Editing Anglo-Saxon architecture (section)

==Houses and other secular buildings==
[[File:Anglo-Saxon hall1.png|thumb|Reconstruction of an Anglo-Saxon hall from c. 1000 AD at [[Wychurst]], Kent]]

Anglo-Saxon secular buildings were normally rectangular post-built structures, where timber posts were driven into the ground to form the framework of the walls upon which the thatched roofs were constructed.  Only ten of the hundreds of settlement sites that have been excavated in England from this period have revealed masonry domestic structures and confined to a few quite specific contexts. The usual explanation for the tendency of Anglo–Saxons to build in timber is one of technological inferiority or incompetence. However it is now accepted that technology and materials were part of conscious choices indivisible from their social meaning. Le Goff suggests that the Anglo-Saxon period was defined by its use of wood,<ref>Le Goff, J. (1988), Medieval Civilization 400–1500 (Oxford: Blackwell):203</ref> providing evidence for the care and craftsmanship that the Anglo–Saxon invested into their wooden material culture, from cups to halls, and the concern for trees and timber in Anglo–Saxon place–names, literature and religion.<ref>Bintley, Michael DJ, and Michael G. Shapland, eds. Trees and Timber in the Anglo-Saxon World. Oxford University Press, 2013</ref> Michael Shapland suggests:

{{blockquote|The stone buildings imposed on England by the Romans would have been 'startling' and 'exceptional', and following the collapse of Roman society in the fifth century there was a widespread return to timber building, a 'cultural shift' that it is not possible to explain by recourse to technological determinism.<ref>Shapland, Michael G. "Meanings of Timber and Stone in Anglo-Saxon Building Practice." Trees and Timber in the Anglo-Saxon World (2013): 21.</ref>}}

Anglo–Saxon building forms were very much part of this general building tradition. Timber was 'the natural building medium of the age':<ref>Turner, H. L. (1970), Town Defences in England and Wales: An Architectural and Documentary Study A. D. 900–1500 (London: John Baker)</ref> the very Anglo–Saxon word for 'building' is 'timbe'. Unlike in the Carolingian world, late Anglo–Saxon royal halls continued to be of timber in the manner of Yeavering centuries before, even though the king could clearly have mustered the resources to build in stone.<ref>Higham, R. and Barker, P. (1992), Timber Castles (London: B. T. Batsford):193</ref> Their preference must have been a conscious choice, perhaps an expression of 'deeply–embedded Germanic identity' on the part of the Anglo–Saxon royalty.

[[File:Butser Ancient Farm Saxon Hall with re-enactor .jpg|thumb|Anglo-Saxon house reconstruction at [[Butser Ancient Farm]], Hampshire, 6th-8th century]]

Though very little contemporary evidence survives, methods of construction, including examples of later buildings, can be compared with methods on the continent.  The major rural buildings were sunken-floor (''Grubenhäuser'') or post-hole buildings, although Helena Hamerow suggest this distinction is less clear.<ref>Hamerow, Helena. Early medieval settlements: the archaeology of rural communities in Northwest Europe, 400–900. Oxford University Press, 2004.</ref> An excavated example is at [[Mucking (archaeological site)|Mucking]] in [[Essex]]. In addition to the sunken huts, vernacular buildings from the migration period found at Mucking included more substantial halls up to {{convert|50 |ft|m}} long and {{convert|25 |ft|m}} wide with entrances in the middle of both longer sides.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thurrock.gov.uk/heritage/content.php?page=factfiles_details&id=3|title=Thurrock Heritage factfile|website=thurrock.gov.uk|access-date=1 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608220243/http://www.thurrock.gov.uk/heritage/content.php?page=factfiles_details&id=3|archive-date=8 June 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Even the elite had simple buildings, with a central fire and a hole in the roof to let the smoke escape and the largest of which rarely had more than one floor, and one room. Buildings vary widely in size, most were square or rectangular, though some round houses have been found. Frequently these buildings have sunken floors; a shallow pit over which a plank floor was suspended. The pit may have been used for storage, but more likely was filled with straw for winter insulation. A variation on the sunken floor design is found in towns, where the "basement" may be as deep as nine feet, suggesting a storage or work area below a suspended floor. Another common design was simple post framing, with heavy posts set directly into the ground, supporting the roof. The space between the posts was filled in with [[wattle and daub]], or occasionally, planks. The floors were generally packed earth, though planks were sometimes used. Roofing materials varied, with thatch being the most common, though turf and even wooden shingles were also used.<ref>Hamerow</ref>

The most archaeologically striking example of a royal palace is found at [[Yeavering]] (Northumbria). Excavated by Hope-Taylor, the 1977 site report illustrates a complex set of wooden halls, axially aligned.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hope-Taylor |title=Yeavering: An Anglo-British centre of early Northumbria |publisher=? |url=https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archives/view/eh_monographs_2014/contents.cfm?mono=1089377}}</ref> However, John Blair has made clear that, from c. 600 to c. 900, elite settlements are archaeologically invisible.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Blair |first1=John |title=The Making of the English House: Domestic Planning, 900-1150 |journal=Anglo-Saxon Studies in Archaeology and History |date=2015 |volume=19 |issue=1 |page=184}}</ref> From the mid-10th century onwards, a unique [[architectural form]] emerges at high-status thegnly sites – the Long Range. Comprising a combined hall and chambers, these are understood to represent a deliberate set of performative symbols of power and status put in play by the newly powerful thegnly class.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gardiner |title=Manorial Farmsteads and the Expression of Lordship Before and After the Norman Conquest |date=2018 |page=94}}</ref>

During the 9th and 10th centuries, fortifications ([[burh]]s) were constructed around towns to defend against Viking attacks. Almost no secular work remains above ground, although the [[Anglian Tower, York|Anglian Tower]] in York has been controversially dated to the 7th century. Recent evidence opens up the possibility that [[St George's Tower]], Oxford, may be a surviving part of the defences surrounding the Anglo-Saxon burh of Oxford.<ref name=":0" /> There is a reconstruction of an Anglo-Saxon settlement at [[West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village|West Stow]] in [[Suffolk]], and contemporary illustrations of both secular and religious buildings are sometimes found in [[illuminated manuscript]]s.