Costume -- Great Britain -- History; Great Britain -- History; Great Britain -- History -- Pictorial works
(Fig. 1): The Anglo-Saxon tower of Earl’s Barton Church,
Northants. At the angles, there are “quoins,” or
corner-stones, formed of long stones set upright, alternately
with others laid horizontally, and technically known as
“long and short work.” The surface of the walls is also
divided up by “pilaster strips,” which are an imitation in
stone of wooden construction, and are evidently intended
to bind together the rude masonry of the walls. It is “the
design of a carpenter executed by a mason.” The parapet is
comparatively recent in construction. (Fig. 2): Tower arch of
Anglo-Saxon character at Barnack, Northants. Barnack was one
of the places where the old church was burnt by the Danes, in
their raid through that part of the country, and rebuilt by
order of Canute after the settlement of the Danes. The impost
mouldings (_b_) appear to have been suggested by a pile of
boards overlapping. (Fig. 3): An enlargement of the belfry
window (_a_, Fig. 1). Double windows are usually round-headed
or triangular-headed. The lights or single windows are not
separated by a stone moulding, but by a kind of shaft or
“baluster,” set in the middle of the wall, and supporting the
impost. (Fig. 4): Belfry window in the tower of Deerhurst
Church (1050 A.D.). The windows are triangular-headed, the
head being formed of two straight stones placed obliquely,
and meeting at a point. (Fig. 5): A window at Caversfield,
Bucks, with small opening and very wide “splay.” This window
is splayed, or widened out, both outside and inside, the
window itself being set in the middle of the wall, so that the
wicker-work or oiled parchment, that did duty as a glass, was
protected from the weather. (Fig. 6): Section of Anglo-Saxon
wall, which consisted of two rows of fairly regular stones,
the intervening space being filled with irregularly shaped
stones, embedded in mortar, the latter comprising nearly half
the substance of the wall. The layer of stones in the interior
of the building was generally plastered over. (Fig. 7): An
Anglo-Saxon triangular-headed doorway. (Figs. 8, 9 and 10):
Different forms of Anglo-Saxon balusters.]
SAXON CUSTOMS.
At meal-times the company sat down in the hall, the master, mistress,
and honoured guests taking their places at a “high” table placed on a
dais at the upper end of the apartment. Dinner was generally served
either at noon or at about 3 o’clock in the afternoon.
The walls were decorated with coloured and embroidered curtains, for
English ladies and their maidens were famed for their skill with the
needle in embroidery and decorative needlework. The tables consisted of
boards laid upon trestles, which could be easily removed when, the meal
being over, the ladies retired to the bower and the men settled down to
drinking.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account