Aims
This course aims to:
• demonstrate the effect of English religious and social history on the parish church
• outline the development of parish church architecture
• unveil the wide range of first-class art and sculpture that can be discovered in parish churches
Content
Beginning as a means of distributing the Christian sacraments throughout the country, the ecclesiastical parish became the basic unit of secular government. The church was an earthbound version of Heaven, a dignified place for worship, the focal point of most communities and a demonstration of their status. For much of the Middle Ages, it was a community’s only public stone building and its scale, fittings and furnishings set it apart from most people’s homes. Architectural styles responded to available (and affordable) materials and skills and the best material culture that the parishioners could provide for the honour of God catered to the beliefs and needs of worshippers.
The Reformation brought two chaotic decades of destruction before Protestant stability under the Elizabethan Settlement. Another swing in religious practice in the 1620s contributed to further losses in the Civil War, so physical evidence for these centuries is now fragmentary, but written and visual sources can help to understand what happened. The disastrous Great Fire of London of 1666 had the beneficial effect of codifying the architecture and furnishing of new classical churches, but also reinforced the prevailing class system.
The 19th century brought huge reforms with the rise of Tractarian ecclesiology which launched a country-wide restoration movement, sweeping away the classical and unworthy to return the parish church to a version of its medieval form. The wealth and expansion of the population entailed building many new churches that, benefiting from intensive study of medieval art and architecture, used many different styles. The re-instatement of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy in 1850 created another parish system with over 3000 new churches built in England.
The 20th century and particularly the two world wars brought about a democratisation of worship that has had a radical effect on parish church interiors. The recent steep decline in affiliation to formal religion poses many challenges for these historic buildings. Their future, especially in rural areas, is uncertain. Nevertheless, they still contain much of the nation’s best art and sculpture, but who’s responsibility is it now to maintain them?
Presentation of the course
The course will be taught with slide presentations, perhaps a short video or two and for the later centuries at least, some contemporary written accounts. Questions and discussion will be encouraged.
Course sessions
1. Getting going 600-1200
How were parish and their churches established and who by? The earliest surviving buildings seem small and dark but begin to grow in size after the Norman Conquest in 1066 and impressive schemes of decoration become more common.
2. Expansion 1200-1500
It was not the slowly rising population, but new functions and forms of worship that required the expansion of churches. The use of bar tracery and higher masonry standards enabled the evolution of what we know now as the Decorated and Perpendicular Gothic styles.
3. The glories of the late medieval church 1500-1540
Wealth and piety combine to encourage decoration, glazing and furnishing within large architectural masterpieces. Personal devotion and awareness of family status also encourage commemorative funerary sculpture.
4. Reformation and Protestantism 1540-1800
The break from Rome and consequent introduction of Protestantism caused major changes in both the management and appearance of the parish church. Matters only really settled down after the 1660 Restoration when churches became galleried preaching boxes and new buildings took on a classical guise.
5. Yesterday and Today 1800-2025
Church reform was underway before the mid-19th century Tractarians promoted a return to medieval styles of worship and architecture, often removing the evidence of recent centuries. The 1930s saw new buildings using concrete and the development of radical new forms of Modernist architecture. The Liturgical Movement promoted new types of worship after World War II and the introduction of new uses has entailed some radical re-orderings. But a decline in attendance has brought new challenges.
Learning outcomes
You are expected to gain from this series of classroom sessions a greater understanding of the subject and of the core issues and arguments central to the course.
The learning outcomes for this course are:
• the ability to distinguish the main architectural styles seen in English parish churches
• an understanding of the principal forms of worship and how they affected the layout of English parish churches over the centuries
• recognition of the use of material culture in worship and for personal commemoration
