West Midlands Regional Research Framework for Archaeology, Seminar 5: Atkin
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Ecclesiastical Archaeology in the West Midlands
Malcolm Atkin
Worcestershire Historic Environment and Archaeology Service
matkin@worcestershire.gov.uk
Introduction
Churches are the most common surviving medieval monument and are usually the oldest
surviving building in a parish. In the detail of their dynamic development they can represent,
in microcosm, the changing settlement history. They also have an intrinsic interest in
representing changing belief and architectural style.
Unfortunately, a detailed study of church archaeology remains exceptional and limited in
scope. In particular, Rodwell (in Blair and Pyrah 1996, p. 197) has lamented the way in
which the archaeological interest has tended to be focussed on their surviving architecture,
with churchyards significant only for the way in which they seal or destroy any underlying
archaeology. The usual locally-produced church histories are largely devoid of any wider
context and the building sequence is confined to that as visible in the standing structure.
Monasteries and cathedrals have been better served. They have a local interest both direct
and indirect (in typology and development of the site itself and its effect on the surrounding
landscape and settlement pattern) but also have benefited from more long-standing national
research agendas into their type and function. Again, however, attention has tended to be
limited in scope to the plan form of the church and the immediate precinct. But the religious
establishment was not simply a spiritual body but a powerful land-owner – most clearly seen
physically in the remains of its farms or granges.
There is also an organisational issue to face. Churches in use (including Cathedrals) fall
outside the normal secular planning controls. The faculty system covers everything from the
colour of a new carpet to major building works. It is, in theory, more stringent than Listed
Building consent system and in order to preserve its jealously guarded exemption, the church
authorities recognise that they have to be seen to follow at least as good a practice as
required by the secular authorities. Each Diocese now has an archaeology advisor, plus other
advisors who serve on the Diocesan Advisory Committee. They make recommendations to
the Chancellor of the diocese on any faculty and in case of dispute the latter may call a
‘consistory court’ as the equivalent of a planning appeal. But there is a tension between
regarding the church as a historic monument and recognising that it is a working,
community, building – which may well seek to develop its form as but the latest stage in the
church development. This problem comes to the fore in seeking funding for what would be
considered necessary archaeological works (evaluation, watching brief or excavation) in any
secular context – or enforcing any infringement of the faculty process. The church authorities
have also historically exhibited a somewhat cavalier attitude to the treatment of human
remains (exempt from the normal Home Office license procedures in a functioning church
cemetery).
Research Aims
It is relatively straightforward to come up with a shopping list of research aims but more
difficult to develop a strategy to actually explore and implement these.
Examples might include:
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Identification of churches on earlier ritual or central sites
Development of the early church.
 Identification of minsters and precincts and the development of the parish system.
 Movement of church buildings within graveyards or outside
 Role of monastic sites in the development of towns (Anglo-Saxon period and in
medieval period – especially with the development of urban friaries)
Relationship of church and settlement via its precinct/graveyard and the presence of any
ancillary structures
Corpus of decoration (sculpture, painting) to establish pattern of regional styles and
workshops
Basic recording of churchyard monuments – ensuring work of specialist societies is
deposited in SMRs
Identification of sites of possible ‘lost’ churches and monastic sites (with a high potential
for research work where post-abandonment disturbance has been limited)
Better understanding of the infrastructure of monastic sites (service buildings, water
supply etc)
A better overall understanding of the monastic landscape, including the network of
granges etc
This brief summary focuses on the basic approach that we might take in furthering a research
strategy. The final text will provide more background on the topics themselves.
A Research Strategy
A fundamental point to consider is whether we attempt to create a sophisticated research
agenda that is, in fact, not deliverable in the current expectation of the type of work that will
be undertaken - or alternatively that we focus on ‘winnable’ results. There may be a three
stage strategy.
 Baseline Survey of existing information
 Development-led investigation
 Research Projects
Although there is some scope for an opportunist approach when dealing with churches we
have to recognise that development-led work in this area is likely to continue to be very
piecemeal and minimal, focusing on basic questions such as presence/absence/depth of
remains. Research aims are likely to only be properly delivered through a pure research
programme.
