RECORDING THE PARISH CHURCH FABRIC: OBJECTIVE AND SUBJECTIVE APPROACHES TO STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS
Simon Roffey, UniversityCollegeWinchester
This paper will set out to briefly discuss objective and subjective approaches to the structural analysis of the parish church fabric. It will focus on one significant aspect of the late medieval parish church fabric, that of the chantry chapel, and is based on recent research conducted in the south and west of England. The chantry chapel was a context for the celebration of a mass, often in perpetuity, for the souls of the founder or specified individuals. As well as being individually founded monuments within the church, they also contributed to communal worship, often embellishing the church, adding extra liturgical space and providing more masses in a period of Eucharistic popularity. The first chantries appeared around the mid part of the thirteenth century and were finally dissolved by act of parliament during the Reformation in 1547. The recording and analysis of such monuments, where they survive, therefore offers a potentially unique insight into both religious practices and social interaction in the medieval period.
The research primarily involved the construction of a recording methodology for the recording and analysis of a sample of 80 chapels from the counties of Hampshire, Somerset and Wiltshire (Roffey 2005). The research is therefore based on the systematic recording and analysis of a particular form of standing building. Although it uses both primary and secondary documentary sources, it is really about the study of the evidence of the buildings themselves. As will be seen, it has developed and employs an archaeological methodology based on the standards set out by the Royal Commission for Historic Monuments in 1996 (RCHME 1996) and on the research directives set out by the Council for British Archaeology of the same year (Blair and Pyrah 1996).
The methodology of building recording, and the problems of applying an objective approach to structural analysis, have been discussed with regard to vernacular buildings by Ian Ferris, who acknowledges the value of designed approaches to recording, particularly the use of pro-formas to provide valuable, versatile and systematic approaches to the evidence (Ferris 1989: 13; Smith 1985; 1989). Traditionally, one of the problems with standing buildings is that examination can sometimes be unfocussed and, in the case of architectural historians, the analysis of buildings can be ‘personalised’ and ‘resplendent in style but lacking in objectivity’ (Ferris 1989: 12). In comparison, the use of systematic methods of detailed recording in archaeological excavation, utilising recording sheets for contexts and masonry, is almost universal. However, it should be noted that some professional archaeological units still do not apply them for the recording of standing fabric and therefore by-pass the value and versatility that such a methodology can offer (ibid). The techniques for recording excavations should therefore be adopted to the survey and interpretation of all standing structures (Meeson 1989: 18).
The value of such an approach utilising pro-forma lies both in its versatility and its ability to answer important questions about changes in form and function of the building (Ferris 1989; Smith 1989), as well as providing a context for the ‘simultaneous interaction of observation, recording and deduction’ (Meeson 1989: 18). Importantly it allows for the objective recording of structures as well as the subjective analysis of how this buildings and have been used. As will be seen, this approach is particularly valuable to the study of medieval parish chapels and chantries, where the evidence presented is diverse, and in some instances, fragmentary. It also may allow us, in theory, to reconstruct aspects of social behaviour enacted within these structures, which is not evidenced in contemporary documentary sources.
With this in mind, it has been argued that detailed recording is ‘rarely appropriate for standing buildings’ as the ‘advancement of knowledge is better served by selective recording with well-defined aims in mind’ (Smith 1989: 20). Additionally, the recording of standing fabric should seek to ‘define what is significant’ (Bold 1990: 16). Though such an approach can be seen to be in danger of falling back upon the personal subjectivity (of the traditional architectural historian), it does allow for the construction of a well-defined versatile pro-forma that seeks to identify and record what is pertinent to the particular questions the archaeologist is asking for example, concepts such as form and function, the use of space, materials and construction. It is particularly appropriate for the study of existing structures, such as chapels, where research aims can be defined prior to recording and analysis.
That being said, pro-formas must not be constricted by the ‘impossibility of watertight divisions’ (Smith 1985: 83). There has to be space for an element of subjective interpretation on site, as well as objective recording and analysis. Jane Grenville has recently discussed the potential constraints of academic approaches to building recording and made a case for recording methods to be tailored to suit the particular questions that are being asked (Grenville 2001). In particular, she suggests how such a defined tailor-made recording methodology can be particularly effective in investigating ‘the use of the interior (of churches) as spaces of worship and ritual’ (Grenville 2001; 15-19). The analysis of buildings should provide a detailed record that can tell us about the ‘organisation of society, [and] about social and economic trends (Ferris 1989: 16). In the study of the medieval parish church, it should help to uncover how the social and religious context of communal worship affected the church as a whole, on one of the remits of this conference session.
