The English Parish Church is potentially the greatest single resource for the study of the medieval community. Spread throughout the land – there are some 13,000 – the parish church lay at the heart of society and reflects ever-shifting patterns of ownership, beliefs, cults and personal piety. Most conveniently, their history falls naturally into five sections; before the Conquest, the Normans, early Gothic, Decorated and Perpendicular and though these terms might suggest a purely architectural approach to the topic, each period sees major changes in the uses, funding and ownership.
The Anglo-Saxon period is the least clear. Few buildings survive and many that do have been subjected to additions and restorations. The whole notion of the Parish was slow to start in England, thanks in no small part to Viking invasions and political chaos. The Normans swept away most of the owners of churches, while the founding of numerous monastic institutions saw many parishes appropriated. The Normans also rebuilt the vast majority of churches, often on entirely new sites, as well as introducing the Romanesque style across the land. The 13th century witnessed changes in liturgy and funding as well as the new Gothic Style. The Decorated period around 1300 exploded with expenditure associated with the rise of the Chantry movement, a mania that would propel major new buildings for the rest of the Middle Ages.
Not surprisingly, the Protestant Reformation with its justification by Faith saw a dramatic, and sometimes uncertain end to parish church building, leaving England with one of the most intact medieval collections of its kind in Christendom.
Learning outcomes
- Understand the economic implications of Parish Church financing and the changes that occur.
- Determine the dates of buildings from stylistic devices and developments.
- Appreciate the impact of liturgical reforms and cults in the period in art and architecture.
