Anglo-Saxon Art and Architecture, the art and architecture of the Anglo-Saxons, the

Germanic peoples who began settling in England in the 5th century AD, gradually conquered
the country, and ruled until the Norman Conquest in 1066. Most Anglo-Saxon art is Christian,
and the date 597, when St Augustine of Canterbury made the first evangelizing mission from
Rome to England, is sometimes taken as a convenient starting point from which to discuss the
subject. Neither this date nor 1066, however, is a rigid boundary. There was Anglo-Saxon art
before the coming of Christianity, and although the Norman Conquest brought England rapidly
into the mainstream of Romanesque art and architecture, Anglo-Saxon traditions were not
completely submerged and influenced the art of the Normans into the 12th century.
Our knowledge of Anglo-Saxon art is extremely fragmentary. Intentional or accidental
destruction and the rebuilding of later centuries mean that few Anglo-Saxon buildings survive in
anything like their original state. The interiors of churches would once have glowed with colour,
but now almost nothing remains of the wall paintings nor of the costly fabrics (sometimes made
of silk interwoven with gold) that adorned the altars. Articles made of gold and silver were prime
targets for plunder during the Viking invasions, and almost all of the fine Anglo-Saxon
metalwork that we now possess has been dug up after being buried for safekeeping. We know
from literary accounts that the Anglo-Saxons attached great importance to beautiful and costly
objects such as church plate and royal regalia, but the destruction of these has been so
wholesale that C. R. Dodwell begins his book Anglo-Saxon Art: A New Perspective (1982) with
the words The Anglo-Saxon arts which attract most attention today would have had little
interest for the Anglo-Saxon writers.
There is another way in which our knowledge of Anglo-Saxon art is fragmentary, for we often
know little or nothing about the precise circumstances in which surviving objects were made.
Anglo-Saxon artists occasionally signed their work, and we know the identity of others from
documents, but they are usually nothing but names. By the same token, most Anglo-Saxon art
can be dated only approximately. Sometimes there are inscriptions to help us, and objects that
are found in the tomb of a known person can usually be associated with the time of that person,
but Anglo-Saxon sculpture, for example, generally has to be dated solely on the grounds of
style (by comparison with manuscript illustrations of known date). Historians of architecture
sometimes differ by centuries in the date they assign to Anglo-Saxon buildings or parts of them.
Nevertheless, in spite of all these difficulties, the broad outlines of the development of AngloSaxon art can be discerned reasonably clearly. There were two main periods of achievement,
with between them a bleak time when the country was overrun by invaders from Scandinavia.
Remains dating from before the 7th century are extremely scanty and belong more to the realm
of archaeology than to art. The first great achievements are the magnificent jewelled objects
found in a ship burial at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk, dating from about 625. These are pagan, but
thereafter the finest works were predominantly produced for the Christian church. At this time
England was divided into a number of small kingdoms and initially the artistic lead was taken in
Northumbria, in the north of the country, where monks from Ireland (rather than Rome) were the
major missionaries (St Aidan came to England from Ireland in 635 and founded a monastery on
Lindisfarne, or Holy Island, under the auspices of St Oswald, the Christian king of Northumbria).
Towards the end of the 8th century, the Vikings (followed by the Danes) began to raid England
and later to settle. They caused great destruction, and the kingdom of Wessex, in the south of
the country, was the only one to survive. Alfred the Great, who reigned from 871 to 899, led the

