Hill, N. (2020). Two Norman Chamber Blocks: Hemingford Grey Manor (Huntingdonshire) and the School of Pythagoras (Cambridge). Proceedings of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society 109. Vol 109, Cambridge: Cambridge Antiquarian Society. pp. 95-120.
 Title The title of the publication or report |
Two Norman Chamber Blocks: Hemingford Grey Manor (Huntingdonshire) and the School of Pythagoras (Cambridge) | ||||||||||||
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Issue The name of the volume or issue |
Proceedings of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society 109 | ||||||||||||
Series The series the publication or report is included in |
Proceedings of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society | ||||||||||||
Volume Volume number and part |
109 | ||||||||||||
Page Start/End The start and end page numbers. |
95 - 120 | ||||||||||||
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Licence Type ADS, CC-BY 4.0 or CC-BY 4.0 NC. |
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Publication Type The type of publication - report, monograph, journal article or chapter from a book |
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Abstract The abstract describing the content of the publication or report |
Hemingford Grey Manor House and the School of Pythagoras are two rare surviving examples of Norman domestic buildings. Stone-built and of two storeys, such buildings were once identified as first-floor halls, but in recent decades have generally been recognised as chamber blocks. Detailed investigation and analysis of each building has been undertaken to put forward a new reconstruction of its original form. The Manor House at Hemingford Grey is a classic rural Norman chamber block of c. 1150, set at the edge of the village on a moated site. With the relatively complete evidence of its first-floor plan, it provides a good example of a small chamber block, one of the earliest survivals in England. It would have been accompanied by a ground-floor hall, though no evidence survives. The School of Pythagoras, dated here to c. 1200–1220, is a larger and more complex building in an urban context, the subject of considerable previous research, including recent archaeological excavation. Although much altered, its main features can be reconstructed with reasonable confidence. The ground floor had a fine, vaulted undercroft, and external steps led up to a principal chamber, with an inner chamber beyond, both with fireplaces. A key finding of the recent archaeological work (by others) was that the building stood alongside the ‘Cambridge Watercourse’, at the centre of a busy mercantile zone. It is therefore suggested that the closer comparable buildings are Norman townhouses, rather than rural chamber blocks. Built for Hervey Dunning, a leading burgess and Cambridge’s first mayor, the School of Pythagoras may have been a self-contained chamber block, without the ground-floor hall needed by a manorial lord. | ||||||||||||
Year of Publication The year the book, article or report was published |
2020 | ||||||||||||
Locations Any locations covered by the publication or report. This is not the place the book or report was published. |
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Source Where the record has come from or which dataset it was orginally included in. |
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Created Date The date the record of the pubication was first entered |
28 Jan 2022 |
