Church design

[burnhal]

It has only recently struck me that though churches have the same basic interior layout- though obviously varying in size, none of them actually look quite the same. Does anyone know about church architecture? Are there any identical churches anywhere in the country or is every single one different??

[jno]

they're not built by the hundred like Wimpey homes, so yes, they're all different. Not many are built these days, they were put up in days when there was much regional difference; an architect in Hampshire might know what St Peter's in Rome looked like but he wouldn't necessarily know what a church in Cumbria looked like. Masons would know their own trade, carpenters would know how to build pews, builders would know how to work with local materials, and bishops would know what the outline of a typical church was (east-west orientation, aisles down the side if big enough, maybe a crossing if it was quite large, tower for bells, maybe a spire on top); but each would contribute to a unique building.

[Octavius]

Santa Maria dei Miracoli and Santa Maria in Montesanto are two churches in Rome designed by Carlo Rainaldi in the 17th C. They are located in Piazza del Popolo and because of their unique similarity are known as the �Twin� churches.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/ 4/4b/Roma-piazza_del_popolo.jpg

[burnhal]

trawling through Google I see there are tow identical churches near Putney Bridge and two near identical ones in Harrogate

[jno]

but fraternal twins rather than identical, Octavius - different hats

[MustafaTickl]

You ask if anyone knows about Church Architecture, I have made it a lifetimes background interest. There are no two identical churches anywhere. If you can find time for it in your life you will see written in the fabric of churches countless tales of war and peace; of lean years of poverty and fat years of wealth; of famines and plagues; of the rise and fall of governments; of the opening and closing of trade routes; of changes in the social order, and of the ebbs and flows of faith. Somewhere within each church wrought into its decoration or structure you will see the imprint of the Babylonian, the Syrian, and the Egyptian; of the Latin, the Greek, and the Byzantine; of the Persian, the Scythian, and the Sarmatian: of Teuton, Celt, and Saxon. Each of these has passed leaving his mark upon the church. In every church ashes lie all around; in the crypt, under the floors and in the walls. But once that dust spoke, and if you have ears to hear you may listen as in the hush of midnight the ashes draw together in human form and tell the tales of centuries long dead. The church carvings with heads and claws of savage beasts bring visions of the sands of Rome's arenas; the transepts chant a dirge for the dying Mistress of the world; the galleries speak to us of the Orient where women dwelt in dark seclusion; the altars in the depth of the apse and the scenes of Judgement carved above the western portals speak fearfully of the coming of the barbarian and of the terror of the Sclav; the Black Death helped to inspire the leaping lines of Flamboyant windows. So, happy hunting !!

[Peter Pedant]

The study of church architecture is called

Ecclesiology

The thing about ecclesiology over the last 500 years is that there have been very little changes in doctrine in the ROman Church - 1545 Trent, 1962 Vatican II and that is just about it. The basic church architecture is the same and has not changed. S the basic message is how doctrine affectgs architecture......

Proddies - Lordy Lordy, couldnt stop changing their views form decade to decade. This was VERY badly done in the recent Bible prog on the Beeb, where it was stated that Mary I was the only one to burn heretics. The basis of belief in Henry VIII time is worth a book by itself. He blieved in transubstantiation at least some of the time, for example.

and the point is that Church of England architecture from 153- to now reflects the beliefs of the time.

Altars out, communion tables in...necessitated communion rails because dogs would piddle against the table legs. Not a real problem for altars.

Communion tables moved to the mddle of the chancel. This meant that choirs were comletely realigned

Laudian reforms. Archbishop Laud Archbishop of Canterbury was an Arminian heretic, and his reforms meant another wave of changes. Prelaudian churches are still around, but are uncommon

window smashing - iconoclasm - open air services

its all there !


ecclesiology

in fact I think I will go google it now !

PP