- ホーム
- > 洋書
- > 英文書
- > Religion / Ethics
Full Description
Archaeology of Britain's Oldest Church Doors presents a detailed and fascinating study of the two oldest doors in England: in the chapter house vestibule at Westminster Abbey, which pre-dates the Norman Conquest (1050s) and the north nave door at Hadstock Church, Essex, dated to the 1060s-70s. The Westminster door was formerly covered with skin on both faces, which had been claimed as human, and variously attributed either to a Danish raider, or to the English merchant who instigated an audacious robbery in 1303 from the royal treasury, housed in the abbey cloister. The Hadstock door was notorious for its presumed great antiquity and the fact that its exterior had also once been covered with hide. Moreover, these doors were embellished with ornate ironwork.
Having been responsible for archaeological investigations that involved both of these doors and their settings at Westminster and Hadstock, in this book Warwick Rodwell has brought them together, along with evidence from other early, particularly hide-covered, doors. At these and other locations in England, the assertion was that the remains of hides on church doors were human, and mostly attributed to pillaging Danes. The arguments for why this gruesome claim could not be true are explored and scientific investigations presented in order to separate fact from fiction.
Yet this book is concerned with more than just the hides. It considers the form and construction of the earliest surviving English doors. The application of dendrochronology made it possible to date the oak boards from which church doors were constructed. Architectural and archaeological evidence pointed to three doors as potential claimants for the status of being the oldest in Britain and dendrochronology ranked them in date order: Westminster Abbey, 1050s; Hadstock Church, 1060s-70s; and Rochester Cathedral, c. 1080s-90s. All three doors are still in daily use in their respective buildings.
A surprising variety of techniques is displayed in the later 11th and 12th centuries, and the Westminster door is unique. Its form of construction is unmatched by any other recorded door in Britain. Are its origins Anglo-Saxon or Norman-French? Two woodwork historians, Peter Massey and Paul Reed, undertook a detailed study of the construction method and tools required to fabricate the Westminster door, and a chapter has been devoted here to their findings.
Contents
Preface
Acknowledgements
1 Doors and 'Dane-skins'
Historiography
Church doors with coverings of hide
2 Antiquarian study of hide-covered doors
The preoccupation with Danes and flaying
Early scientific attempts to identify the animal species of hides
False affirmation of the 'Dane-skin' legend
Laying the 'Dane-skin' myth to rest
Identifying the species of the hides by Ruairidh Macleod
3 Westminster Abbey: chapter house vestibule door
Location and setting
Form and construction of the door
The hide covering
Iron fittings
Later interventions with the door
4 A carpenter's study of the Westminster Abbey door
by Peter Massey and Paul Reed
Brief description of the door
Introduction to Anglo-Saxon woodworking
How was the door made?
Making a sample replica of the door
Summary
5 St Botolph's church, Hadstock, Essex
Location and setting
The legend of the 'Dane-skin'
Antiquarian and modern study of the nave door
Form and construction of the north nave door (1)
Archaeology of the west tower door (2)
6 Rochester Cathedral: north-east transept staircase door
Carpentry
Ironwork
Painted decoration
7 Dating the Westminster, Hadstock and Rochester doors
Early attempts at scientific dating by dendrochronology
An improved method of sampling for dendrochronology
Obtaining secure dates for the Rochester, Hadstock and Westminster doors
8 Related hide-covered doors: Copford, Elmstead and Castle Hedingham
Copford church, Essex
Elmstead church, Essex
Castle Hedingham church, Essex
9 Early church doors in context: a summary
Treatise of Theophilus
The construction of Anglo-Saxon and early Norman doors
Early door construction in southern and eastern England: synthesis
Painted decoration on Anglo-Saxon and Norman doors
Hide-covered doors in eastern England: summary and tentative conclusions
How did the 'Dane-skin' legend originate?
Notes to chapters
Abbreviations and bibliography
Index
