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ENGLISH CHURCH ARCHITECTURE OF THE MIDDLE AGES

ENGLISH CATHEDRALS

CANTERBURY--PETERBOROUGH-- DURHAM--SALISBURY--LICHFIELD-- LINCOLN--ELY--WELLS--WINCHESTER-- GLOUCESTER--YORK--LONDON

By Mrs. S. VAN RENSSELAER. Illustrated with one hundred and fifty-four Drawings by JOSEPH PENNELL. Also with Plans and Diagrams. Fifth Edition, revised and corrected. Cloth, 20s. net

HANDBOOK OF ENGLISH CATHEDRALS

By Mrs. S. VAN RENSSELAER. Illustrated with Drawings by JOSEPH PENNELL. Also with Plans and Diagrams. Cloth, 10s. 6d. net

T. FISHER UNWIN, LTD., LONDON

ENGLISH CHURCH ARCHITECTURE

OF THE MIDDLE AGES

_AN ELEMENTARY HANDBOOK_

_By_ A. FREEMAN SMITH

_For many years Art Master and Instructor in all Architectural Subjects in the Municipal School of Art, Birmingham_

WITH TWELVE PLATES

T. FISHER UNWIN, LTD. LONDON: ADELPHI TERRACE

_First published in 1922._

[_All Rights Reserved_]

PREFACE

The object of this little work is to give an outline of the leading characteristics of Gothic Architecture, as found in churches of the Middle Ages in England. And it is hoped that it may be found useful to those visiting those noble buildings, whose antiquity and inseparable connection with the history of the country in their growth and development, in addition to the highest purpose for which they were erected by the faithful followers of the Founder of the Christian Faith, entitle them to veneration and careful study in the realms of history, art, and religion.

Its purpose as a handbook is to explain the origin and use of some of the forms which are presented to the eye of the visitor to these ancient monuments, not as being the result of caprice, or mere æsthetic motives, but as derived originally from a deep conviction of the living truth which their founders professed, and which they attempted to express in all their constructive work.

It is intended that the book may also be found useful as an elementary introduction to the study of Gothic Architecture through the many elaborate and exhaustive treatises which are published on the subject. To such students, literary study should be supplemented by personal acquaintance with buildings recognised as standards of excellence.

The Introduction deals with symbols as the motive of Gothic design. In the following pages the various periods of English Gothic are defined by their predominating forms and ornaments dating from the seventh to the sixteenth centuries. Simple examples have been chosen in order to avoid the confusion which might result from the choice of more complex illustrations.

In the preparation of the illustrations the works of Agincourt, Didron, Owen Jones, and the late Jethro A. Cossins, have been consulted for those of Plate I. Of the remaining, Plate II., Fig. 5, and Plate V., Fig. 1, are from works of Parker and Rickman respectively. Five details are from photographs; the remainder are from original sketches and studies by the Author.

LIST OF PLATES

PLATE PAGE

I. BYZANTINE AND EARLY CHRISTIAN 13

II. ANGLO-SAXON 21

III. NORMAN 27

IV. TRANSITIONAL, 1145-1190 (NORMAN TO EARLY ENGLISH) 35

V. EARLY ENGLISH 39

VI. DECORATED 45

VII. DECORATED 47

VIII. PERPENDICULAR 53

IX. PERPENDICULAR 55

X. ENGLISH GOTHIC ROOFS 63

XI. VAULTING 71

XII. VAULTING 73

CHRONOLOGY

The popular classification of English Gothic Architecture divides the style into four periods, thus:

Norman William I., 1066, to Richard I., 1189. Early English Richard I., 1189, to Edward I., 1272. Decorated Edward I., 1272, to Richard II., 1377. Perpendicular Richard II., 1377, to Edward VI., 1547.

These terms are useful, but not sufficiently descriptive. They were superseded by the late Edmund Sharpe’s “Seven Periods,” the terms of which are derived from the forms of the windows and their tracery, but are applicable to other details.

SHARPE’S “SEVEN PERIODS.”

Saxon 1066. Norman 1066 to 1145. Transitional 1145 ” 1190. Lancet 1190 ” 1245. Geometrical 1245 ” 1315. Curvilinear 1315 ” 1360. Rectilinear 1360 ” 1550.

