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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Romanesque
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A word coined in the early 18C to describe the architecture of early medieval Europe, which adapted and developed the rounded arch of ancient Roman architecture and which was replaced in the 12C by the pointed arch of the *Gothic style. English Romanesque, also known as Norman architecture, began relatively late, in the mid-11C, as a result of influence from Normandy during the reign of *Edward the Confessor. It then spread rapidly through the country in the century after the Norman *Conquest. (Anglo-Saxon churches had been mainly of wood; but when in stone they also used the rounded arch and are sometimes described as early Romanesque.)
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The characteristics of English Romanesque are massively thick walls and huge round pillars, often decorated (as are arched doorways) with geometrical or zigzag patterns. The country is rich in examples, but none is more impressive than *Durham Cathedral.
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