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Hall and Chambers: Oakham Castle Reconsidered

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 September 2013

Nick Hill
Nick Hill*
Affiliation:
Nick Hill, English Heritage, 44 Derngate, Northampton NN1 1UH, UK. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

The late twelfth-century aisled hall at Oakham Castle, Rutland, is well known as the earliest and most complete building of its type in England. This study, based on detailed fabric analysis and little-known excavations of the 1950s, puts forward a new theory for the building's development. It is proposed that the original hall had attached lean-to buildings at both gable ends, probably built of timber, housing services and other lesser rooms. Like other early halls, the principal chamber at Oakham took the form of a free-standing chamber block, some of whose features have been later incorporated in the surviving hall, including its great east window. Tree-ring dating has shown that, although the roof was rebuilt around 1737, many original timbers survive from the 1180s. A comparative study of other early halls is made, to set Oakham into its wider Anglo-Norman context.

Resume

La grande salle à bas-côtés d'Oakham Castle, dans le Rutland, qui date de la fin du XIIe siècle, est bien connue car elle représente la construction de ce type la plus ancienne et la plus complète en Angleterre. Cette étude, fondée sur l'analyse détaillée de la structure et sur des fouilles peu connues des années 1950, propose une nouvelle théorie du développement du bâtiment. Elle fait l'hypothèse que le manoir d'origine comportait, adossés à chacun des murs pignons, des appentis sans doute en bois qui abritaient des pièces de service et d'autres salles moins importantes. Comme dans d'autres manoirs de cette époque, à Oakham, la pièce principale prenait la forme d'un ensemble indépendant dont certains des éléments ont été par la suite incorporés au manoir qui subsiste, y compris sa grande fenêtre est. La dendrochronologie a montré que si le toit a été construit vers 1737, un grand nombre des poutres d'origine, qui datent des années 1180, ont survécu. Une étude comparative d'autres manoirs anciens est effectuée pour replacer Oakham dans un contexte anglo-normand plus général.

Zusammenfassung

Die dreischiffige Halle von Oakland Castle, Rutland, aus dem späten 12. Jahrhundert gilt als das früheste und vollständigste Gebäude seiner Art in England. Diese Studie bietet basierend auf ausführlichen Substanzanalysen und wenig bekannter Ausgrabungen in den 1950-er Jahren neue theoretische Erwägungen zum Entwicklungsgang dieses Gebäudes. Es wird dabei dargelegt, dass die ursprüngliche Halle an beiden Giebelseiten Anbauten, wahrscheinlich aus Holz, hatte, in denen die Hausdienste und andere weniger wichtige Räume untergebracht waren. Wie in anderen frühen Hallen hatte der Hauptraum in Oakham die Form eines freistehenden Kammerblocks, von dem einige Charakteristiken, wie das große Ostfenster, später in die noch erhaltene Halle aufgenommen wurden. Anhand dendrochdronologischer Daten hat sich gezeigt, dass obwohl das Dach um 1737 neu gebaut wurde, viele der Originalbalken aus der Zeit nach 1180 überdauert haben. Eine Vergleichsstudie mit anderen frühen Hallen dient dem Zweck Oakham in seinen breiteren angelsächsischen Kontext einzuordnen.

Type
Papers
Information
The Antiquaries Journal , Volume 93 , September 2013 , pp. 163 - 216
Copyright
Copyright © The Society of Antiquaries of London 2013 

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