Southwell and Nottinghamshire: Medieval Art, Architecture, and Industry

British Archaeological Association Conference Transactions, Volume 21

ISBN: 978 0 901286 92 5 (PB); 978 0 901286 91 8 (HB)
July 1998
Available in paperback and hardback
156 pages

Edited by:

Jennifer Alexander

Southwell Mister and the medieval buildings of Nottinghamshire have received little scholarly interest since the 19th century and the conference held in July 1995 provided a stimulus for a new generation of art historians and archaeologists to examine these buildings.

Lectures presented at the conference have been brought together as articles in this volume as well as papers written from presentations on site. These studies explore the architectural and sculptural background of Southwell Minster, establishing the sources for its Romanesque crossing capitals in manuscript illustrations and demonstrating the form of the lost original east end from an archaeological analysis of the fabric. New insights are offered into the work of the Gothic masons, examining the connections with buildings in the West Country and the Midlands and, by using the masons’ marks, demonstrating the sequence of the choir’s construction. The internationally important Chapter House carvings, made famous in Pevsner’s ‘Leaves of Southwell’, are also featured. Other important papers consider the abbeys of Worksop and Rufford, the font at Lenton, the crypt at Newark and the two major medieval industries of alabaster carving and bell – founding. The volume brings together new approaches and a much needed reassessment of Nottinghamshire’s medieval architectural and artistic history.