The Corpus Publications

There are 12 volumes published to date of the Corpus of Anglo-Saxon stone sculpture. Each volume consists of a full illustrated catalogue of all known sculpture in the named region (defined according to pre-1974 English county boundaries). As well as providing consistent data and an informed analysis of the sculpture itself, each volume also includes several specialist chapters covering subjects such as the form and distribution of motifs, historical background and regional geology. Volumes I-V are currently available online. Vol VI will follow in due course. Chapters for these volumes, along with copies of the in-text images, are available by volume below.

Volume I - County Durham and Northumberland

This is the heartland of the old Northumbrian kingdom of Bernicia. The sculpture reflects the changing fortunes of this area, from the monastic colonization in the late 7th century, when important centres such as Lindisfarne, Hexham, Wearmouth and Jarrow were established, through the zenith of its cultural flowering in the 8th, when Anglo-Saxon carvers produced monuments of a quality scarcely matched in Europe, to subsequent decline.

The catalogue for County Durham and Northumberland
The Grammar of Anglo-Saxon Stone Sculpture
Chapter 1: Historical Background to the Sculpture
Chapter 2: Sequence of Forms
Chapter 3: Circumstances of Production
Chapter 4: Sequence of Ornament
Chapter 5: Chronology and Schools of Carving

All figures, maps and tables printed in Volume I, as they appear in the chapters listed above.

Volume II - Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire-North-of-the-Sands

Early medieval Cumbria remains in many ways an enigma: it is rarely mentioned in documentary sources; and settlement sites of the period continue to elude the archaeologist. For the principal visible evidence of human activity in the area in the Dark Ages, one must turn to the series of stone sculptures, which have here been systematically collected and made fully accessible in print for the first time.

In addition to the catalogue of stone sculpture of this area, we also make available the published specialised chapters on a range of subjects.

The catalogue for Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire-North-of-the-Sands
Preface to the original printed volume
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1: Earlier Research
Chapter 2: Historical Background to the Sculpture
Chapter 3: Regional Geology
Chapter 4: The Topography and Distribution of Anglian-Period Sculptures
Chapter 5: Anglian-Period Forms
Chapter 6: Anglian-Period Ornament
Chapter 7: The Bewcastle Cross and its Context
Chapter 8: The Anglian Period Summarised
Chapter 9: The Chronology of Viking-Period Sculptures
Chapter 10: Numbers and Distribution of Viking-Period Sculptures
Chapter 11: Viking-Period Forms
Chapter 12: Schools of Viking-Period Sculpture
Chapter 13: Late Developments
Bibliography

Vol III - York and Eastern Yorkshire

The quantity and range of carvings revealed by recent excavations at York have transformed our appreciation of the sculpture from this major medieval centre. The third volume in the series provides a comprehensive photographic record of the region's sculpture, along with a detailed description of each stone and chapters that set the historical context. Many pieces are published for the first time, including a remarkable series of slabs discovered in situ in the Minster cemetery.

The carvings speak of a fusion of cultural impulses over a period when York was the political and economic focus of renewed settlement. The continuity of Anglian traditions through the period of Viking domination is clearly demonstrated. Local workshops have been identified, stylistically and by cutting techniques; even the work of individual carvers can be detected.

John Senior's geological analysis demonstrates extensive reuse of Roman building materials. Analysis of the inscriptions is provided by Raymond Page and John Higgitt.

The late James Lang held the post of Inspector of Ancient Monuments, English Heritage.

