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Medieval architecture bibliography

General Churches Specific periods Building methods Domestic architecture Vernacular building Woodwork Specific buildings or areas
	Fontevraud Abbey, France. Burial place of four of the Plantagenets

There are numerous books on medieval architecture. Among the best visual summaries is still the text-figures to be found in:

• Banister Fletcher, History of Architecture, (sections on the Romanesque and the Gothic). This book has gone through numerous editions. The drawings are carried through most of them.

For one of many general books:

• J.Harvey The Master Builders. Architecture in the Middle Ages, Thames & Hudson, London 1973.

For more detailed treatment:

• G.Webb, Architecture in Britain. The Middle Ages, Pelican History of Art. First published in 1956 and appearing in various formats thereafter.

For a combined architectural and social approach:

• C.Platt, The architecture of Medieval Britain. A social history, Yale Univ. Press, New Haven & London 1990.

For a look at how modern architectural historians dissect a building:

• Francis Woodman, The Architectural History of Canterbury Cathedral, RKP, London 1981.
• John James, The Contractors of Chartres, 2 vols, Wyong 1981. This is a very complex and detailed work. For most purposes, James work is more accessible in:
• John James, The Master Masons of Chartres, W.Grinstead Publishing, Sydney, 1990. This appears to be a reprint of Chartres - the masons who built a legend, RKP, London 1982.

The best general book on the interaction of architecture and archaeology is

• W.Rodwell, Church Archaeology, Batsford/English Heritage, London 1989 - particularly Chapters 5-6.

A useful general work by a historian drawing in a far greater range of buildings than most architectural histories is:

• M.Barley Houses and History, Faber, London 1986

Churches

Essential reading for the understanding of archaeology as applied to church buildings is Rodwell 1969 (as above):

• Warwick Rodwell, Church Archaeology, Batsford/English Heritage, London 1989. This is a revised edition of The Archaeology of the English Church, London 1980.

Also of interest:

• Warwick Rodwell, James Bentley, Our Christian Heritage, George Philip, London 1984.
• T.Tatton Brown, Great Cathedrals of Britain, BBC, London 1989. A chronological treatment, well illustrated.
• Richard Morris, Cathedrals and Abbeys of England and Wales, Dent, London 1979. The 'how' and 'why' of church building with a useful gazeteer (with plans).
• Richard Morris, Churches in the Landscape, Dent, London 1989. This looks mainly at parish churches in their setting from the beginning to the 19th century but is not an architectural work.
• C.Platt, The Abbeys & Priories of Medieval England, Secker & Warburg, 1984, reprinted Chancellor, London 1995.
• C.Platt, The Parish Churches of Medieval England, Secker & Warburg, 1981, reprinted Chancellor, London, 1995.

For a general work on Cathedrals:

• C.Wilson, The Gothic Cathedral. Architecture of the Great Church 1130-1530, Thames & Hudson, London 1990.

Specific periods

For the classic treatment of the Romanesque:

• Sir Alfred Clapham, English Romanesque Architecture. Vol.2. After the Conquest. OUP, 1934 (reprinted 1964).

Gothic:

• C.Stewart Gothic Architecture, Simpson's History of Architectural Development Vol.III. Revised Edition, Longmans, London 1961. A revision of an earlier and much used architectural history.

For extensively illustrated reviews of the Romanesque and Gothic styles in art generally:

• R.Toman (Ed.) Romanesque, Könemann, Köln, 1997. The Art of Gothic, Könemann, Köln, 1999
• V.Minne-Sève, H.Kergall, Romanesque and Gothic France, architecture and sculpture, English translation, Abrams, New York 200.

• J.Gimpel The Cathedral Builders, Michael Russell, Wilton, Salisbury, 1983. An English translation of a French work with particularly worthwhile illustrations.
• E.M.Jope(Ed.) Studies in Building History, Odhams, London 1961. A series of essays which include items on window glass, chimney pots and Inns.

On the re-use of Roman stonework and its possible significance:

• T.Eaton Plundering the past. Roman stonework in Medieval Britain, Tempus, Stroud 2000.

• M.Wood The English Medieval House. Originally published London 1961 but there are several more recent reprints.
• M.Wood Thirteenth-Century Domestic Architecture in England, Supplement to Vol.105 of Archaeological Journal, London 1950.
• M.Wood Norman Domestic Architecture, Royal Archaeological Institute, London 1974 (a revised version of an article in Archaeological Journal, 92 for 1935).
• G.Meirion-Jones, M.Jones Manorial Domestic Buildings in England and Northern France, Society of Antiquaries of London, Occasional Papers no.15, London 1993. Conference papers.

Vernacular building

• R.W.Brunskill Traditional Buildings of Britain. An Introduction to Vernacular Architecture, Gollanz, London 1981.
• R.W.Brunskill Timber Building in Britain, revised edition, Gollanz, London 1994.
• R.Brunskill, A.Clifton Taylor Brickwork, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York & London 1977 (paperback 1972).
• R.W.Brunskill Traditional Farm Buildings of Britain, new enlarged edition, Gollanz, London 1982.

Woodwork

Wooden buildings will mainly appear in books on domestic or vernacular architecture. For a detailed study of medieval woodwork:

• Cecil A.Hewitt, English Historic Carpentry, Chichester 1980.
• Cecil A.Hewitt, English Cathedral and Monastic Carpentry, Chichester 1981.

Specific buildings or areas

For specific buildings or areas, the best starting point is often the relevant volume in:

• N.Pevsner, The Buildings of England series (Penguin). These are aranged by English county. Most of the original Pevsner volumes have now been revised by co-authors. Parallel series on the Buildings of Wales and Scotland are in progress by other authors.

For detailed treatment of specific buildings, the best source is the various county inventories published by the Royal Commission on Ancient & Historical Monuments and its Welsh and Scottish counterparts. These are, however, far from complete for all counties and some volumes are of some antiquity. More recent publications by the Royal Commissions have tended to concentrate on specific subjects. Of relevance here are a trio on the buildings of Kent:

• P.S.Barnwell, A.T.Adams, The House Within. Interpreting Medieval Houses in Kent, RCHME, London 1994.
• S.Pearson, The Medieval Houses of Kent: An Historical Analysis, RCHME, London 1994.
• S.Pearson, P.S.Barnwell, A.T.Adams, A Gazeteer of Medieval Houses in Kent, RCHME, London 1994.

Also:

• J.T.Smith, English Houses 1200-1800, RCHME, London 1992.
• P.Smith, Houses of the Welsh Countryside, RCAHMW, Cardiff 1975.

Last modified: 26/03/2003