OF THE NORMAN OR ANGLO-NORMAN STYLE.
Q. To what era may we assign the introduction of the Anglo-Norman style?
A. To the reign of Edward the Confessor, since that monarch is recorded by
the historians, Matthew Paris and William of Malmesbury, to have rebuilt
(A. D. 1065) the Abbey Church at Westminster in a new style of
architectural design, which furnished an example afterwards followed by
many in the construction of churches.[52-*]
Q. Is any portion of the structure erected by Edward the Confessor
remaining?
A. A crypt of early Norman work under the present edifice or buildings
attached to it is supposed to have been part of the church constructed by
that monarch.
Q. During what period of time did this style prevail?
A. From about A. D. 1065 to the close of the twelfth century.
Q. By what means are we to distinguish this style from the styles of a
later period?
A. It is distinguished without difficulty by its semicircular arches, its
massive piers, which are generally square or cylindrical, though sometimes
multangular in form, and from numerous ornamental details and mouldings
peculiar to the style.
Q. What part of the original building has generally been preserved in
those churches that were built by the Normans, when all the rest has been
demolished and rebuilt in a later style of architecture?
[Illustration: Norman Doorway, Wolston Church, Warwickshire.]
A. There appears to have been a prevalent custom, among those architects
who succeeded the Normans, to preserve the doorways of those churches they
rebuilt or altered; for many such doorways still remain in churches, the
other portions of which were built at a much later period. Thus in the
tower of Kenilworth Church, Warwickshire, is a Norman doorway of singular
design, from the square band or ornamental facia which environs it. This
is a relic of a more ancient edifice than the structure in which it now
appears, and which is of the fourteenth century; and the external masonry
of the doorway is not tied into the walls of more recent construction, but
exhibits a break all round. The church of Stoneleigh, in the same county,
contains in the north wall a fine Norman doorway, which has been left
undisturbed, though the wall on each side of Norman construction, has been
altered, not by demolition, but by the insertion, in the fourteenth
century, of decorated windows in lieu of the original small Norman lights.
Q. Were the Norman doorways much ornamented?
A. Many rich doorways were composed of a succession of receding
semicircular arches springing from rectangular-edged jambs, and detached
shafts with capitals in the nooks; which shafts, together with the arches,
were often enriched with the mouldings common to this style. Sometimes the
sweep of mouldings which faced the architrave was continued without
intermission down the jambs or sides of the doorway; and in small country
churches Norman doorways, quite plain in their construction, or with but
few mouldings, are to be met with. There is, perhaps, a greater variety of
design in doorways of this than of any other style; and of the numerous
mouldings with which they in general abound more or less, the chevron, or
zig-zag, appears to have been the most common.
Q. In what other respect were these doors sometimes ornamented?
A. The semicircular-shaped stone, which we often find in the tympanum at
the back of the head of the arch, is generally covered with rude sculpture
in basso relievo, sometimes representing a scriptural subject, as the
temptation of our first parents on the tympanum of a Norman doorway at
Thurley Church, Bedfordshire; sometimes a legend, as a curious and very
early sculpture over the south door of Fordington Church, Dorsetshire,
representing a scene in the story of St. George; and sometimes symbolical,
as the representation of fish, serpents, and chimeræ on the north doorway
of Stoneleigh Church, Warwickshire. The figure of our Saviour in a sitting
attitude, holding in his left hand a book, and with his right arm and hand
upheld, in allusion to the saying, _I am the way, and the truth, and the
life_, and circumscribed by that mystical figure the _Vesica piscis_,
appears over Norman doorways at Ely Cathedral; Rochester Cathedral;
Malmesbury Abbey Church; Elstow Church, Bedfordshire; Water Stratford
Church, Buckinghamshire; and Barfreston Church, Kent; and is not
uncommon.
Q. Are there many Norman porches?
A. Norman porches occur at Durham Cathedral; Malmesbury Abbey Church;
Sherbourne Abbey Church; and Witney Church, Oxfordshire; but they are not
very common. The roof of the porch was usually groined with simple cross
springers and moulded ribs; and in some instances a room over has been
added at a later period. Numerous portals of the Norman era appear
constructed within a shallow projecting mass of masonry, similar in
appearance to the broad projecting buttress, and, like that, finished on
the upper edge with a plain slope. This was to give a sufficiency of depth
to the numerous concentric arches successively receding in the thickness
of the wall, which could not otherwise be well attained.
Q. What kind of windows were those belonging to this style?
A. The windows were mostly small and narrow, seldom of more than one
light, except belfry windows, which were usually divided into two
round-headed lights by a shaft, with a capital and abacus. Early in the
style the windows were quite plain; afterwards they were ornamented in a
greater or less degree, sometimes with the chevron or zig-zag, and
sometimes with roll or cylinder mouldings; in many instances, also, shafts
were inserted at the sides, the window jambs were simply splayed in one
direction only, and the space between them increased in width inwardly.
[Illustration: Norman Window, Ryton Church, Warwickshire.]
Q. Do we meet with any circular or wheel-shaped windows of the Norman era?
A. A circular window, with divisions formed by small shafts and
semicircular or trefoiled arches, disposed so as to converge to a common
centre, sometimes occurs in the gable at the east end of a Norman church,
as at Barfreston Church, Kent; and New Shoreham Church, Sussex; and are
not uncommon.
[Illustration: Early Norman Window, Darent Church, Kent, with incipient
zig-zag moulding.]