The catalogue for York and Eastern Yorkshire
Preface to the original printed volume
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1: Earlier Research
Chapter 2: Historical Background to the Sculpture
Chapter 3: Regional Geology
Chapter 4: The Topography and Distribution of Anglian-Period Sculptures
Chapter 5: Anglian-Period Forms
Chapter 6: Anglian-Period Ornament
Chapter 7: The Topography and Distribution of Anglo-Scandinavian-Period Sculptures
Chapter 8: Anglo-Scandinavian-Period Forms
Chapter 9: Anglo-Scandinavian-Period Ornament
Chapter 10: Schools of Anglo-Scandinavian-Period Carving
Chapter 11: The Late Tenth and Eleventh Centuries
Chapter 12: The Non-Runic Inscriptions
Chapter 13: Techniques of Production of the Monuments
Bibliography

Vol IV - South East England

The Reculver cross from Kent and the large collection of sculpture from the important excavations at Winchester Old Minster are among many masterpieces reviewed in detail here, with many of the pieces being published for the first time.

The significance of the material, in European terms, is that it displayed a flowering of pre-Romanesque art in the tenth and eleventh centuries, not only in the well-known Winchester Style of ornament but in architectural development.

The important increase in the scale and variety of later monuments is demonstrated here in architectural sculpture, monumental inscriptions and even the mass-produced grave covers.

The catalogue for York and Eastern Yorkshire.
Preface to the original printed volume
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1: Earlier research, by D. Tweddle
Chapter 2: Historical background to the sculpture, by H. R. Loyn
Chapter 3: Regional geology, by B. C. Worssam
Chapter 4: Classification of forms, by D. Tweddle
Chapter 5: The development of sculpture to c. 950, by D. Tweddle
Chapter 6: The date and stylistic context of the reculver fragments, by D. Tweddle
Chapter 7: The development of sculpture c. 950–1100, by D. Tweddle
Chapter 8: The excavated sculptures from Winchester, by M. Biddle and B. Kjølbye-Biddle
Chapter 9: The inscriptions in Latin lettering, by J. Higgitt
Bibliography

Vol V - Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire lay within the Danelaw and as a result was subject to Scandinavian influence and rule. Its early medieval sculpture, recorded here definitively for the first time, forms a crucial source for our understanding of the Anglo-Scandinavian period in this region. The catalogue contains fresh discussions of such famous carvings as Crowle, Edenham, and South Kyme and includes many newly discovered pieces and important re-evaluations of others.

The catalogue for Lincolnshire.
Preface to the original printed volume
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1: Earlier research, by P. Everson and D. Stocker
Chapter 2: Historical background to the sculpture, by P. Everson and D. Stocker
Chapter 3: Regional geology, by B. C. Worssam
Chapter 4: Style and ornament, by P. Everson and D.Stocker
Chapter 5: Introduction to the monument groupings, by P. Everson and D. Stocker
Chapter 6: Architectural sculpture, by P. Everson and D. Stocker
Chapter 7: The non-runic inscriptions, by J. Higgitt
Chapter 8: Conclusions, by P. Everson and D. Stocker
Chapter 9: Overlap and the continuing tradition, by P. Everson and D. Stocker
Bibliography

Vol VI - Northern Yorkshire

This volume surveys the sculpture in the historic North Riding of Yorkshire (excluding those parts already covered in Volume III). The total of some 400 carvings include important pre-Viking Age monuments, such as the crosses at Croft, Easby and Masham. The excavated sculpture from Whitby Abbey include a range of inscriptions which form crucial epigraphical evidence for our understanding of the pre-Conquest monastery. But Anglo-Scandinavian monuments predominate, with major collections at Brompton, Kirklevington and Lythe. A number of workshops have been identified and it was in this area that the hogback recumbent memorial first appeared.

The catalogue for Northern Yorkshire (forthcoming)
Preface to the original printed volume
Acknowledgements
Editorial acknowledgements
Chapter 1: Earlier research, by J.T. Lang
Chapter 2: Historical background to the sculpture, by J.T. Lang
Chapter 3: Regional geology, by J.R. Senior
Chapter 4: Anglian and Anglo-Scandinavian period forms, by J.T. Lang
Chapter 5: Anglian and Anglo-Scandinavian period ornament, by J.T. Lang
Chapter 6: The schools, by J.T. Lang
Chapter 7: The inscriptions, by J. Higgitt
Note on the catalogue
Bibliography

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