All Saints' Church, Earls Barton

After the Danish raids on England, Medehampstede Abbey, a few miles away from Earls Barton, Northamptonshire, was rebuilt in c.970 to become Peterborough. It is generally accepted that All Saints' Church, Earls Barton was built around this period at the end of the tenth century. Even though only the tower survives from the original church at Earls Barton, this is one of the best examples of later Anglo-Saxon architecture.

The Tower

The tower has a number of functions. At Earls Barton, the ground floor probably served as the main body of the church and would have been annexed by a chancel to the east, as with St. Peter, Barton-upon-Humber, built at a similar time. Above, possibly provided accommodation for the priest, or acted as a safe-haven to house treasures. A doorway on the south side of the tower, and originally another opening on the west face, allowed access to the outside. Finally, there is a belfry at the uppermost storey.

The tower is constructed of stone rubble and rendered on the outside, and is decorated with vertical limestone pilaster strips and stripwork. At the corners of the tower, the walls are strengthened with long vertical quoin stones bedded on horizontal slabs, and hence is termed "long and short work". The way in which the tower is decorated is unique to Anglo-Saxon architecture, and the decorated Anglo-Saxon tower itself is a phenomenon that occurs locally, including Barnack near Peterborough and Stowe Nine Churches in Northamptonshire.

The storeys are divided by projecting stone string courses, and at each successive storey, the walls become slightly thinner, creating a step at each string course. The vertical pilaster strips continue up the tower, and are interspersed with stone strip arches at lower level and triangular decoration at upper level, in some instances resulting in a criss-cross pattern.

Architecture

The influence is very much Roman, and this can be seen by looking at the doors and windows of the tower. At the west doorway, pilaster strips run up the sides and continue over the head in an arch. Within this, there is an arched moulding springing from square imposts. These are decorated with vertical fluting. The jambs are of large flat stones, at right angles to the wall. The form of the jambs are Roman in origin, and an example of this can be seen in the Bath House of Chesters Fort, Hadrian's Wall. Windows at low level on the south are mullioned with baluster shafts and arched lintels, and the window apertures themselves are cross-shaped. At high level, the belfry has arched five-light windows with baluster shaft mullions.

The blind arcading is purely decorative, since the arches and triangles spring from string courses rather than supports them. The position of openings in the tower makes use of this decoration by fitting within the triangles and pilaster strips.

The use of stone enabled sturdy towers to be built in this period, but the availability of stone that could be easily quarried and carved enabled towers as at Earls Barton to be decorated in such a way. The limestone at Barnack was quarried extensively from Anglo-Saxon times and throughout the Middle Ages to build churches and cathedrals including Peterborough and Ely. It is evident that Anglo-Saxon churches with "long and short work" and pilaster strips are distributed throughout England where this type of limestone was available, and in East Anglia where the stone was transported...

History

To the north of All Saints' Church, Earls Barton, exists a mound and ditch, which almost abuts the church. Following the Norman conquest, an Anglo-Saxon by the name of Waltheof had become the first Earl of Northampton. He married the niece of William I, Judith, and she was granted land at Buarton; later named Earls Barton. The mound may have been part of a manor. It is reasonable to suggest that All Saints was originally linked to a manor, rather than being linked to a monastery. Earthworks are also present adjacent to the church at Sulgrave in Northamptonshire, where the remains of an Anglo-Saxon hall has been discovered, and so churches linked to manors at the time of the building of All Saints were not uncommon.

References

* Audouy, M. (1981) "Excavations at All Saints Church, Earls Barton", Northamptonshire Archaeology, 16, pp.73-86.
* Audouy, M. et al. (1995) "The Tower of All Saints' Church, Earls Barton, Northamptonshire: its construction and context", Archaeol. J., 152, pp.73-94.
* Taylor, H. M. and J. (1965-1978) "Anglo-Saxon Architecture", Cambridge.