Papers by Duncan L Berryman
EXARC Journal, Dec 2, 2022
This paper will explore how manorial accounts from the fourteenth century can be used by archaeol... more This paper will explore how manorial accounts from the fourteenth century can be used by archaeologists to understand buildings that no longer survive. The long series of accounts of the Wiltshire manors of Longbridge Deverill and Monkton Deverill provide an excellent basis for study. By using documentary sources, rather than archaeological ones, this paper suggests that it is possible to build a picture of the manorial buildings over time, as they change and are rebuilt. It is also possible to understand the wider estate of which the manor is part, and the economics of medieval building maintenance.
Occupying Space in Medieval and Early Modern Britain and Ireland
Occupation of the landscape took many different forms and is one of the predominant ways of viewi... more Occupation of the landscape took many different forms and is one of the predominant ways of viewing settlement within the medieval world. Buildings are the most effective method of occupying space, both physically and psychologically. This paper will draw on current research into fourteenth century manorial buildings in England and explore how they were used to occupy both the landscape and the communities associated with them.
Sussex Archaeological Collections, 2020
This paper presents the results of recent research into the manor of Alciston, particularly the m... more This paper presents the results of recent research into the manor of Alciston, particularly the manorial buildings during the 14th century. Contemporary descriptions of the manorial buildings are placed in the context of the agricultural landscape and village. Observations of the current landscape and standing structures have helped to inform this study. This analysis reveals how the manorial curia may have appeared to a visitor in the later Middle Ages. It shows how construction material was used to draw the viewer’s attention towards certain buildings. It also shows that the courtyard was organised to optimise farming practices, rather than as a display of lordly power. Alciston was one of the most important manors in the Battle Abbey estate and was regularly visited by the abbot. Studying the buildings of its curia provides new insights into life in medieval Sussex.
Archaeology Ireland, 2009
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This paper will explore how manorial accounts from the fourteenth century can be used by archaeol... more This paper will explore how manorial accounts from the fourteenth century can be used by archaeologists to understand buildings that no longer survive. The long series of accounts of the Wiltshire manors of Longbridge Deverill and Monkton Deverill provide an excellent basis for study. By using documentary sources, rather than archaeological ones, this paper suggests that it is possible to build a picture of the manorial buildings over time, as they change and are rebuilt. It is also possible to understand the wider estate of which the manor is part, and the economics of medieval building maintenance.
Castle Studies Group Journal
Ulster Journal of Archaeology
Association of Young Irish Archaeologists - Proceeding of Conference 2009, 2010
Imbas: Power in the Middle Ages conference - Select Proceedings, 2008
Archaeology Ireland, Jan 1, 2009
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Conference Presentations and Lectures by Duncan L Berryman
Medieval farmsteads were found across the countryside during the middle ages, and all villages we... more Medieval farmsteads were found across the countryside during the middle ages, and all villages were dominated by manorial farmsteads. Like most things, these farmsteads evolved over time. Saxon, high-medieval and late-medieval farmsteads appear to have had a similar pattern, but there is a change in the post-medieval period, particularly during the Enlightenment. This paper will discuss the changes in farmstead layout and explore the possible reasons for these changes.
Most of the research on medieval agriculture has focused on the great barns that still stand in t... more Most of the research on medieval agriculture has focused on the great barns that still stand in the landscape today. We have considered these buildings to be symbols of wealth, power, and authority. However, our focus on barns has meant that we have ignored the other agricultural buildings. The manorial buildings are rarely considered in an agricultural context. It is clear that animal houses were just as important as the barns, while kitchens, brewhouses and bakehouses were also essential buildings for the manor to function. However, some of these houses were on the edges of the settlement. The most significant of these were sheephouses and dovecotes, as they reflect two quite different aspects of the manor’s agriculture. Sheep were important, but they were not associated with social status in the same way as dovecotes were. This paper will explore how these two building types were placed on the edge of settlement, but not necessarily on the edge of society.
This paper will present current research into the archaeology of the buildings of manorial curiae... more This paper will present current research into the archaeology of the buildings of manorial curiae in fourteenth-century England. Manorial accounts can be used to provide a significant amount of information about the buildings that cannot be gained from excavation alone. It will be possible to compare the manors and estates of the great monastic institutions with those of lay lords and the royal estate. These comparisons will reveal how monasteries structured their landscape and buildings. Many manors show how these pious men chose to live in luxury and comfort, and invested large sums to maintain the buildings.
