The possibility that the difference between the alignments of church nave and chancel had any mea... more The possibility that the difference between the alignments of church nave and chancel had any meaning has been dismissed by writers in the past, but without any real data. Here, the results of a survey of almost 1000 medieval rural churches provide the opportunity to assess on a large scale whether there was any reason for these observed differences. The results demonstrate that differences in alignment are not random, but show 'intend. Even though half of the misalignments are to the left and half to the right, the further the alignment of the nave is away from east, the more likely it is that the misaligned chancel will be closer to east than the nave. Similarly, the more modern the chancel, the greater the likelihood that it will be correcting the earlier 'error' in alignment. Even where naves and chancels appear to have been built at the same time, some chancels show alignment 'improvement', where the chancel is closer to east than the nave.
This thesis explores the alignment of medieval rural churches and discusses whether their differi... more This thesis explores the alignment of medieval rural churches and discusses whether their differing alignments have any specific meaning. It also examines the location of rural church sites and the chronology of church creation in relation to the process of settlement nucleation, the topography of church sites and their possible reuse. A survey of almost 2000 rural medieval churches provides the basis for this study. Part I provides a broad context for the detailed consideration of the results of the survey and their significance. It summarises earlier church alignment studies and the issues that they raise; the practice of alignment more generally; studies of the rural church and its place in the landscape; and earlier studies of medieval rural settlement. CONTENTS Appendices v List of Figures vi Acknowledgements ix Glossary and Terminology x Abbreviations xiii General Introduction PART ONE-CONTEXT Chapter 1 Historiography of church alignment studies Chapter 2 The historical use of alignment Chapter 3 Historiography of church location, church origin and rural settlement PART TWO-SURVEY DESIGN AND BASIC RESULTS Chapter 4 Survey method and basic results Chapter 5 Survey results applied to earlier theories PART THREE-ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS Chapter 6 Variation in church alignment across the country Chapter 7 Relationship between slope and church alignment Chapter 8 Location of churches; adoption of local church sites; development of local burial; Christian substitution
The results of this survey of almost 1,500 rural churches do not support the oft-repeated idea th... more The results of this survey of almost 1,500 rural churches do not support the oft-repeated idea that churches are aligned with their patronal saint's sunrise. In fact, they provide evidence that the churches specifically do not face different sunrises and that churches dedicated to saints with summer feast-days are aligned in the same direction as those dedicated to saints with winter feast-days. However, the results of the survey raise significant questions about other aspects of church alignment. A significant variation in alignment has been uncovered east to west across the country, with a difference of 10°in the mean alignment of churches between the west and east of England. Possible reasons for this are explored. In addition, churches built on sloping sites are found to have downhill-facing chancels. If the choice of site were random, churches would face uphill as well as down. The possible implications of this for church and village location are also explored.
The results of this survey of almost 1500 rural churches do not support the oft repeated idea tha... more The results of this survey of almost 1500 rural churches do not support the oft repeated idea that churches are aligned with their patronal saint's sunrise. In fact, it provides evidence that they specifically do not face different sunrises, by showing that, despite the variation of up to 75° between individual churches, the mean direction is generally eastwards, irrespective of their dedication, and that churches dedicated to saints with summer feastdays are aligned in the same direction as those dedicated to saints with winter feastdays.
The possibility that the difference between the alignments of church nave and chancel had any mea... more The possibility that the difference between the alignments of church nave and chancel had any meaning has been dismissed by writers in the past, but without any real data. Here, the results of a survey of almost 1000 medieval rural churches provide the opportunity to assess on a large scale whether there was any reason for these observed differences. The results demonstrate that differences in alignment are not random, but show 'intend. Even though half of the misalignments are to the left and half to the right, the further the alignment of the nave is away from east, the more likely it is that the misaligned chancel will be closer to east than the nave. Similarly, the more modern the chancel, the greater the likelihood that it will be correcting the earlier 'error' in alignment. Even where naves and chancels appear to have been built at the same time, some chancels show alignment 'improvement', where the chancel is closer to east than the nave.
This thesis explores the alignment of medieval rural churches and discusses whether their differi... more This thesis explores the alignment of medieval rural churches and discusses whether their differing alignments have any specific meaning. It also examines the location of rural church sites and the chronology of church creation in relation to the process of settlement nucleation, the topography of church sites and their possible reuse. A survey of almost 2000 rural medieval churches provides the basis for this study. Part I provides a broad context for the detailed consideration of the results of the survey and their significance. It summarises earlier church alignment studies and the issues that they raise; the practice of alignment more generally; studies of the rural church and its place in the landscape; and earlier studies of medieval rural settlement. CONTENTS Appendices v List of Figures vi Acknowledgements ix Glossary and Terminology x Abbreviations xiii General Introduction PART ONE-CONTEXT Chapter 1 Historiography of church alignment studies Chapter 2 The historical use of alignment Chapter 3 Historiography of church location, church origin and rural settlement PART TWO-SURVEY DESIGN AND BASIC RESULTS Chapter 4 Survey method and basic results Chapter 5 Survey results applied to earlier theories PART THREE-ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS Chapter 6 Variation in church alignment across the country Chapter 7 Relationship between slope and church alignment Chapter 8 Location of churches; adoption of local church sites; development of local burial; Christian substitution
The results of this survey of almost 1,500 rural churches do not support the oft-repeated idea th... more The results of this survey of almost 1,500 rural churches do not support the oft-repeated idea that churches are aligned with their patronal saint's sunrise. In fact, they provide evidence that the churches specifically do not face different sunrises and that churches dedicated to saints with summer feast-days are aligned in the same direction as those dedicated to saints with winter feast-days. However, the results of the survey raise significant questions about other aspects of church alignment. A significant variation in alignment has been uncovered east to west across the country, with a difference of 10°in the mean alignment of churches between the west and east of England. Possible reasons for this are explored. In addition, churches built on sloping sites are found to have downhill-facing chancels. If the choice of site were random, churches would face uphill as well as down. The possible implications of this for church and village location are also explored.
The results of this survey of almost 1500 rural churches do not support the oft repeated idea tha... more The results of this survey of almost 1500 rural churches do not support the oft repeated idea that churches are aligned with their patronal saint's sunrise. In fact, it provides evidence that they specifically do not face different sunrises, by showing that, despite the variation of up to 75° between individual churches, the mean direction is generally eastwards, irrespective of their dedication, and that churches dedicated to saints with summer feastdays are aligned in the same direction as those dedicated to saints with winter feastdays.
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