Medieval Building

St Augustine’s Skirlaugh was built between 1401 and 1404 when Walter Skirlaw was Prince Bishop of Durham. He commissioned and paid for it himself in his home village of Skirlaugh. It was intended as a Chantry Chapel – not a Parish Church – so priests could say masses for his soul and hurry his passing through purgatory and aid his assent to Heaven

PREPARATION READY

Lifting devices for moving the stones into position would have been transported to the site. Machines such as treadmills – in which a horizontal wheel was turned by people or animals – were also needed for lifting. Hand winches would have been used for lighter loads

FOUNDATIONS

Wooden reinforcement shutters were also built to strengthen the foundation walls in case of boggy ground Foundation trenches were typically dug to a depth of 6 feet (1.82 metres) and filled with rubble A quicklime was produced which when mixed with water and sand produced a lime putty

SCAFFOLDING

To build the church, they would first have to cut down the trees to make a space. Wood was then cut from the trees and scaffolding made for the Stonemasons to work. They often built the building around the scaffolding and when finished they pulled the beams out or cut them off, then put facing- lime horse hair plaster on top. Obviously some “cost cutting” took place – little square pieces of stone can still be seen where the scaffolding was With planks lashed together

MORTAR

Lime mortar was produced by burning chalk or limestone in a kiln One issue With lime mortar was the time it took to set hard!

THE JOURNEY OF STONES

The stones were cut from quarries near Tadcaster and were transported by river on flat bottomed barges to as near to Wawne as possible. The stones would then be unloaded and transported by land on sleds with wooden runners pulled by oxen, common beasts of burden in Medieval times

DESIGN

It is Walter’s own design and incorporated the latest designs in layout and perpendicular form. The exterior is of a simple rectangular construction with 6 large windows of 3 lights at the North and South sides of the Nave and one larger East window with 5 lights at the head.

Revolutionary for a village at that time!

The tower was a later addition

GEOMETRY

Geometry was the basis of the design for a new church

Buildings were designed using equilateral triangles or a square

The system based on an equilateral triangle known as AD TRIANGULUM produced a building that was low in comparison to it’s width The height of Walter’s church is approx 33 feet (nave to battlements) with an external width including buttresses of 36 feet (internal width 22 feet) so it suggests he chose a triangle as the basis of his design

CONSTRUCTION

THE QUARRY

The walls of Walter’s church are built of good quality, very expensive Magnesium Limestone Ashlar (as are both Beverley and York Minsters)

THE MASONS

Medieval Master Masons were both architect and builders although aesthetics were important

Freemasons were the elite – they cut and dressed stone used for curved work and were recognised as the most skilful and therefore paid accordingly. Not all Freemasons would have the leadership and organisational skills to oversee a build project and deliver a successful outcome!

Rough Masons were the least skilled who built rubble walls and undertook labouring tasks

Different tools were used to cut the stone – axes, points and chisels for fine and rough carving with drills, borers and hammers for drilling, shaping and smoothing pegs and ropes

Mason Layers were those who placed stones into marking the plan on the ground using wooden position.

SETTING OUT THE PLAN

Construction began by clearing the site and marking the plan on the ground using wooden pegs and ropes.

The Master Masons used compass and square to draw out a full size model of stonework.

Stonecutters had to be supplied with drawings of decorative details, mouldings and windows.

The Master Builder marked out the corners carefully using the Pythagoras theorem, repeating over and over to ensure accuracy!

Full size design was likely to be drawn on a specially prepared floor surface.