Within most manorial curiae there was a chapel, and the parish church was often closely associated with the curia. Within the curia, rituals of a different sort were at play. Agency and habitus had the effect of structuring the layout and appearance of the buildings. Appearance was important to people in the middle ages, possibly more important than has previously been appreciated by archaeologists. Curiae were the interface between the agriculture of the manor and the domestic rituals of the household; animal housing was placed next to the hall and chapel. The lords must have had a reason for placing these very different buildings together. This paper will explore how these buildings were organised, how they appeared, and how they were maintained. These are important questions to address in the study of the medieval rural landscape.
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Papers by Duncan L Berryman
Conference Presentations and Lectures by Duncan L Berryman
Within most manorial curiae there was a chapel, and the parish church was often closely associated with the curia. Within the curia, rituals of a different sort were at play. Agency and habitus had the effect of structuring the layout and appearance of the buildings. Appearance was important to people in the middle ages, possibly more important than has previously been appreciated by archaeologists. Curiae were the interface between the agriculture of the manor and the domestic rituals of the household; animal housing was placed next to the hall and chapel. The lords must have had a reason for placing these very different buildings together. This paper will explore how these buildings were organised, how they appeared, and how they were maintained. These are important questions to address in the study of the medieval rural landscape.
Within most manorial curiae there was a chapel, and the parish church was often closely associated with the curia. Within the curia, rituals of a different sort were at play. Agency and habitus had the effect of structuring the layout and appearance of the buildings. Appearance was important to people in the middle ages, possibly more important than has previously been appreciated by archaeologists. Curiae were the interface between the agriculture of the manor and the domestic rituals of the household; animal housing was placed next to the hall and chapel. The lords must have had a reason for placing these very different buildings together. This paper will explore how these buildings were organised, how they appeared, and how they were maintained. These are important questions to address in the study of the medieval rural landscape.
These animals needed housing, shelter from the weather, and protection from predators and thieves. This paper will look at how sheep were housed in the fourteenth century, and how those buildings were constructed and maintained. Manorial buildings were important to the lord, as they were symbols of authority and wealth; even agricultural buildings had a role to play. But to what extend did sheephouses fit into this social world? Did they too form part of the lord’s display of power, or were they merely functional buildings? This paper will combine archaeological evidence with documentary and economic evidence to create a holistic picture of sheep rearing and the importance of their housing.
However, these structures should not be considered in isolation. These buildings were part of social complexes, having a role to play in the relationship between the lord and the peasants. It is also important that the economics of construction and maintenance be considered alongside the physical buildings. The questions of how and why medieval people chose to invest in building maintenance at certain times are key to understanding the medieval construction industry. The patterns in investment will also develop our understanding of estate management and where particular decisions were made about the maintenance of buildings.
Manorial accounts provide the opportunity to investigate the physical appearance and construction of manorial buildings along side the economics of their maintenance. The accounts reveal what was bought for the repairs, who was hired to carry them out and what buildings were in need of maintenance each year. Accounts also provide the opportunity to investigate changes in buildings that may not be visible in the standing structures, such as the replacement of a timber-framed building with a stone one. They will also reveal construction materials that are often invisible in archaeological excavation.
This paper will use current research to explore fourteenth-century manorial buildings through manorial accounts. This will explore the patterns of investment in the maintenance of buildings and what forms this maintenance took. Therefore it will be possible to draw some conclusions about how estates were managed in the fourteenth century and how lords chose to invest in their buildings.
This paper will explore the manorial curiae of fourteenth-century England, considering the space around which these buildings were arranged and how a visitor would have experienced this farmyard.
The manors of fourteenth century England provide excellent case studies to explore how buildings, construction materials and the layout of the courtyard could have been used to create an identity for the manorial lord. These manors demonstrate how agricultural buildings were used alongside the traditional domestic buildings to create an identity of wealth and power. But they also reveal the ways in which the conflict between lords and peasants was manifested physically in the buildings.
Through the Lands of the Auteri and St Jarlath, The Archaeology of the M17 Galway to Tuam and N17 Tuam Bypass Schemes (NRA Scheme Monographs 17)