Places and spaces : some reflections on reconstructing the spatial organisation of Northumbrian monasteries.

Anglo-Saxon monastic sites were complex places combining religious and economic functions. They were locations where many different communities, secular and ecclesiastical, high and low status, confronted and engaged with each other. They were also caught in a web of local and long-distance religious, political and economic relationships. This paper explores some of the practical and methodological issues involved in identifying the spatial organisation of these sites, both at an interand intra-site scale. The practical limitations in reconstructing internal organisation and chronological development will be considered