I followed up my curiosity about why churches with round towers are unusual, and found that they are particularly unusual outside of East Anglia. Welford's St Gregory's Church would be one of only 12 such churches outside of East Anglia. The round tower is Norman believed to have been built on Saxon foundations.
Where there is a lack of conventional stone, walls were made of flint. To make the corners strong, they would need to bring in stone from a distance, making it expensive. The solution was to make round towers. When a congregation could afford it, they would upgrade the tower to the square style, which carried much more prestige. This is another reason why round towers are so rare, and also why they tend to be found hidden in small country areas.
Monday, 2 March 2009
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2 comments:
Proficiat met het resultaat van je opzoeking. We vinden het heeeel interressant. Peip denkt dat het ook verband heeft met les "églises fortifiées" in Frankijk, dat we bezochten met Verhoestr. op onze terugreis van Normée.
Meim en Peip
Inderdaad, nu je het zegt, is de toren op de foto van de blog rond!
En bedankt voor de reactie op mijn blog!daaag!
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