Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Stone Sculpture

03/07/2024

Sharing some amazing work by Durham Archaeology PhD student Roger Lang, bringing the hogback collection together digitally! Explore the collection at https://skfb.ly/oSypV and read about Roger’s project Herding Hogbacks Into Sketchfab - by LANG, ROGER W. (https://nebulousflynn.substack.com/p/herding-hogbacks-into-sketchfab) and catch up on the Anglo-Saxon sculpture at www.ascorpus.ac.uk

The builder hired in 1867 to renovate the Parish Church in Brompton-in-Allertonshire, North Yorkshire, ensured the contract gave him ownership of anything unearthed during the work. As it happened, his late medieval predecessors had used 26 items of Viking-Age stone sculpture as foundation material....

28/04/2023

Sad news from Department of Archaeology. Following the news of her death aged 93, we are remembering with fondness and pride the contribution that Professor Dame Rosemary Cramp made to the field of Archaeology and to Durham University.

https://www.durham.ac.uk/news-events/latest-news/2023/04/professor-dame-rosemary-cramp/

12/08/2022

Final reminder folks that registration for the conference closes at 23:59 today! Check out the fantastic programme, featuring over 35 speakers, 4 keynote speakers, poster presentations, etc. at the link below

Early medieval stone sculptures that survive across Europe at the wayside, in architectural settings, in churches and graveyards, are an exceptional source for understanding the aesthetics and beliefs of early medieval communities. Celebrating the long-running project, the Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Ston...

01/08/2022

Registration for our amazing 5-day conference closes at 23:59 on the 12th of August. Check out the fantastic programme, featuring over 35 speakers, 4 keynote speakers, poster presentations, etc. at the link below!

Early medieval stone sculptures that survive across Europe at the wayside, in architectural settings, in churches and graveyards, are an exceptional source for understanding the aesthetics and beliefs of early medieval communities. Celebrating the long-running project, the Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Ston...

08/07/2022

Celebrate the Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Stone Sculpture with us at our 5-day conference, offering an in-depth comparative investigation of the development and deployment of sculptural work in stone, as a European-wide phenomenon. Check out the fantastic programme, featuring over 35 speakers, 4 keynote speakers, poster presentations, etc. at the link below!

Early medieval stone sculptures that survive across Europe at the wayside, in architectural settings, in churches and graveyards, are an exceptional source for understanding the aesthetics and beliefs of early medieval communities. Celebrating the long-running project, the Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Ston...

06/07/2022

Join us from 31st August to the 4th September at Durham University for Worked in Stone: Early Medieval Sculpture in its International Context!

We are welcoming over 35 speakers on topics ranging from the High Cross in Ireland to materialising sacral leadership in Scotland and inscription, movement and display in early medieval Northumbria. With four keynote speakers, this promises to be an in-depth exploration of the state-of-the-art for western European early medieval sculpture.

For enquiries, please contact us at [email protected]

Register to attend and book your accommodation here.
https://www.durham.ac.uk/departments/academic/archaeology/events/worked-in-stone-2022/

22/01/2021

Release of Volume XIII - Derbyshire and Staffordshire

CASSS is delighted to announce the online release of Volume XIII – Derbyshire and Staffordshire – by Jane Hawkes and Philip Sidebottom, originally published in 2018 in the British Academy Series. You can now browse and explore this remarkable collection and access all entries, all photographic images and drawings via our online catalogue https://chacklepie.com/ascorpus/catvol13.php

With nearly 200 monuments and more than 650 images, this volume covers materials from the counties of Derbyshire and Staffordshire, offering the first comprehensive survey of the Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Scandinavian sculptures since the 1940s. It provides a new understanding of a highly contested and sought-after region marked by the rise of the Mercian kingdom, the expanding power of Wessex, and the opposing forces of Northumbria. The dynamic exchanges of artistic ideas are illustrated by unique and sometimes haphazard sculptures of the highest quality found throughout the region such as the Lichfield Angel (Lichfield 1) and the Mercian Beasts (Derby 1).

Check out the outstanding chapter dedicated to the monuments of Repton. Martin Biddle offers an in-depth analysis of a near complete sculptural assemblage in its archaeological context, teasing out the relationship between the royal house of Mercia and the Repton monastery, and addresses issues of chronology through careful re-assessment of architectural history, archaeology and iconography (see Repton 1 to 30 in our catalogue).

