Church archaeology: research directions for the future.

Church archaeology: research directions for the future. JOHN BLAIR For other people named John Blair, see John Blair (disambiguation). John Blair (1732–August 31, 1800) was an American politician, Founding Father, and Patriot.John Blair was one of the best-trained jurists of his day. & CAROL PYRAH (ed.). (CBA See Capital Builder Account. Research Report 104.)xvi+230 pages, 120 illustrations, 6 tables. 1996. York: Council forBritish Archaeology The Council for British Archaeology is a British organisation based in York that promotes archaeology within the United Kingdom. Since 1944 the Council has been involved in publicising and generating public support for British archaeology; formulating and disseminating ; 1-872414-68-0 paperback [pounds]28. This book consists of 13 chapters by various authors from a varietyof backgrounds, such as lecturers, historians, buildings inspectors andarchitectural historians, all united by one thing, an interest in thecentres of Christian worship In Christianity, worship has been considered by most Christians to be the central act of Christian identity throughout history. Many Christian theologians have defined humanity as homo adorans in Britain. The result is a wide-rangingsurvey of the discipline, with contributions from outside but relatedfields of study. The contributions are divided into five sections; being'The Early Church AD 400-1200', 'The Later MiddleAges', 'Post-Reformation Churches', 'HumanRemains' and 'Legislation'. This division makes it easyto use the book, and supports its claim to offer 'ResearchDirections for the Future'. The various contributions to this book display a willingness tomove outside the counties of England The counties of England are territorial divisions of England for the purposes of administrative, political and geographical demarcation. Many current counties have foundations in older divisions such as the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. , and it is this recognition thatChristianity existed elsewhere that sets this book above some of itspredecessors. There has been a tendency in recent years to seeChristianity as an English phenomenon, so it is pleasing to see as muchspace devoted to the church in Scotland, Man, Wales Wales,Welsh Cymru, western peninsula and political division (principality) of Great Britain (1991 pop. 2,798,200), 8,016 sq mi (20,761 sq km), west of England; politically united with England since 1536. The capital is Cardiff. and Cornwall as tothe English church. It must not be forgotten that the 'B' inCBA stands for 'British', and in the case of this book, thisis certainly accurate. The first two sections ground their contributions in the Mediaeval me��di��ae��val?adj.Variant of medieval.mediaevalAdjectivesame as medievalAdj. 1. period, but the papers covering the post-Reformation period areespecially welcome. This is not the place to resurrect the debates onthe value of the discipline of industrial or early-modern archaeology,but it is pleasing to see that church archaeology is seen as an on-goingdiscipline regardless of period. The section on the treatment of human remains is also very welcome,with valuable contributions by Elizabeth O'Brien and CharlotteRoberts. The archaeological resource provided by graveyards is vast andunappreciated, and whilst the themes in this section may at some timesappear simply common sense, the fact that such points are being stressedproves the weaknesses in this field. For example, there are still nominimum standards for the study of human remains, an omission stressedby Roberts and also Morris in his Introduction. The lack of suchstandards seriously hinders inter-site analyses, and as a result has aserious impact on future research directions, for burial archaeologydoes not stop with the arrival of Christianity. The final section covers the legislative restrictions andrequirements of church archaeology, and contains very good synopses ofthe situation in both England/Wales and Scotland. Anyone who hasattempted to relate the provisions of Planning Policy Guidance notes In the United Kingdom, Planning Policy Guidance Notes (PPG) are statements of the Government's national policy and principles towards certain aspects of the town planning framework. They apply to England only. PPG PPG Points Per Game (basketball player statistic)PPG Power Play Goals (hockey)PPG Planning Policy Guidance (UK)PPG Programmable Pulse GeneratorPPG Power Puff Girls 15 and PPG16, the Ecclesiastical Exemption order and the Church ofEngland Church of England:see England, Church of. regulations will appreciate the difficulties involved, and bothCarl Bianco and Edwina Proudfoot are to be applauded for theirsummaries. The main concerns with this volume are not the themes of thecontributions, but what is left out. Richard Morris' Introductioneloquently and directly states several of the problems faced by thediscipline, the core of which appear to be lack of direction andunderstanding, but it is questionable whether this volume addressesthese in a manner sufficient to enable others to pursue these aims,which is surely one of the objectives of published research directions.The conclusion by Warwick Rodwell is correct to applaud the achievementsof the past 20 years, but much has yet to be addressed and this book,whilst a step in the right direction, is not the answer. The problems facing church archaeology are many and varied, but thediscipline, and its published literature, is still fighting to get awayfrom the traditional study of mediaeval ecclesiastical buildings inorder to address more varied social, economic, demographic andtopographical issues. This book recognizes this to a certain extent, inparticular the section on the potential of human remains as anarchaeological resource. The recognition of the value of post-mediaevalstudies is also excellent, but it is almost as if it is trying to putsuch aspects into the terms of mediaeval archaeology, thus suppressingthe uniqueness of the later periods. This can be seen in the treatmentof non-conformist structures, which are more than simply chapels, andalso in the status of Roman Catholic buildings in a post-Reformationworld. The treatment of modern archaeological practices in churcharchaeology also contains some omissions. The first involves PPG16, andits impact on archaeology, for whilst churches are indeed covered inmany cases by the Ecclesiastical Exemption, the areas surrounding themare not. This could be a result of the age of the texts here, as thedrafts were apparently submitted in 1994, and it is only recently, withthe application of PPG16 coupled with current development policies basedupon village infill in��fill?n.1. The use of vacant land and property within a built-up area for further construction or development, especially as part of a neighborhood preservation or limited growth program.2. , that the archaeological study of village evolutionand the relationship between church and settlement can be addressed.However another omission lies in the lack of knowledge about the currentstate of churches. This includes the states of preservation of extantbuildings, Protestant, Catholic and non-conformist, and also that ofredundant buildings released under the Pastoral Measure, many of whichmay contain hidden gems of archaeological, historical and architecturalinterest. Put simply, modern archaeology lacks a database of religiousstructures past and present, and it is surprising that this volume doesnot emphasize this. After all, one cannot have a research directionwithout knowledge of the dataset. Morris recognizes this lack to acertain extent, but there is the scope for further direction here. This leads onto my last concern with this book. The Preface statesthat this is the final legacy of the CBA Churches Committee, but oneconclusion that comes out of the various themes addressed here is thecontinuing need for such a body. We are trying to operate in anenvironment of multi-disciplinary studies, but also one in which fundingis derived from planning legislation from which the very buildings weare studying are often exempt. English Heritage English Heritage is a non-departmental public body of the United Kingdom government (Department for Culture, Media and Sport) with a broad remit of managing the historic environment of England. It was set up under the terms of the National Heritage Act 1983. is distancing itselffrom developer-funded archaeology, yet at the same time its ownarchaeological budgets are being reduced, and commercial pressure isacute for both units and universities. There is a definite requirementfor a focus to the discipline. This volume is not that focus. It offersa useful and wide-ranging overview of the current state of academicresearch, with a new recognition of the discipline outside England andbeyond the mediaeval period, and as such should be recommended readingfor anyone seeking an introduction to church archaeology. However, humanremains aside, it does not really go far enough in addressing theproblems within the discipline itself, despite the quality of theindividual contributions. This volume is presented as a culmination ofthe past two decades of work by the CBA Churches Committee, but it isdoubtful whether it will provide guidance for the next two in theabsence of the body that generated it. Department of Archaeology University of Cambridge qmc10@hermes.cam.ac.uk