Cirencester Part One - Parish Church of St. John Baptist

This post and the next will touch upon briefly the influence of the Romans and the Normans on an English town by explaining the architectural influences and development. It is part of a journey made recently in November 2005.

On the way to South Wales, we stopped overnight in the Cotswolds and proceeded to visit a former Roman town, now named Cirencester. In Roman occupied Britain, Cirencester was named Corinium* and was the second largest town after Londinium (City of London). We are still debating how to pronounce "Cirencester". Is the second 'c' silent or not? A guy we met in the church pronounced it silently. My theory is that the second 'c' is not silent, and should be pronounced similarly in "Gloucester", like an 's' rather than a 'ch'. I think 'Leicester' is pronouced with a silent 'c' because there is an 'i' before the 'c'. What do you think? (Yes, it is a pointless debate...)


The reason that led me to Cirencester was firstly due to the location en route to the M5 and South Wales, but more importantly, it has a Norman church and a museum that has an extensive collection of Roman artifacts and display. I needed to get a feel of a Norman church to complete my History of Western Architecture examples and the idea of finding more about Roman Britain was quite exciting. Do you know that Roman Architecture contributed significantly to the architectural development of the Western Church as we know it? The photo above shows a view of the clerestory windows of the Nave of Cirencester Parish Church of St. John Baptist, where we stopped for a visit.



"One of the largest parish churches in the country. The Nave was originally 12th Century, but rebuilt about 1520 and raised in height by 20 ft. at the expense of the town's merchants." (Vicar's brochure)

The brochure explained that many layers of different built form and elements were incorporated at different times from the 12th century, resulting in the church's finished form that we have now.

One of the most significant element is the Nave, which is the rectangular bit in the middle of the church, where you can find the main columns running along the sides, and the rows of pews for the congregation aligning the columns creating an aisle in the middle. However, the derivation of this "Basilica" form from the Romans, later on, created two more aisles running on both sides of the Nave, seen later in bigger churches and cathedrals, such as the Ely Cathedral. (The plan taken from the Corinium Museum exhibit below shows the "Basilica" form within the Roman town.)






In this Norman church, the arches emerged from the columns. The addition of the clerestory windows was to let in more light. Looking in closer, you can see the later development of the clerestory windows sitting on the arches, and a bit of a mismatch going on between the Norman bit and the 16th century addition, where the motifs and finishing did not quite gel smoothly. It is believed that apart from the 16th century intervention, there are several other developments later on. And you can bet on the Victorians had a go at it.



"The tower was erected in 1400 with funds taken from the rebellious Earls of Kent and Salisbury, arrested by the townspeople and executed in the market place. Built on the site of an old Roman ditch, it needed the support of flying buttresses..." (Vicar's brochure)

The photo above is a closer view of the tower taken externally, and its fortress-like expression is common with Norman churches, as the method of construction was not that advanced yet, and rather than using great spans by using arches and vaults as the Romans did earlier, the early Normans relied more on masonry construction depending on their compressive strengths.

That is why the overall effect is dark and brooding because there was a limit to having clear spans and placing more windows and openings. Although the flying buttresses came in during the 12th century, this particular building shows some mystery to the timeline dates of the building, and we could even assumed that the Nave may have been built much earlier.



The stained glass fenestration shows images of the Christian saints and possibly of St. John the Baptist, which this church dedicates to.



Decorations and motifs are less expressive in Norman churches with simple geometrical patterns, depicting nature, such as shown in the flooring.



In keeping with the Disability Discrimination Act and other such legislation of the 21st century, a wooden ramp was built into the church's North entrance.



On leaving the church through the North door, we chanced upon a huge tree, possibly fir or cypress, with a wooden seat around it, and thought of the layers of history that this town hid and revealed, and that was clearly depicted in the parish church.

Note:

* (The British town Caer Cori (now Cirencester) was doubtless a fortified position, but the succeeding Roman town, Corinium, obliterated all traces of its earlier occupation. The earthworks defending the Roman town can still be traced, and measure no less than two and a quarter miles in circumference, showing what an important and large Roman station it must have been. The Fosse Way, Ermine Street, and Ikenild Street all pass through Corinium, and another Roman road, called the White Way, runs due north.

In a work of this sort it would be out of place to enter upon a detailed description of this celebrated station, teeming with its tesselated pavements, Roman villas, and other objects of interest. They have all been so fully described elsewhere that it seems only necessary to refer the reader to the following authorities:—

See Buckman's "Corinium."
Also Atkyn's "History of Gloucestershire."
Also Rudder's "History of Gloucestershire," p343.
Also "Archaeological Journal," vol. vi, p321.
Also "Archaeologia," vol. xviii, p112.
Also "Guide to the Museum at Cirencester," by A. H. Church.) Taken from: http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Great_Britain/England/Gloucestershire/_Texts/WITGLO*/Camps.html