Title:
|
Landscapes of dissent : the development and materiality of nonconformity in three rural communities
|
There are few modern studies of the impact of nonconformity at a rural
and local level in Great Britain. This dissertation attempts to see what a
multi-disciplinary approach - using archaeology, architectural history,
historical sources and oral narratives - focusing in particular on the
landscape and the material remains left by Dissenting Groups, can add to
our knowledge and understanding of their origins and development. It
then takes this knowledge and applies it to answer or inform several of
the important questions being posed by others involved in the study of
nonconformity across a variety of academic disciplines. It considers the
impact of three very different groups in three contrasting landscapes, each
landscape covering a progressively larger geographical area: The Strict
and Particular Baptists of Grittleton, a village in north Wiltshire; the
Associate Congregation on the Orkney island of Stronsay; and the Bible
Christians on Exmoor and Brendon in Somerset. The study concludes that
these different non-Conformist congregations had a material impact on
their landscape, and often viewed the landscape in unprecedented and
unusual ways, although the material remains are often fragmentary and
sometimes disappointing. Particular individuals at a local leve1 and the
power of faith in congregations often had a remarkable impact on the
landscape The Dissertation shows how these buildings and landscapes
are often neglected and under continuing threat: in Orkney, for example,
the author surveyed several Dissenting Kirks for the first time ever; many
Chapels throughout Great Britain face demolition, conversion or gradual
decay and ruination; the collective memory is shrinking as members of
congregations and smaller sects literally die off.
|