PLATE I

BYZANTINE AND EARLY CHRISTIAN

English Church Architecture of the Middle Ages

INTRODUCTION

PLATE I

BYZANTINE AND EARLY CHRISTIAN

The term Gothic was applied originally as one of contempt in the fifteenth century by the architects of the Renaissance, who attempted to reproduce the ancient architecture of Rome, and considered Mediæval Art, which had ruled all departments of design throughout Europe during the three preceding centuries, to be no better than the invention of the Barbarians, the Goths, and the Vandals, who overran the Roman Empire in the fourth century. During the three previous centuries the persecuted converts to Christianity were driven to take refuge in any hiding-place available. In Rome they descended to the _Catacombs_, the underground workings of the ancient Roman stone quarries, consisting of narrow, low passages, their aggregate lengths amounting to hundreds of miles. There they quarried out of the rock their chambers for assembly, where they gathered for worship in the light of torches or lamps, and excavated recesses for the burial of their dead. These chambers were imitated in the form of the _Crypts_ (hidden chambers) existing under some churches and cathedrals. (Compare Plate I., Figs. 1 and 2.) The walls of the catacombs have rude incised inscriptions and carvings revealing the Christian Faith by symbols, such as the _cross_, suggesting the Crucifixion--the emblem of sacrifice; the _circle_, the line without end, the symbol of Eternity (Plate I., Fig. 3); the _triangle_, _trefoil_, and _triquetra_, symbols of the Trinity (Figs. 6, 7, and 8); the _quatrefoil_ of the four evangelists (Figs. 9 and 10). The _fish_ was adopted as a symbol of the Redeemer, because the letters of the Greek word _icthys_, when used as an acrostic, gave the initials of the words--Jesus, Christ, God, Son, Saviour (Plate I., Fig. 11). This symbol was extensively adopted in the decoration of baptismal fonts.

The _Vesica piscis_ (Latin, the bladder of a fish) (Plate I., Fig. 5) was used as a nimbus or glory to surround the figure of a sacred personage in sculpture and in painting. Its name shows the use of Latin terms in the Roman Church as distinguished from the Greek in _Byzantium_, which was an ancient Greek city adopted by Constantine, the Christian Emperor, as the capital of the eastern division of the Roman Empire under the new name of Constantinopolis--the modern Constantinople. But the term “Byzantine” has been retained in matters relating to art. Plate I., Figs. 15 and 16, show the Greek Cross, which is a version of the Greek letter _chi_ combined with the letter _rho_ (similar to the English _P_). This symbol represented the name Christ, and was the _Christian standard, the Labarum_, chosen by the Emperor Constantine.

Plate I., 3A. The sacred monogram generally found in church decoration stands for the Latin phrase _Jesus hominum Salvator_--“Jesus, the Saviour of men.” The Greek letters IHS (_iota, eta, sigma_) gave the first three letters of the name _Jesus_.

In the plan of an English cathedral or cruciform church, the symbol of the Latin Cross is made the basis of its form (Plate XI., Fig. 1). (The _Byzantine_ or Greek Cross has the four limbs of equal length.) The Nave, N. (Latin, _navis_, a ship, a symbol of the Church), is built from west to east. The Choir or Chancel, which is screened off by a _Cancellum_ or lattice, is in continuation of the Nave to the east end. This in some cathedrals includes the Lady Chapel, which was in mediæval times dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

In several churches and some cathedrals the head of the Cross, the Chancel or Choir, is not in line with the Nave, but is slightly inclined to one side--not in all cases the same side. Two explanations are given for this, one being its _orientation_--_i.e._, the axis of its length points to the rising of the sun on the day of its foundation, which does not coincide with that of the Nave, the Chancel having been commenced at an earlier or later date and different season of the year. The other theory is that it symbolises the head of Christ falling on one side in death.

Plate I., Fig. 14 (from the “Grammar of Ornament”), shows an ornamental design composed entirely of early Christian symbols. Plate I., Figs. 12 and 13, carved ornament and a capital bearing crude resemblance to an ancient Ionic capital. Both Figs. 12 and 13 are under the influence of Greek and Roman Art without reference to symbolism.

