Churches on Roman Buildings: Christian Associations and Roman Masonry in Anglo-Saxon England

HUNDREDS of churches in Britain and Gaul are directly associated with Roman structures, most frequently villas but also martyria, forts and signal stations. The superimposition of churches on Roman structures remains a problematic aspect of post-Roman archaeology in Britain, and an explanation for their coincidence is certainly required in the light of the apparent discontinuity between the Roman and early-medieval landscapes. A number of possible explanations exist which range from the purely functional re-use of existing masonry to more abstract Christian associations with Roman ruins. This paper examines some possible circumstances in which Roman secular structures might have become the foci for Anglo-Saxon churches in the early-medieval period. In doing so it cautions against interpretations based on proprietary models, and suggests that other factors, not immediately evident in the archaeological record, may have played a significant role.