ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the archaeological and textual evidence for such sites and places them in their wider international context. An examination of their chronology suggests that in origin they may date broadly from the 8th to 12th centuries. The chapter explains the archaeological and textual evidence for the presence of more than one church on ecclesiastical sites in Wales and western England. It explores the chronology and spatial organization of this relatively under-researched element of early medieval ecclesiastical topography. It is clear that the presence of more than one church on ecclesiastical sites in western Britain, including Wales, is part of a widespread tradition which occurred across early medieval Europe. There are also hints of regionally distinctive patterns in the layout of western British church groups. Although linear arrangements do occur, there appears to have been a wider range of organizational principles in the west than in the east, with chapels to the south of the main church particularly common.