Plate I., Fig. 4, shows a _chevron_ (a French military ornament), a decoration dating back to ancient Egypt, where it symbolised the waves of the Nile, and was adopted in many later periods, and became conspicuous in the Norman arches of English architecture.

PLATE II

ANGLO-SAXON

PLATE II

ANGLO-SAXON

There can be no doubt that Christianity found its way into Britain early during the Roman occupation, but was suppressed through the violent persecutions by the Pagan tribes who ruled following the Roman departure A.D. 410, to be revived and further developed after the mission of St. Augustine, A.D. 597, from Rome to the Anglo-Saxons, who occupied Britain between the fifth and eleventh centuries.

The church of Greenstead, in Essex, is one of the most ancient in the country, and was built by Anglo-Saxons. Its walls are of substantial logs of timber placed upright upon a foundation of rude stonework. This method appears to be a survival of their method of building their dwellings.

Of stone buildings, the church tower of Barton-on-Humber (Plate II., Fig. 6) is a good example of Anglo-Saxon work. In it the external angles of the tower and of the door and window openings have their _quoins_ (corner stones) of _“long-and-short” work_, the name applied to Saxon masonry of this kind, in which long stones are placed on end with short stones laid flat, suggesting their origin to be the work of carpenters who would place timbers in such positions, contrasted with that of masons, who would place all stones horizontally or at right-angles to pressure.

In this example and the very fine one at Earls Barton, Northamptonshire, this “long-and-short” work is carried over the exterior of the wall as a kind of surface decoration.

Plate II., Fig. 3, shows the present-day manner of framing timbers in a partition with _sill_ (s.), posts or _studs_ (p.), lintel (l.), inclined _struts_, and _corbel-blocks_ (c.b.).

Saxon timber framing would be on similar lines, and this manner was perpetuated traditionally in their stone walls. The practice of imitating woodwork in stone and vice versa is one to be found in the works of all ages from remote antiquity. The heads of Saxon door and window openings were either semicircular (Plate II., Figs. 7, 8, and 9) or formed by placing two stones inclined to each other thus--ʌ, and a short column or rude baluster was sometimes placed between two windows.

[_Note._--The window over the clock face (Plate II., Fig. 6) is an insertion of a later period.]

The interesting little church at Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire, shows the same manner of building (Plate II., Fig. 1).

Anglo-Saxon bell-towers appear to have been generally covered with a roof of the form shown in Plate II., Fig. 5, as at Sompting, Sussex.

PLATE III

NORMAN, 1066-1189

PLATE III

NORMAN, 1066-1189

The Norman period dates from A.D. 1066, though the Norman manner of building had been adopted after the year 1000, when church building was revived after suspension in anticipation of the Millennium, which was expected to bring the end of the world. That dreaded year having safely passed, church building was vigorously revived. Timber construction had led to frequent disaster by fire, and as larger buildings were now required, better construction became imperative. Masonry must supersede carpentry in wall construction, and the necessary skilled labour came from Normandy.

The influx of superior talent following the Norman Conquest resulted in great improvement in every department of building. Stately _cathedrals_ were founded, each for the reception of the _cathedra_ or throne of the bishop. Abbeys and monasteries and parish churches for the clergy were built throughout the land, as proved by the existence of Norman work in most parts of the country.

Every period of English Gothic architecture has certain forms appearing in the general composition and details which help to fix the period to which they belong. In the Norman the _square_ and the _circle_, the right angle and the semicircle, are the prevailing figures suggestive of strength and severity so evident in the impressive naves of Ely, Peterborough, Norwich, Gloucester, Tewkesbury, and the fortress-like cathedral of Durham.

Plate III. gives a few details of work of the Norman period. The term _pier_ (Plate III., Fig. 1) defines the pillars or masses of masonry supporting the arches between the nave and aisles of a church. This example (Plate III., Fig. 1), from St. John’s Chapel in the White Tower of London, William the Conqueror’s residence, is circular with a square capital chamfered down to the circular pier, and has a slightly moulded _abacus_ (the crowning moulding of a capital).

Plate III., Fig. 2, the _cushion capital_, is the simplest kind of Norman capital. It is cubical, with its square faces rounded down to the shaft.

[_Note._--The _shafts_ of all English Gothic columns are cylindrical--_i.e._, without any diminution towards the top, in contrast with Greek and Roman shafts, which are always diminished.]