We will now turn to the specifics of the recent research project on the archaeological analysis of parish church chantry chapels.
The Chantry Chapel Research Project
The research methodology
A principal element of the research methodology was a comprehensive desk-based survey of primary and secondary sources pertinent to the research area. The survey enabled chantries and chapels to be identified and relevant supplementary background material to be accrued. The methodology required the construction of a well-defined but versatile pro-forma that seeks to identify and record what is pertinent to the particular aims and objectives discussed in a moment (Fig 1). The pro-forma, or template, is designed to be used in the field, but also has provision for the inclusion of relevant documentary references. The nature of the pro-forma is specialised: it is designed to answer a set of pre-determined questions, as well as to provide general information about the chapels themselves.
The specialised nature of such a defined recording methodology has been recently supported by Jane Grenville, among others, in relation to the recording of standing buildings (2001). This project uses a defined methodology to address questions about chapel form and function, the changing use of space and topography, and the effects of the Reformation. It also examines the spatial and visual relationships between related church monuments. Broader functional issues, such as chapel construction, building materials, and regional patterns are not covered in such detail. It is a model for tailor-made specialised recording methods in the study of standing buildings and their social context. It is therefore a defined recording methodology with particular aims and objectives in mind. It presents a predominantly archaeological approach, using relevant documentary sources to provide a source of background information but concentrates primarily on the surviving structural evidence. It is not the intention of the research to analyse or contextualise documentary sources. Furthermore, the database of recorded chapels is a valuable source for future allied studies.
The initial stage of the research project involved the field survey and investigation of over 120 churches in the counties of Hampshire, Somerset and Wiltshire, identified by a desk-based survey, to assess the nature of the surviving archaeological evidence. Each church was subject to preliminary field investigation to assess survival of physical remains. By this process a sample of 80 chapels that exhibit significant surviving evidence for both fabric and ritual topography was selected. Each sample chapel was consequently subjected to structural analysis and detailed recording using the pro-forma (Roffey 2005).
The format of the template is designed to allow for the methodological recording of chapels on site, with information inputted via a computer and digital camera (though the pro-forma can quite easily be used in non-digitised format). The construction of the pro-forma combines a ‘structural element’ model, concerned with information about structure and materials, Ferris (1989: 19), and a ‘questionnaire’ element, allowing for a set of pre-set questions to be answered (Smith 1985: 83). In this sense, however, the chapel template is a ‘specialist template’. Whilst dealing with defined elements, such as liturgical fittings, altars and tombs, it also allows for the discussion of spatial details, in particular topographic relationships, view-sheds, access arrangements and proxemics. The template provides a framework for the systematic recording and analysis of medieval chapels with a set of precise aims and objectives in mind. It identifies separate components, as well as the significance and relationship of the various parts and features. Such a methodology thus facilitates objective recording, with subjective elements of interpretation. It is particularly valuable in the study of medieval parish chapels where the evidence is often diverse and fragmentary. The specialised template allows for a versatile and selective approach to the evidence. The digitised nature of the recording template ensures that information is not confined by constraints of space and allows for the inputting of significant amounts of written and illustrative data where applicable. It is divided up into a number of fields of recorded information as follows.
Part 1 Chapel background
This includes the name of the parish church, the current dedication of the chapel and an internal and external structural summary with brief historical background. The latter category is supplemented by documentary information carried out off-site, and as already identified in the desk-based survey. Information about a chapel’s current status is also included.
This information can then be used collectively for example, to examine patterns of chantry location and construction, aspects of chapel form and function, the chronological development of chantries and chapels.
Part 2 Archaeological indicators: external/internal
This field allows for the inputting of data regarding chapel dimensions, external and internal features of the chapel, stratigraphic relationships, and descriptive and interpretative comments. The specialised nature of the recording methodology allows for descriptions of fabric and materials used, and evidence for structural changes, such as rebuilding and the insertion of architectural features to be noted. Examination of external fabric can reveal evidence for structural changes, perhaps necessitated by liturgical developments or changes in function.
