Hogbacks in North-Eastern England.

Abstract

Hogbacks are recumbent tombstones of the late PreConquest Age which have features peculiar to their class of monument and are confined chiefly to Northern England and southern Scotland. They are basically house-shaped and often have architectural features in their ornamentation but are distinguished from shrine tombs of the period by the convex roof which gives them their name. Many shrine tombs and grave slabs show the influence of hogbacks and some of these are considered in the chapters dealing with kindred monuments. A group of hogbacks have the notable feature of confronting, three dimensional end-beasts at the extremities of the stone, but not all, so the determining factor must remain the hogbacked roof. It is upon this definition that the studies of W. G. Collingwood and Baldwin Brown are based.