45
The Saxon Churches of Essex
A Theory on their Planning
BY E. A. RUDGE
Five years ago, Laurence Harley called attention to a curious feature in the
dimensions of Saxon Naves in Essex, quoting from the preface to vol. IV.
of the Historical Monuments Committee Report. In this, the writer records
an observed uniformity in the proportion of width to length of the pre-Conquest
nave, giving as examples Inworth, Strethall, Chickney, Hadstock, and Little
Bardfield. Mr. Harley added three others, at Fobbing, Corringham, and
White Roding, and pointed out that, if the ratio is inverted, viz., to represent
length to width, the proportion in all cases is approximately that of √3 to 1.
This led Harley to put forward an ingenious theory, based upon a crude
method of measurement, to account for so unexpected a proportion. Harley's
paper (1) was, as far as I can discover, the first attempt to throw light upon
the methods used in planning the early Christian church, and as such ranks
as an important contribution to our knowledge of Saxon times. Since its
publication I have taken the matter further, in relation to my discovery of
'Pagan stones' associated with early churches. (2).
My enquiries have produced evidence of a very large number of 'root-three'
naves, not only in Essex, but in the Home Counties and the West Country
as well. It now seems more than probable that this unique ratio of length
to width is substantial proof of the Saxon origin of the church site.
If this be so, the curious ratio can scarcely be a matter of pure chance,
but must have a peculiar significance to be found in some unsuspected detail
of Saxon culture. Harley's theory, ingenious though it is, suggests a level
of mathematical skill not easily identified with our idea of the pagan Saxon,
nor is there a clear reason for the three stages of measurement assumed. The
simplest method would be to measure off a length in direct multiples of the
width, making his church proportions 1 to 1, 2 to 1, 3 to 1, and so on. This
in fact was the method used for the basilica type of stave church in Norway,
most of which have square naves; and by the Norman builders in Britain,
whose naves are commonly in the 2 to I proportion.
To my mind, the Saxon method involved something more than simple
measurement, and suggested a ritualistic approach. In the early history of
the foundations of Christianity there is ample evidence that the task of con-
version was a difficult one against a stubborn Saxon paganism. Progress
demanded one compromise after another, and the old beliefs, the ancient gods,
the feast-days, and the sacred places, were gradually absorbed into the struc-
ture of the new religion.
Now, from time immemorial the chief object of veneration by primitive
peoples has been the Sun. Prom earliest days its movements have been
accurately charted, and prehistoric monuments, from the Pyramids to Stone-
henge, have been orientated by it. Similarly the pagan feast-days of the
Solstice and Equinox show a remarkable knowledge of the seasonal fluctua-
tions of the Sun's apparent motion through the sky. To an agricultural people
like the Saxons, the Sun was very important as a timekeeper, and therefore
clearly an object of pagan veneration.
(1) E.N. Vol. 28 part 5 pp. 275 et seq.
(2) E.N. Vol. 29 part 3 pp. 178 et seq.