Internal features include evidence for screens, squints, tombs, altars, and liturgical features, as well as elaboration and other relevant features. This field of recording also provides information for the later interpretative elements of the pro-forma, particularly with regard to the use of light, space and visual relationships between features and the church in general. Medieval tombs, for example, have been said to provide ‘a reflective index of social or economic trends’ (Finch 2001: 115). The location and positioning of tombs within chapels, particularly with regard to groups of tombs, is thus significant. The reconstruction of internal features of the medieval chapel based on the recording and analysis of the surviving evidence can expose how ‘ceremonial was enacted in spaces provided in and defined by the building’ and how the use of symbolism and decoration reinforced this message (Burgess 2000: 47). The position of altars, windows, symbols, niches and heraldic devices, and how they were used and perceived, is also recorded and analysed. Screens are also recorded; whether in the form of surviving examples, or archaeological evidence for their former presence. This data also allows for a chronological interpretation of individual chapels and their features to be built up, to facilitate comparison and contrast with other religious foundations.
Part 3 Spatial analysis
‘A mode of analysis which demands a really close understanding of chronology is that of the use of space’ (Grenville 2001: 19). Part 3 therefore allows for an analysis of chapel space, including location of a chapel within a church and an examination of spatial relationships between features such as altars and tombs, and chapel and high altar (Figs 2 and 3).
The use of spatial and visual analysis provides a useful tool. Inferences can be made about the relationships between related areas of both church and chapel and used to develop an understanding about the spatial relationships between archaeological monuments such as tombs, altars, screens and windows, for example, and the stratigraphic or chronological relationship between them. Generally speaking, for instance, it is an examination of why particular features are located and positioned in specific areas of church space and fabric.
The application of view-shed analysis, or the examination of lines of sight, discussed later, has been previously carried out mainly in prehistoric landscape contexts (Fisher et al 1997; Lake et al 1998; Pollard and Reynolds 2002). However, such an approach is equally applicable to the study of monuments such as churches and chantry chapels (Roffey 2004). Such an approach is invaluable in analysing the spatial relationship between chapels and chantries and the parish church and community. It assists our understanding of why monuments are placed in particular areas of chapel topography. It indicates the importance of public visual access to the symbols, images, and features of chapel space and fabric; it also suggests the nature and level of visual participation in the rituals enacted within them. Visual relationships in chapel and church topography can be examined by reconstructing lines-of-sight, or viewsheds. The basis of this approach involves the archaeologist moving around the church and establishing what could have been seen from certain areas and how features or structural elements such as tombs, squints, walls and windows, for example, may support, inhibit or obstruct former sight-lines in church. Again, this approach assumes a level of informed observation - the knowledge of what parts of the church or architectural elements may have been existing in the medieval period, and what has been reconstructed, blocked or moved since. This approach is designed to answer particular questions, such as whether it was important for chapel altars to be viewed from public areas of the church; or if subsidiary altars had a clear view of the high altar. Also, it may reveal to what extent personal and religious symbols, tombs and monuments were deliberately located to place them in public or clerical lines-of-sight, and what this can reveal about the importance of vision within medieval ritual. Both the standing fabric and chapel topography together need to be examined and the results and observations recorded and presented on the specialised pro-forma. This then establishes the basis for a wider interpretation of the form, fabric and function of medieval chapels, individually and collectively.
Archaeological examination of chantries and chapels has revealed the importance of vision in medieval religious practice. Vision enabled communion with that most important aspect of the mass; the elevation of the host. View-shed analysis of church topography reveals how visual accessibility both to, and from, chapels to other ritual areas of the church was of prime importance. In particular, it seems to be a pre-requisite in the majority of cases to make chapels visible from public areas of the church. Furthermore, there appears to be archaeological evidence to suggest an effort was made to ‘tie’ the intercessory rituals enacted in such chapels into the general ‘network’ of rituals within the parish church itself, such as those celebrated within other chapels and especially the high altar. This research therefore strongly suggests that there was a visual relationship between subsidiary altars in many instances, while others can be inferred and conjectured. Consequently, the evidence presented suggests the extent to which chantries and chapels were very much part of the parish community and religious practice.
Part 4 Illustrative record
Part 4 consists of a photographic record of each chapel, internally and externally, as well as key features identified within the text (fig 4). A plan is also included, redrawn from original scale drawings surveyed in the field. Plans consist of a two-dimensional survey and provide a horizontal section through the structure at window height. The drawing methodology involves taking measured off-sets from a base-line and scale pencil drawings at a scale of either 1:10 or 1:20 (dependent on the size of the chapel). Drawings are subsequently digitised using Adobe Illustrator 9.0 and added to the digitised template. The use of this particular software package also allows for the potential production of ‘layered drawings’ showing, for example, views of the chapel with and without monuments as well as structural reconstructions.