revival against the Scandinavian invaders, and in the 10th century his successors as kings of
Wessex gained control over the rest of the country. From this time until the Norman Conquest,
the south dominated the country artistically as well as politically, Winchester being the main
cultural centre. This period, and particularly the century before the Norman Conquest, is
sometimes referred to as the golden age of Anglo-Saxon art; certainly, the finest English art of
this time was a match for anything produced on the Continent.
Architecture and Allied Arts
The Anglo-Saxon verb to build is timbran, and as this suggests, wood was initially the
favoured building material. However, because wood is perishable, very little physical evidence
survives of its use. We know from sources such as the poem Beowulf and the writings of the
chronicler Bede (both 8th century) that early chieftains held court in great communal wooden
halls, but our knowledge of their appearance now has to come from excavation rather than from
anything visible above ground. The main remains are at Yeavering in Northumberland, where
King Edwin built a palace in the early 7th century. Its site was discovered when cropmarks were
spotted from the air in 1949, and excavation has revealed that the great hall was more than 20
m (65 ft) long. There was also a theatre-like building, with concentric rows of banked seating for
about 300 people focused on a small dais. It was perhaps used as a royal assembly or for
preaching.
Such remains are fascinating, but as far as surviving buildings go, Anglo-Saxon architecture is
synonymous with church architecture. There must once have been many wooden Anglo-Saxon
churches, but only one (or part of a church) survivesthe nave of St Andrew at GreenstedJuxta-Ongar in Essex. The walls are built of oak logs, split in half and arranged vertically. They
vary in thickness from about 12 to 25 cm (5 to 10 in). The church was evidently in existence by
1013, when the body of King Edmund is said to have rested there on its way to burial in Bury St
Edmunds, and scientific tests on the wood suggest that it may date from about 150 years
earlier than this.
St Andrew is a small churchthe nave is just under 9 m (30 ft) long internallyand this is a
characteristic it shares with most surviving Anglo-Saxon buildings. We know that some AngloSaxon churches were much larger, but unfortunately none of these has survived. Shortly before
the Norman Conquest, for example, King Edward the Confessor built or rebuilt Westminster
Abbey on an impressive scale; the church was about 100 m (330 ft) long (almost as long as the
present building), but nothing of it remains above ground. By far the largest surviving AngloSaxon churchabout 45 m (150 ft) in total lengthis All Saints at Brixworth in
Northamptonshire. This dates from the 7th century and at the time it was built it must have been
one of the most imposing buildings anywhere north of the Alps. It is therefore unwise to draw
general conclusions about Anglo-Saxon architecture from what happens to survive. In terms of
quality, the finest churches we have lost (such as Westminster Abbey) may have been as far
above run-of-the-mill buildings as Canterbury or Chartres cathedrals are above modest parish
churches of their period.
The standard work on the subject (H. M. and J. Taylor, Anglo-Saxon Architecture, 3 vols, 19651978) lists more than 400 churches in England (together with four in Scotland and one in
Wales) that still appear to have some trace of Anglo-Saxon workmanship. They are fairly evenly
distributed around the country, with particularly strong concentrations in East Anglia and in the

area between London and the south coast (Kent and Sussex). Most of these churches date
from the later period of Anglo-Saxon art (after the Scandinavian invasions), but in Kent there is
a group of ten built by St Augustine or his converts early in the 7th century. Sadly, little of them
remains above ground, but excavations show that they were all similar in size (very small) and
plan (they have no aisles, but side-chambers called porticus; the singular and plural forms of
this word are usually the same, although the form porticuses is sometimes used). The chief
building material was brick from demolished Roman structures. Churches built in Northumbria
in the early period are generally longer and narrower than those in the south. The gem among
them is St John at Escomb in County Durham (7th century), one of the very few Anglo-Saxon
churches to survive substantially complete and relatively unaltered. It is extremely simple in
shape (little more than a box) and built of blocks of reused Roman stone.
In the later period of Anglo-Saxon architecture, churches became somewhat more elaborate in
plan and structure, sometimes having aisles or a tower. The most impressive tower is that of All
Saints at Earls Barton in Northamptonshire, usually dated to about 1000. The plastered exterior
of the tower is decorated with little strips and arches of stone. Although the workmanship is
fairly crude, the overall effect is engagingly vigorousthe finest example in architecture of the
love of flat pattern that is considered typical of Anglo-Saxon art as a whole.
Little survives of the original decoration of Anglo-Saxon churches. No wall paintings remain in
situ, but there are a few precious fragments in museums, the earliest (probably late 9th century)
being in Winchester City Museums. The situation is better with architectural sculpture, for there
are several impressive pieces either still in their original position or built into stonework of
Anglo-Saxon or Norman workmanship. They include a majestic over-lifesize Crucifixion set into
an outer wall at Romsey Abbey in Hampshire and two flying angels over the chancel arch at the
church of St Lawrence, Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire. Very occasionally Anglo-Saxon churches
may have had stained glass. A window at St Paul's church, Jarrow, County Durham, contains
excavated glass in a colourful abstract pattern that is believed to be the oldest stained glass in
Europe (it is possibly as old as the 680s and certainly no more recent than the 860s).
Like several major Anglo-Saxon churches, St Paul's, Jarrow, was originally part of a monastery.
Together with the nearby St Peter at Wearmouth, it was founded by St Benedict Biscop (died
689), an important figure in establishing monasticism in England. It was at Jarrow that the
Venerable Bede (died 735), our chief literary source for early Anglo-Saxon England, spent most
of his life as a monk. Nothing of his monastery survives above ground but, from his account of it
and from excavations, we can see that it must have been an impressive complex of buildings;
indeed to contemporaries who were used to primitive huts it must have been awe-inspiring. Two
large stone buildings 15 m (50 ft) long, were perhaps a refectory and a guest-house. They
seem to have had lead roofs and concrete floors, and their windows were glazeda great
luxury at this time.
Sculpture
Apart from architectural carving, mentioned above, there were other types of Anglo-Saxon
sculpture, of which the most important are large outdoor stone crosses and ivory carvings. It is
safe to assume that Anglo-Saxon artists also made woodcarvings, but none of these has
survived. The stone cross is a type of sculpture found only in Britain and Ireland at this time. In
England it is said to have originated when King Oswald of Northumbria set up a wooden cross

