History and Architecture
of England
Ancient Greece and Rome
Classical Greece was a 200 year period lasting from the 5th century BC to the 4th
century AD. The period is thought to have ended with the death of Alexander
the Great in 323 BC. It is during that period in history that philosophers such as
Plato and Aristotle lived, and buildings such as the Parthenon were
constructed.
BC 438
Classical Greece had a powerful influence on the Roman Empire and greatly
influenced western civilization. Much of modern Western politics, architecture,
scientific thought, literature, and philosophy comes from this period of Greek
history.
During the first and second centuries AD, the Roman Empire expanded from
Italy to become one of the largest empires of the Ancient World. In 43AD the
Romans successfully invaded Britain and it is still possible to see today the
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remains of Roman roads, baths, heating systems and mosaics. The Romans did
not settle in Oxford however.
Roman Baths
Ancient Roman society has contributed to modern government, law, politics,
engineering, art, literature, architecture, technology, warfare, religion, language
and society. The Romans brought new ideas to architecture such as the
rounded arch, the dome and the use of mortar. Buildings such as the
Colosseum and the Pantheon come from this period.
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Colosseum 70AD
Pantheon AD 126
The Roman Empire broke up after it was weakened by political divisions and by
invasions from Germanic tribes from the north. The break up of the Roman
Empire was followed by the period known as the Middle Ages.
The Middle Ages
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During the period that the Roman Empire was in decline, the Anglo-Saxons
invaded England. They built a town at Oxford because, situated at the
confluence of two rivers, it was an easy site to defend. The street pattern that
exists in central Oxford is Saxon, and the tower of the church of St Michael’s is
Saxon.
St Michaels Church
By the middle of the 11th century Oxford was one of the more important
provincial towns in England, having a population of 4,500. It ranked alongside
Winchester and Lincoln, but was smaller than York or Norwich.
In 1066 England was invaded by the Normans who came from Normandy in
northern France. Oxford Castle was built by the Normans in 1071 and today it
is still possible to see the Castle mound and St Georges Tower.
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St George’s Tower
The Normans brought with them a type of architecture known as Romanesque.
This style had rounded arches in the same way as the Roman style, and thick
columns. A common pattern around the arches was the “chevron” pattern, and
this may be seen in some of the Norman buildings. St Frideswide Monastery
was built during this period, in 1122.
Doorway Christ Church
In 1155 Henry II granted Oxford a charter to govern its own affairs.
In the Middle Ages the Church and the monarchy were very powerful. There
was one Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and people believed everything
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the Church told them. The Church said that the earth was flat and that the earth
was the centre of the universe. Many people gave huge sums of money to the
Church so that priests would pray for their souls after they died. The
interiors of the churches were very colourful, with stained glass windows and
decorated walls.
The king was also very powerful. Kings believed that they were appointed by
God and that they should be always obeyed.
Oxford University was founded in the Middle Ages. Teaching was taking place
in Oxford in the 12th century and by the early 13th century there were about 250
students and 70 teachers. In 1214 we see the appointment of a Chancellor and
this marked the recognition of the University as a self-governing corporate
body. The main purpose of the University was to train people to enter the
Church and this is one reason why the college chapels were so big and splendid.
The style of architecture was Gothic, and thus we see the making of Matthew
Arnold’s “City of dreaming spires”.
The Gothic style passed through three phases, Early English, Decorated and
Perpendicular style. As this style developed, the windows became wider and
thus the area of wall smaller. The wall was no longer strong enough to hold up
the roof, so this was now supported by columns strengthened by buttresses.
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St Mary’s Church
St Mary’s Church is built in the Gothic style. It was a very important building
because this is where Oxford university started in the 13th century.
Many Oxford colleges were built in the Perpendicular style. We see the
appearance of battlements, crocketed pinnacles and Oriel windows. Merton
College, New College and Magdalen College Oxford are excellent examples of
this style.
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New College
Magdalen College
The Renaissance
However during the Renaissance in the 15th and 16th centuries man made many
important discoveries. Man began to think for himself and discovered that the
world was not flat. Copernicus realised that the earth was not the centre of the
universe but was just a small part of a solar system. Man came to be regarded as
more important and this is seen in paintings, where ordinary people, not
religious scenes, became the subject of the painting. People also began to think
back to Ancient Greece and Rome because they believed that the art and
architecture of that period had achieved perfect beauty.
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In the 15th century in Rome, a book of architecture, De Architectura, was
discovered. The book dated from the first century BC and was written by a
Roman architect by the name of Vitruvius. The descriptions that he gave of
Roman buildings became very popular and these revived an interest in Greek
and Roman architecture. Two architects who took a great interest in the work
of Vitruvius were Brunelleschi and Bramante and their buildings did a lot to
promote Roman architecture.
Bramante’s Tempietto 1502
However Italian ideas took a long time to reach England, because in 1534
Henry VIII rejected the authority of the Pope because the Pope would not
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grant him a divorce from Catherine of Aragon. In fact many changes were to
take place in England before Renaissance ideas began to affect architecture.
Although Henry rejected the authority of the Pope England remained a Catholic
country.
In the reign of Edward VI (1547 – 53) England did become a Protestant
country, but Mary Tudor ( 1553 – 58) changed the religion once again and
England became a Catholic country again . In Oxford two Protestant bishops,
Latimer and Ridley, and Archbishop Cranmer were executed for being
Protestants. They were tried in St Mary’s Church and executed in Broad Street.
There is a cross in the road in Broad Street which shows the place where the
three men were executed.
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Martyrs Memorial 1843
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There is a memorial to the Oxford Martyrs in Oxford in St Giles. This was
designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott and completed in 1843.
In the reign of Elizabeth I (1558 – 1603) the Church of England was created.
This was a Protestant Church but it still contained some Catholic features. The
religion established by Elizabeth I has survived until the present day. Religion
however has continued to be an important issue and, occasionally, as in the
middle of the 19th century has been the subject of much controversy, especially
in Oxford.
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