Why did the round tower churches have round towers?

BRY2K

The reason for their construction – mostly by the Saxons – is a matter of dispute. Suggested explanations include the following: Round-tower churches are found in areas lacking normal building stone, and are therefore built of knapped flint. Corners are difficult to construct in flint, hence the thick, round walls of the towers. The churches are found in areas subject to raids from, for example, the Vikings, and were built as defensive structures, churches being added later. In fact, however, the towers are generally too short to have been of much use defensively, and the towers were often added to existing churches, having flat walls where they joined the main structure. In 937 King Athelstan (924–939), the first King of all England, decrees that a bell tower be built on the land of every thane; an existing trend of building bell towers on to existing churches was thus accelerated. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Round-tower_church Jan 27 08, 4:15 PM

purcy

Round tower churches tend to be found where there is a lack of conventional stone to use for building.In much of East Anglia the only stone to be found is flint.It cost money to bring stone from a distance and to have it cut to shape.It was cheaper to build the church tower without any expensive ston e corners , by making them round. http://www.roundtowers.org.uk/ Jan 27 08, 4:23 PM

zbeckabee

The purpose of the towers is somewhat mysterious. A popular theory is that the towers were originally a redoubt against raiders such as Vikings. If a lookout posted in the tower spotted a Viking force, the local population (or at least the clerics) would enter, using a ladder which could be raised from within. The towers would be used to store religious relics and other plunderables. One problem with this theory is that the distance from the ground to the raised doorway is somewhat greater than that from the first floor to the second; thus large, rigid steps would be too large for the door. Excavations in the 1990s, revealing postholes, confirm that wooden steps were built. However, the use of ladders prior to the construction of such steps cannot be ruled out. Certainly, an important use of the historic towers was to act as a belfry. The Irish word for such towers, cloictheach, indicates this, as noted by George Petrie in 1845. http://www.computer-2tr.com/Ireland/links/round_towers.html Jan 27 08, 5:28 PM