A műemlékek sokszínűsége (A 28. Egri Nyári Egyetem előadásai 1998 Eger, 1998)

Előadások / Presentations - Angus FOWLER: The preservation of churches particulary timber-framed ones in Hessen

ANGUS FOWLER THE PRESERVATION OF CHURCHES PARTICULARLY TIMBER-FRAMED ONES IN HESSEN FÖRDERKREIS ALTE KIRCHEN In western Europe wooden churches are today mainly represented by timber-framed buildings in England, France and particularly in Germany. In medieval times probably many thousand existed, many were replaced by stone and in some cases by brick buildings (from the 12th cent, onwards particularly in northern and eastern Germany). Frequent decrees of church councils ordered that stone chruches should be built. Traces of some of the earlier wooden buildings have often been found in the course of archaeological investigations. The oldest wooden church now surviving in Europe was thought to be St. Andrew in Greensted, Essex/England, its oldest timbers have been dated dendrochronologically now its the late 11 early 12 century (by the University of Sheffield). The wodden nave is closely related to the Scandinavian tradition of stave churches, the first surviving examples of which date from the 11/12 century as well. In the more sophisticated form of timber-framing (German = Fachwerk) about 15 churches and also some other parts of churches survive scattered throughout western, southern and eastern England, particularly in Cheshire where the oldest examples dating from the 13th and 14th centuries are to be found in Marton and Lower Peover. Particularly interesting and old is the timber-framed church in Hartley Wespall, Hampshire ca. 1340. Timber-framed church towers and wooden belfries survive especially in Essex, for instance the particularly fine example in Blackmore ca. 1480. The latest examples of timber-framed churches in England date from the 16th century. A few timber-framed churches or churches with timber-framed parts were also built in England in the 19th century, notably by the wellknown Chester architect John Douglas (who seems to have had strong connections with Germany and possibly Marburg), for instance the Church of St. Michael, Altcar, Lancashire, 1879. In France groups of timber-framed churches survive particularly in the Champagne and in Normandy dating from the 15th and 16th centuries. One of the largest and finest in Europe is St. Catharine in Honfieur, Normandy ca. 1450 with two parallel naves and two aisles and a separate freestanding bellhouse or belfry. A few Protestant timber-framed churches dating from the 18th and 19th centuries survive in the Alsace, also some tiber-framed former synagogues. In form and plan the English and French examples are clearly similar to and influenced by stone church buildings. However visible open roof constructions in England (also common in stone buildings) show influence of Germanic hall-house construction. Apart from problems of repair, as far as is known, timber-framed churches in England and France have not been subject to threats of demolition in recent years. They are valued and protected as important parts of the vernacular tradition of timber building. In Germany timber-framed churches are mostly found north of the rivers Neckar and Main stretching form Hessen through Lower Saxony, Thuringia, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Sachsen-Anhalt, Brandenbrug and Saxony and then further east into areas formerly settled by Germans in Silesia, Pomerania and Prussia. Timber-framed church towers also survive in Franconia in northern Bavaria. In Poland are well-known the very large timber-framed „Peace Churches" (Friedenskirchen) built after the 30 Years' War according to the