Explore now the vibrant monuments of the region by following this link https://chacklepie.com/ascorpus/catvol13.php

You can also check the monuments below – Derby 1 and Brailsford 1

26/10/2020

Release of Volume XII - Nottinghamshire

We are pleased to announce the online release of Volume XII – Nottinghamshire – by Paul Everson and David Stocker, originally published in 2015. You can now explore this impressive collection and access all entries, all photographic images and drawings via our online catalogue. http://www.ascorpus.ac.uk/catvol12.php
This volume expands the existing inventory of decorative sculpture in the Midlands (following Volume V – Lincolnshire, and Volume X – The Western Midlands), placing Nottinghamshire at the centre of a systematic survey and revealing a particularly rich and complex assemblage. Together with volumes X and XIII, it demonstrates the importance of the region as a long-term place of contested power, whether between the kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria or within the Danelaw. Volume XII sets the stage for a fundamental re-assessment of sculpture in the region and shows the ways in which local identity can manifest through worked stone, as seen in the figural imagery from Shelford 1.
The strength of this volume resides in the thorough analysis of the landscape context and documentary evidence relating to sculpted monuments. Hence, the authors reconsider the sculptural assemblage in its landscape context, teasing out the relationships with significant early church and elite sites such as at South Leverton. This also allows them to highlight how sculpted monuments can be used to define early medieval territories, forming boundary markers (e.g. Stapleford 1) or structure movement across the landscape – for instance by marking river crossings (e.g. Shelford 1).
Explore the inspirational monuments of the region by following this link http://www.ascorpus.ac.uk/catvol12.php
Below – Stapleford 1 and Shelford 1

24/05/2020

**CALL FOR PAPERS and POSTER PRESENTATIONS**
https://www.dur.ac.uk/archaeology/conferences/current/workedinstone/

Worked in Stone: Early Medieval Sculpture in its International Context

Saturday 11th Sept to Wednesday 15th Sept 2021
Durham University, UK

Early medieval stone sculptures that survive across Europe at the wayside, in architectural settings, in churches and graveyards, are an exceptional source for understanding the aesthetics and beliefs of early medieval communities. Standing crosses, inscribed stones, rune stones and grave markers are some of the highly varied forms that exist, spanning Christian and non-Christian societies. These reveal artistic styles, external connections and influences, technological abilities, literacy and commemorative practices. They provide a catalyst for exploring the identity, tastes and ideas of early medieval populations in a time when political connections and religious affiliations were variable and far-reaching.

Celebrating the Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Stone Sculpture, this conference will offer an in-depth comparative investigation of the development and deployment of sculptural work in stone as a European-wide phenomenon, situating these monuments and their production within their local, regional, national and international contexts. Speakers will bridge divides separating northern, southern and eastern European scholarship, and address the interdisciplinary interfaces between archaeology, history and art history, discussing traditions of stone sculpture production and context and providing comparative and contextual dialogue on prehistoric and Classical/late antique traditions. Our aim is to develop novel and significant understandings of the arrival of monumental work in stone in early medieval societies in terms of purpose, influences, connections and meaning.

Confirmed speakers include: Jane Hawkes; Martin Carver; John Blair; Sally Foster; Nancy Edwards; Jane Geddes; David Stocker; Paul Everson; David Petts; Catherine Karkov; Francesca Dell Aqua; Lilla Kopár and Meggen Gondek.
Proposals are invited for papers and poster presentations that take a comparative perspective and fit the five key conference themes:
• Imagery, iconography and symbolism
• Memory, commemoration and inscription
• Technologies of production
• Visual narratives
• Sculpture, place and space.

Paper and poster proposals are especially welcome from early career researchers as well as established scholars. Conference papers are 25 minutes max. Poster presentations will be a single A1 poster that summarises a current research project, to be displayed during the conference. Presenters will be available during the conference reception to discuss their project.

To submit a proposal for a paper OR a poster presentation, please submit a title and a 150 word abstract by 30th June 2020 to [email protected]

Early medieval stone sculptures that survive across Europe at the wayside, in architectural settings, in churches and graveyards, are an exceptional source for understanding the aesthetics and beliefs of early medieval communities. Standing crosses, inscribed stones, rune stones and grave markers ar...

17/12/2019

26/11/2019

RELEASE OF VOL XI - CORNWALL

We are delighted to announce the latest online digital release of the Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Stone Sculpture catalogues. Volume XI - Early Cornish Sculpture by Ann Preston-Jones and Elisabeth Okasha is a special volume in our series. http://www.ascorpus.ac.uk/catvol11.php

Not only is this the first Corpus catalogue to include colour images, the book was also the winner of the prestigious Holyer an Gof Cup in 2015, awarded for the most outstanding publication about Cornwall or in Cornish.

Volume XI surveys the county of Cornwall and provides an analytical catalogue of its early sculpture, highlighting the particular distinctiveness of Cornish sculpture compared to other regions and this catalogue shows off the remarkable range and scale of the Cornish monuments. There is a full photographic record of each monument, taken for the most part by the authors, which highlights the fact that Cornwall, unlike some regions, has many impressive and complete monuments still surviving. A. G. Langdon illustrated a large number of these over a century ago in his seminal Old Cornish Crosses; however, the present volume includes many stones not illustrated by Langdon and offers new interpretations and detailed photographs of others. The monuments with early sculpture include substantial freestanding crosses, altar stones, and some recumbent coped stones. The dating and context of a number of potentially early fonts and some simple cross-incised stones is also discussed. The relationship of the Cornish sculpture to monuments in Wales, Ireland and Western Britain is of particular interest given Cornwall's position as a peninsula jutting into the western seaways. In this context, the authors also consider the potential role of Scandinavian influence.

http://www.ascorpus.ac.uk/images/11_0297.jpg

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