1. Baseline Survey and Characterisation
The primary aim at this time is to provide a consistent baseline of information (beyond that
provided by the Listing – brief and based entirely on the evidence of the standing structure)
on which to develop research strategies that are something more than simply looking for
presence/absence of remains.
 Provide a consistent architectural/archaeological desk-based record of churches for
SMRs and parish/diocesan authorities. This should form part of the ‘Statement of
Significance’ as required in church architects’ quinquennial reviews. It should include a
summary of research aims for each church, within a county and regional framework.
 Establish a basic archaeological characterisation for each site, including deposit
modelling
The need for this work is shown in the current SMR plots where there are blatant
inconsistencies in what has been recorded. This is not meant as a criticism of those working
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in SMRs but simply reflects a situation where SMR work has been poorly funded and it is
currently easier to get money for secondary add-ons (i.e. web development) than it is to clean
existing data and remove back-logs. Within the Research Frameworks process generally,
this is the single, most effective piece of work that English Heritage could fund. To digress
slightly, I think we should look over our shoulders to the work of MLA Agency and
Re:Source in funding strategic work in the Museums and Archives area. English Heritage
(and therefore Archaeology) is in real danger of becoming marginalised.
Such work should aim to provide a clear research framework for each church, within a wider
county and regional research framework. Each church should have a statement of
significance prepared as part of its quinquennial architectural review. As best practice, it
should include photographic/drawn elevations as well as the traditional ground plan
development. It should also include a graveyard plan. Without easy access to such
information, archaeologists will continue to be left to make recommendations on faculty
applications on the basis of inconsistent notes and the summaries in the ‘Pevsner’ series.
The second stage of the proposed baseline survey is to provide a basic site characterisation.
This may provide the initial justification for observation of service trenches etc where a
defined aim may be to establish the basic deposit modelling and topography of the site.
On a limited scale, the rapid survey by Herefordshire Archaeology in 2000 to review the
evidence for early Christian activity in Herefordshire may serve as an example of the
process. This included the identification of possible associations of churches with RomanoBritish villas and glebe land, possible monastic sites (Llanveynoe and Bredwardine) and later
Saxon work at Whitchurch. On a larger scale, a model for undertaking this work may be the
Welsh Survey of c.1,000 churches funded by CADW from 1995–9. This produced individual
site reports and regional surveys.
This work cannot be carried out by archaeologists in isolation. It must encompass
architectural historians and documentary historians. It also needs to incorporate the work of
specialist societies whose work is not easily disseminated. The Church Monuments Society,
as a principle, do not circulate details of their reports for fear of encouraging theft in
churches but a copy should be in the SMR as well as the local Record Office.
2. Development-led Recording
Most work on churches in the region is on a small scale, typically watching briefs on service
trenches. Small-scale work in churches can provide valuable local information as regards
depth of deposits and location of floor levels, etc., but a great deal of recording of narrow,
shallow trenches in graveyards has been of minimal value. We have to look outside the
region for the classic examples of church archaeology – St Benedicts in Norwich for a
complete urban church excavation, Wharram Percy in Yorkshire for complete excavation of
village church and graveyard, Rivenhall and Hadstock in Essex for work in a living church.
The larger ecclesiastical structures have seen most work. There has been a regular, on-going
programme of recording in Worcester Cathedral, which has its own archaeologist and has
provided a valuable symposium on discoveries since 1991, and there have been major
projects on the monastic sites including Coventry, Hulton Abbey in Staffordshire, Sandwell
Priory in the Black Country and Bridgnorth in Shropshire.
One of the common threats is the rising demand for internal toilets and extensions. The
Disabilities legislation will further this even more and some Cathedrals, especially, are
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throwing themselves enthusiastically into ideas of cutting new entrances and levelling floors.
There is also a great pressure on re-ordering the interiors to make them more suitable to
contemporary liturgy and we must be careful that significant furnishings are not overlooked.