Plate III., Fig. 3, is the capital of a _respond_--a half-column attached to a wall and carrying an arch or part of a roof.

Plate III., Fig. 4, the _corbel-table_, or cornice underneath the eaves of a roof (_corbel_--a bracket).

Plate III., Fig. 5, the _base_ of a pier with _spur_ ornaments.

Plate III., Fig. 6, fragment of a Norman arch of _four orders_, each order being a separate arch, three of which are enriched with the Norman _chevron_. The _dripstone_ or _hood-moulding_ (d.s.) encloses the arch as in Plate III., Fig. 8, though its original function--to protect the moulding under it from weather--is not needed here, but it is generally introduced to give effective finish to the arch. The capitals in this group are _scallop capitals_. A small portion of a similar capital is shown at the right hand of Plate III., Fig. 3.

Plate III., Fig. 7, is a Norman font of the simple bowl form enriched with carved Norman heads connected by Byzantine ornament and surrounded with a _Norman arcade_ of intersecting arches--a feature often introduced in the walls of churches and cathedrals.

Plate III., Fig. 8, is a double-recessed window with an arch of three orders. The columns in the positions shown are called _jamb-shafts_ or _nook-shafts_; those on the right are _detached_ and may be removed, leaving the bases and capitals remaining. On the left the shafts are _engaged_--_i.e._, form part of the masonry of the wall. These two varieties are never found together as here, but are thus shown for convenience. The capitals are a variety of the cushion capital.

Plate III., Fig. 9, is a _cushion capital_ with the _triquetra_ symbol of the Trinity (Plate I., Fig. 8).

Byzantine influence is evident in the ornament of the capitals (Plate III., Figs. 1, 3, and 9), in the chevron (Plate III., Fig. 6), and the decoration of the font (Plate III., Fig. 7).

Norman walls depended for their strength upon their thickness, with the slight addition at intervals, where lateral pressure occurred, of thin pilaster-like buttresses projecting only a few inches equally from bottom to top.

PLATE IV

TRANSITIONAL, 1145-1190

(NORMAN TO EARLY ENGLISH)

PLATE IV

TRANSITIONAL, 1145-1190

The period of Transition from Norman to Early English dates from 1145 to 1190, in the reigns of Stephen and Richard I., the period when architecture gradually passed from the massiveness and severity of Romanesque, as expressed in the Norman, to the delicate refinement of Early English Gothic. In its general character there is much that is common to both periods. It is easily distinguished in its details as capitals, arches, carving, etc.

Plate IV., Figs. 1 and 3, show Transitional capitals in which the square abacus of the Norman remains and the concave surface of the body or bell contrasts with the convex of the Norman (Plate III., Figs. 2, 3, 6, and 9). Rude carving suggestive of foliage was sometimes introduced. The placing of two pointed arches under a semicircle (Plate IV., Fig. 2) is especially indicative of the Transitional period.

In the Transitional period the _pointed_ or _Gothic arch_ was first introduced, and established as the most characteristic feature of the Gothic style on account of its superior strength and fitness. In the Transition, hollows were introduced separating the rounds in mouldings (Plate IV., Fig. 4). In other respects Transitional work differs little from Norman.

PLATE V

EARLY ENGLISH

LANCET, 1190-1245 GEOMETRICAL, 1245-1315

PLATE V

EARLY ENGLISH, 1189-1272

In the Early English period knowledge of the true principles of architectural design and construction advanced considerably--mouldings and carving attained the highest refinement, and the work of the Early English period is admitted to be the purest of the Gothic style.

Improved scientific construction is most evident in the walls. The development of stone-vaulted roofs (a protection against fire) carried by arched ribs brought down the incumbent load on to the walls, producing thrusts upon them which had to be provided against. The old manner of making the wall of great thickness was wasteful and unsatisfactory. The happy idea of the Gothic _buttress_ fulfilled all the requirements, and produced one of the most beautiful features of the Gothic style. It was built in diminishing stages, its outline enclosing the graceful parabolic curve of nature--the path of the combined thrusts and their opposing reactions. This structure was carried to perfection when combined with the _flying-buttress_ (Plate VII., Fig. 10), which conducted the thrust from the lofty wall of the nave over the external roof of the aisle by an arch on the _wall-buttress_, which was strengthened to do its work by the addition of a heavy _pinnacle_. Plate V., Fig. 9, from Lichfield Cathedral, shows two buttresses of the Lancet period built to meet the thrust of the ribs carrying the vaulting of the Chapter-house and Library over. In one of these the approximate direction of the thrusts is indicated by the arrows _a_, _b_, which, if unopposed, would cause a collapse; the ultimate deflection of their path by the weight of the superincumbent masonry is indicated by dotted lines within the _buttress_, thereby producing equilibrium through the opposing resistance from the foundations along the same path.