before a successful battle against Cadwallon, the pagan king of North Wales, in 633. Stone
crosses served various purposes. They were used as centres of outdoor worship, as the
gravestones of eminent men, as markers of places where funeral processions of saints had
halted, and as signs indicating the boundaries of sanctuary. Thousands of these crosses (or
fragments of them) survive. Most are in the north of England and there are several fine
examples still further north, in Scotland, including probably the most famous and impressive of
them all, at Ruthwell in Dumfriesshire. The Ruthwell Cross stands about 5.5 m (18 ft) high and
is decorated with vigorously carved Gospel scenes, vine leaves (a common symbol of Christ),
and runic inscriptions (see Runes). It probably dates from the 8th century, as does another
outstanding example at Bewcastle in Cumberland.
Ivory carving was used for various purposes, secular as well as religious, in Anglo-Saxon
England. The secular uses included seals, scabbard mounts, and clasps and strap-ends for
clothing. However, the most impressive products were made in the service of the Church,
including altar crosses, book covers, and pyxes (small boxes in which the consecrated bread of
the Eucharist is placed). Most Anglo-Saxon carvings of this type were made from walrus rather
than elephant ivory, and one of the most famous pieces is made of whalebone. This is the
Franks Casket (named after Sir A. W. Franks, who presented it to the British Museum, London).
It dates from about 700 and is remarkable for being decorated with scenes from ancient history
and northern mythology as well as the Bible. Its original purpose is unknown. 1

1"Anglo-Saxon Art and Architecture," Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia. 19931997 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Other Arts
Among the other arts that flourished in Anglo-Saxon England were metalwork (including
jewellery) and textiles (including ecclesiastical vestments and altar hangings). We know that the
Anglo-Saxons loved bright colours and rich ornament, and these are fields in which they could
be vividly expressed. Some superb metalwork survives, but textiles have fared very badly in the
English climate and our knowledge comes mainly from fragments (including three scraps of silk
removed from the tomb of Edward the Confessor in Westminster Abbey in 1685 and now in the
Victoria and Albert Museum, London).
Anglo-Saxon metalworkers were renowned throughout Europe, and surviving examples of their
work show that their high reputation was richly deserved. The most famous examples are the
superb objects found in the pagan ship-burial at Sutton Hoo, Suffolk, in 1939 (British Museum,
London). They include gold jewellery, sword fittings set with garnets, a purse, a buckle, and
shoulder clasps. Such luxurious objects would have been buried only with someone of great
importance, and it was most probably King Raedwald of the East Angles, who died in 625 or
626. Some of the objects, such as the helmet and shield, are of foreign workmanship, but the
jewellery was made locally. It is decorated with rhythmically interlacing abstract ornament.
There are also some outstanding items of Anglo-Saxon metalwork made for the Church. Most
of these have been altered, damaged or partly dismantled, so it is often hard to appreciate their
original function. However, a few survive relatively intact, a fine example being a portable altar
of the early 11th century in the Muse de Cluny, Paris. The altar slab is made of the costly

imported stone porphyry; forming a frame around it are four silver plates, decorated with a
Crucifixion and other Christian figures and symbols.2

2"Anglo-Saxon Art and Architecture," Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia. 19931997 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.