Medieval wall paintings continue to be discovered accidentally. One of the focal points of
division before the Civil War was the presence of altar rails and they remain a physical
reminder of that period in a number of churches. This is not to say that any proposals for
change should be rejected out of hand – rather to say that the implications towards the
historic structure should be considered on the best possible evidence (as would be expected
in a secular planning application).
It is important that clear objectives are set for any piece of investigation. If we are to
continue to record service trenches in graveyards then it is important that this should be for a
specific purpose – establishing depth of deposits as part of general site characterisation or for
the location of suspected earlier foundations or ancillary structures. They should not simply
be mechanical processes undertaken simply because we like to look down holes! Without
this clarity, it makes it more difficult to convince a parish that they should be funding other
pieces of work where we do have a greater expectation of results.
Small-scale work can reveal significant finds if they are targeted as part of a research agenda.
At Dodderhill, a clear research goal in observing building work on a new extension was to
seek information to prove/disprove the presence of a minster. This was suggested by the
discovery of early foundations on a different alignment from the medieval church.
3. Research Projects
Work in churches will continue to be piecemeal and there is a need to provide a solid
context. The work in Herefordshire in 2000 and the CADW project in establishing baseline
information has already been referred to.
Research projects to date have been mainly concerned with monastic sites. The long-running
work at Bordesley, Worcestershire, has been particularly valuable in considering the abbey
as part of an economic network, with a major effect on the landscape of the Arrow valley
(Astill 1993). Excavation at Hulton also revealed 80 graves and such cemeteries are
important for the direct study of the medieval population.
I would suggest that there is also a need for a regional research project to completely
excavate a suitable church, which will provide a type site against which the more piecemeal
information can be assessed. The sequence at Wharram Percy, linking below ground and
above ground evidence is something to aspire to. If redundant and in a suitable location, the
church may provide the basis for a permanent interpretation centre. I illustrate this point
with a view of the redundant church at Pendock, Worcestershire. This is a possible Saxon
minster in a parish where there has already been considerable work undertaken by Chris
Dyer.
I have only mentioned burials in passing. Issues surrounding the excavation of human
remains in churchyards are currently the subject of a national review. Excavation is not to be
undertaken lightly. Disturbance has to be justified and subject to a clear research design.
But it is important to be able to record a sample of the medieval population for its own
academic value (chronology of development, health) and to provide comparative material for
other periods.
Although this paper is concerned with the medieval period it is worth pointing out that a
strategy for church archaeology must include the post-medieval period. The re-use of
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buildings at the dissolution and the re-distribution of monastic building material, continuing
liturgical development (i.e. protectorate churches) and the building of non-conformist
chapels are of considerable interest and importance. We must also not forget buildings of
other faiths such as the early development of synagogues.
This paper has barely scratched the surface of the topic. The church was the centre of
medieval life and it should surely occupy a key part of any strategy dealing with the period.
We can, however, only engage with this with an injection of substantial central funding both
to support and extend the on-going recording of development and in the creation of a full
research programme.
Bibliography
Astill G. G. 1993. A medieval industrial complex and its landscape: the metalworking
watermills and workshops of Bordesley Abbey, Council for British Archaeology Research
Reports 92, York.
Aston, M. 2000. Monasteries in the Landscape (Stroud, Tempus,)
Blair J and Pyrah C (eds), 1996. Church Archaeology: Research directions for the future
(CBA Research Report 104)
Hirst S. M., Walsh D. A. and Wright S. M. 1983 Bordesley Abbey II. Second report on
excavations at Bordesley Abbey, Redditch, Hereford-Worcestershire, British Archaeological
Reports 111, Oxford.
Morris, R., 1997. Churches in the Landscape (London, J. M. Dent, 1989, reprinted Phoenix,)
Rahtz. P.A. and S. M. Hirst, S.M 1976. Bordesley Abbey, Redditch, HerefordWorcestershire. First report on excavations 1969—1973, (British Archaeological Reports 23,
Oxford)
Rodwell, W. 1989. The English Heritage Book of Church Archaeology (English Heritage)
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