In Plate V., Figs. 10 and 11, the piers had columns surrounding them whose shafts in the Lancet period were _detached_, but connected at their extremities by moulded _stone bands_ (A, B), and at the bases and capitals. These piers were sometimes carried to a great height, as those in Westminster Abbey, which have three of these _stone bands_ in their height. In the Geometrical period the shafts formed part of the main pier, were not detached, and resembled mouldings (Plate V., Fig. 11). Such shafts were described as _engaged_.

Plate V., Fig. 7, shows a tower with a _broach-spire_ belonging to the Early English period. In the figure the four broaches are the small pyramids covering the _squinch arches_ or _squinch corbels_, which carried four of the eight sides of the octagonal spire across the angles of the tower.

Plate V., Fig. 4, shows three _Lancet windows_ under a single arch or dripstone. This grouping of the windows soon suggested the design of tracery windows, in which the lights are separated by _mullions_, the simplest form being as represented in the Lichfield Chapter-house in Plate V., Fig. 9. Geometrical arrangements were invented from the simple one (Plate V., Fig. 5) to the elaborate windows and arcades of Westminster Abbey. Cusps (_spear points_) were formed in the tracery, the _Soffit-cusp_ (s.c.) projecting from the underside of the mullion, indicating early work and uncommon. All other cusps were worked on the _chamfer_ (c.c), their points being variously shaped.

In Plate V., Fig. 8, the capitals were either moulded, or carved with _stiff-leaf foliage_, being _conventional_--_i.e._, designed on natural principles, but not in imitation of nature, and sometimes of great beauty, but never so delicate as to suggest its unsuitability to the material in which it was wrought. Hollows in the arch and other mouldings were enriched with the _tooth ornament_ (Plate V., Fig. 12), which occurs in the Lancet period only.

Plate V., Fig. 2, shows the decoration of gables with _crockets_ and _finial_.

Plate V., Fig. 3, shows _diaper_ ornaments used in wall decoration.

Plate V., Fig. 6, shows a _string course_ and _dripstone_. All mouldings consist of large rounds and deep hollows, separated by fillets (a, b), and are frequently arranged in extensive groups, as in doorways, arcading, etc.

The Cathedral of Salisbury is the only one which is throughout belonging to the Early English period.

PLATE VI

DECORATED, 1272-1377

GEOMETRICAL, 1245-1315 CURVILINEAR, 1315-1360

PLATE VII

DECORATED, 1272-1377

PLATES VI AND VII

DECORATED, 1272-1377; GEOMETRICAL, 1245-1315; CURVILINEAR, 1315-1360

The term “decorated” is applied to the work of this period because of the superfluity of its ornaments. Almost every feature was enriched with carved ornament. The predominating form is the _curvilinear_ line, the _ogee_ or _ogival_ (Plate VI., Fig. 2), Hogarth’s “line of beauty and grace,” which occurs in the lines of tracery, the shape of arches, sections of mouldings, and of foliated ornament.

The Geometrical period, 1245-1315, is the overlapping of Early English and Decorated. The term Geometrical is applied on account of the window tracery, which is made up of circles and triangles more or less elaborate. The change from _Geometrical_ to _Curvilinear_ or _flowing_ tracery is demonstrated in Plate VII., Figs. 1, 2; Plate VII., Fig. 2, being a slight alteration of Plate VII., Fig. 1.

Plate VII., Fig. 5, _reticulated_--_net-like_--is a common example produced in the same manner as Plate VII., Fig. 2, and is adaptable to all shapes of windows. Many elaborate and beautiful designs were produced on these principles by extension of such elements as in Plate VII., Fig. 3.