecclesiastical centres and ordinary settlements 148 Settlement Patterns in Early Medieval Cornwall: Three Case Studies 150 St Neot 151 Tintagel 153 St Keverne 155 Conclusions: Important Churches and Early Medieval Settlements 158 3.8 Ritual sites and monuments in the wider landscape 160 Burials and cemeteries 162 Inscribed stones 163 Crosses 168 5 3.9 The rise of local churches 178 3.10 Conclusion 188 Chapter 4: The church in the landscape of western Wessex 190 4.1 Introduction 190 4.2 The Changing Ritual Landscape of the Conversion Period 194 Field cemeteries in western Wessex 195 `Anglo-Saxon' burials in central Wessex 198 4.3 Changing settlement patterns from the conversion period onwards 204 4.4 The form of ecclesiastical centres in Anglo-Saxon Wessex 213 4.5 Physical locations 217 4.6 Ecclesiastical Centres and Royal Vills 222 Identifying royal vills: documentary sources 222 Identifying royal vills: archaeological evidence 223 Royal Vills and Churches: Spatial Relationships 227 4.7 Ecclesiastical centres and early medieval administrative structures 230 Minsters and hundreds 232 Hundreds and parochiae 236 The geographical location of major ecclesiastical sites within hundreds 237 4.8 Early ecclesiastical estates in Wessex 240 Early ecclesiastical estates in the landscape 245 4.9 A developing Christian landscape 248 Crosses 251 Execution cemeteries and dangerous margins 258 4.10 The rise of small estates and local estate churches 260 Estatechurches 265 4.11 Conclusions: the church in the landscape of Wessex 271 6 Chapter 5: Discussion and conclusions: Christianity and the early medieval landscape of south-west England 273 5.1 Introduction 273 5.2 Similarities and differences in the developing ecclesiastical landscapes of Cornwall and western Wessex 276 Similarities 276 Differences 284 5.3 Explaining the development of ecclesiastical structures in the South West 289 5.4 The church in the landscape of early medieval south-west England: the development of a model 294 Volume 2 Page Contents of Volume 2 308 Appendix 1: Sources of evidence 309 Appendix 1.1 Maps 309 Appendix 1.2: Sources of place-name data 315 Appendix 1.3: Sources of documentary evidence 316 Appendix 1.4: Archaeological databases 318 Appendix 2: The project database 322 Appendix 2.1 The Tables of the Project Database 322 Appendix 2.2 Entering data using the database forms 325 Appendix 2.3 Glossaryof Site Types 336 Appendix 3: Tables 340 Appendix 4: Figures 369 Abbreviations 418 Period definitions 419 Bibliography 420 7 List of Tables Page 340 2.1 Two types of data 2.2 Data model showing relationships between tables in the project database 341 3.1 Likely major early medieval ecclesiastical communities in Cornwall 342 3.2 Locations of early medieval ecclesiastical communities in Cornwall 344 3.3 Location of early medieval ecclesiastical communities and royal vills of the pre-English period 345 3.4 The relative amounts of the three landscape resources mapped in the HLCs of each study area 346 4.1 Likely superior churches of early medieval western Wessex 347 4.2 Locations of major churches with reliable evidence for foundation in the C9th or earlier 359 4.3 Physical locations of ecclesiastical centres 360 4.4 Royal vills with pre-AD 1000 evidence in Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire 361 4.5 Major early churches (pre-AD 900 evidence) and nearest known royal vill 364 4.6 Royal vills (reliable pre-AD1000 evidence) and nearest minster churches 366 4.7 Certain and likely high-status churches and hundreds in central and western Wessex. 368 8 List of Figures Page 1.1 The counties of Cornwall and western Wessex: location plan 370 2.1 Charter boundary clause of Trerice (Cornwall), with Historic Landscape Characterisation 372 2.2 Tre- place-names plotted against HLCs of each study area 373 2.3 Location of Bunning's Park pollen assemblage and HLC of St Neot study area 376 2.4 Cliff-castles and hillforts in Cornwall 377 2.5 Certain and possiblerounds in Cornwall 378 2.6 Settlements with tre place-names in Cornwall 379 2.7 Rounds and settlements with tre place-names in Cornwall 380 2.8 Settlements with tre place-names and probable early medieval monasteries in Cornwall 381 3.1 St Neot study area, with later medieval parish boundaries 383 3.2 Tintagel study area, with later medieval parish boundaries 384 3.3 St Keverne study area, with later medieval parish boundaries 385 3.4 Possible royal vills of the pre-English period in early medieval Cornwall 386 3.5 Location of Fawton within St Neot study area 387 3.6 Medieval Cornish hundreds 388 3.7 The grant, c. 1070, of land in Meneage by the Count of Mortain to Mont St Michel (after Henderson Calendar 5, p. 205) 389 3.8 Historic Landscape Characterisation (HLC) of the St Neot study area 390 3.9 Historic Landscape Characterisation (HLC) of the Tintagel study area 391 3.10 Historic Landscape Characterisation (HLC) of the St Keverne study area 392 9 3.11 Rounds in the St Neot study area; and the HLC 393 3.12 Rounds, settlements with tre place-names (first recorded before