Background
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 Saxon
Church at Earls Barton
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 strapwork. 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 supporting 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.
Every Century from the 10th onwards is represented in the fabric
and fittings of the building!
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.
Geology
Whilst the main body of the church is built from a combination of
Northamptonshire Ironstone and Limestone, the tower is constructed
from the Upper Lincolnshire Limestone Barnack Rag Stone, infilled
with locally found Wellingborough Limestone from the Rutland
Formation (former Upper Estuarian Limestone).
Most rural parish churches are built of rubblestone from the
nearest geological source, and indeed can often provide us with
information on the local geology; towers (when added later, as were
spires) may be of ashlar using different stone, as are the carved
windows and doorways. The dressed stone also tends to come from the
nearest suitable source, though it was sometimes transported
several kilometres, and certain sources became well known.
‘Barnack Rag’, a distinctive spar-cemented shelly
oolite from the Lincolnshire Limestone at Barnack near Stamford was
obtainable in very large blocks and can be recognized, for example,
with typical ribbed cross-bedding, in the quoins and decorative
stonework of the Anglo-Saxon tower at Earls Barton, as well as at
Barnack itself and many medieval churches, including Peterborough
Cathedral. The quarries were owned by the abbey at Peterborough,
which controlled the distribution of the stone by waterways to the
abbeys of the Fens. Though the quarries remain as grassy
‘hills and holes’, no section can be seen today. The
Jurassic outcrop across England has provided many varieties of
stone—some, including the various Bathonian oolites from
around Bath, used extensively, others, like the Northampton Sand
sandstone, with more local distribution.
Barnack Rag Limestone is a sedimentary rock, and was originally
formed in the Jurassic period 140- 200 Million years ago, it is
made from the remains of billions of tiny sea-creatures which lived
in a warm shallow sea that covered the area 150 million years ago,
layers of sand/mud and billions of sea-creatures fell to the bottom
of the sea and slowly decomposed and were crushed together by the
weight of the water, forming a rock. This is why sedimentary rocks
often contain fossils- its the remains of those tiny sea-creatures.
The sea then later evaporated which exposed the limestone
outcrops.
Logging of
Earthcache
To log this Earthcache you will need to read the above and then go
to the published co-ordinates and make some observations so you can
then email the answers for the below questions and your username to
my profile contact, please dont post any answers in your logs, else
they will be deleted. Upon confirmation you can then log your find,
so please click enable me to see your email so I can reply to
confirm.
When you visit the Earthcache, there is no need to stray from the
footpaths, they lead to the Tower and Earthcache areas. Facing the
front clock face, the tower corner to the left is "A" and the next
corner clockwise is "B".
1. How was the Limestone transported from Barnack to Earls
Barton?
2. When was the Jurassic period?
3. Go to "A" and look at around knee height, you will see a
pronounced feature that has avoided erosion, unlike the rock around
it. Describe this feature and tell me its approximate length.
4. Go to "B" and look approx. 7ft high, (Small children will need a
lift to see) What does this fossil look like and remind you
of?
5. Optional pics of the tower or Fossils would be great, but please
don't reveal the answers in your pics or log.
Many thanks to the Diocese of Peterborough for their co-operation
with this Earthcache.
FTF Honours
go to Lorri-Ann & Kev
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