Q. What kinds of piers were the Norman piers?
A. Early in the style they were (with some exceptions, as in the crypts
beneath the cathedrals of Canterbury and Worcester) very massive, and the
generality plain and cylindrical; though sometimes they were square, which
was indeed the most ancient shape; sometimes they appear with rectangular
nooks or recesses; and, in large churches, Norman piers had frequently one
or more semicylindrical pier-shafts attached, disposed either in nooks or
on the face of the pier. We sometimes meet with octagonal piers, as in the
cathedrals of Oxford and Peterborough, the conventual church at Ely, and
in the ruined church of Buildwas Abbey, Salop; and also, though rarely,
with piers covered with spiral flutings, as one is in Norwich Cathedral;
with the spiral cable moulding, as one is in the crypt of Canterbury
Cathedral; and encircled with a spiral band, as one appears in the ruined
chapel at Orford, in Suffolk; sometimes, also, they appear covered with
ornamental mouldings. Late in the style the piers assume a greater
lightness in appearance, and are sometimes clustered and banded round with
mouldings, and approximate in design those of a subsequent style.
Q. How are the capitals distinguished?
A. The general outline and shape of the Norman capital is that of a square
cubical mass, having the lower part rounded off with a contour resembling
that of an ovolo moulding; the face on each side of the upper part of the
capital is flat, and it is often separated from the lower part by an
escalloped edge; and where such division is formed by more than one
escallop, the lower part is channelled between each, and the spaces below
the escalloped edges are worked or moulded so as to resemble inverted and
truncated semicones.
[Illustration: Norman Capital, Steetley Church, Derbyshire.]
Besides the plain capital thus described, of which instances with the
single escalloped edge occur in the crypts beneath the cathedrals of
Canterbury, Winchester, and Worcester, and with a series of escalloped
edges, or what would be heraldically termed _invected_, in many of the
capitals of the Norman piers in Norwich Cathedral, an extreme variety of
design in ornamental accessories prevail, the general form and outline of
the capital being preserved; and some exhibit imitations of the Ionic
volute and Corinthian acanthus, whilst many are covered with rude
sculpture in relief. They are generally finished with a plain square
abacus moulding, with the under edge simply bevelled or chamfered;
sometimes a slight angular moulding occurs between the upper face and
slope of the abacus, and sometimes the abacus alone intervenes between the
pier and the spring of the arch. There are also many round capitals, as,
for instance, those in the nave of Gloucester Cathedral, but they are
mostly late in the style.
[Illustration: Norman Arcade, St. Augustine’s, Canterbury.]
Q. What is observable in the bases of the piers?
A. The common base moulding resembles in form or contour a quirked ovolo
reversed; there are, however, many exceptions.
[Illustration: Norman Base, Romsey Church, Hants.]
Q. How are the arches distinguished?
A. By their semicircular form; they are generally double-faced, or formed
of two concentric divisions, one receding within the other. Early in the
style they are plain and square-edged; late in the style they are often
found enriched with the zig-zag and roll mouldings, or some other
ornament. Sometimes the curvature of the arch does not immediately spring
from the capital or impost, but is raised or stilted.
Q. What parts of Norman churches do we generally find vaulted?
A. In cathedral and large conventual churches built in the Norman style we
find the crypts and aisles vaulted with stone, but not the nave or choir;
and over the vaulting of the aisles was the triforium. In small Norman
churches the chancel is generally the only part vaulted; and between the
vaulting and outer roof is, in some instances, a small loft or chamber.
Sometimes we find the original design for vaulting to have been commenced
and left unfinished.
[Illustration: Norman Arch and Piers, Melbourne Church, Derbyshire.]
Q. Of what description was the Norman vaulting?
A. The bays of vaulting were generally either squares or parallelograms,
though sometimes not rectangular in shape, and each was divided into four
concave vaulting cells by diagonal and intersecting groins, thus forming
what is called a quadripartite vault. Early in the style the diagonal
edges of the groins appear without ribs or mouldings; at an advanced stage
they are supported by square-edged ribs of cut stone; and late in the
style the ribs and groins are faced with roll or cylinder mouldings. They
are also sometimes profusely covered with the zig-zag moulding and other
ornamental details.
Q. What is observable with respect to Norman masonry?
A. In general the walls are faced on each side with a thin shell of ashlar
or cut stone, whilst the intervening space, which is sometimes
considerable, is filled with grouted rubble. Masses of this grout-work
masonry, from which the facing of cut stone has been removed, we often
find amongst ruined edifices of early date.
Q. Were there any buttresses used at this period?
[Illustration: Norman Buttress, Chancel of St. Mary’s, Leicester.]
A. Yes; but the walls being enormously thick, and requiring little
additional support, those in use are like pilasters, with a broad face
projecting very little from the building; and they seem to have been
derived from the pilaster strips of stonework in Anglo-Saxon masonry. They
are generally of a single stage only, but sometimes of more, and are not
carried up higher than the cornice, under which they often but not always
finish with a slope. They appear as if intended rather to relieve the
plain external surface of the wall than to strengthen it. Norman portals
not unfrequently occur, formed in the thickness of a broad but shallow
pilaster buttress, as at Iffley Church, Oxfordshire, and at Stoneleigh and
Hampton-in-Arden Churches, Warwickshire, and elsewhere. This kind of
buttress was also used in the next, or Semi-Norman style.
Q. Were there any towers?
A. Yes; they were generally very low and massive; and the exterior,
especially of the upper story, was often decorated with arcades of blank
semicircular and intersecting arches; the parapet consisted of a plain
projecting blocking-course, supported by the corbel table.
Q. Do pinnacles appear to have been known to the Normans?
A. Although some are of opinion that the pinnacle was not introduced till
after the adoption of the pointed style, many Norman buildings have
pinnacles of a conical shape, which are apparently part of the original
design.
Q. What distinction occurs in the construction of the small country
churches of this style, and the larger buildings of conventual foundation?
A. Small Norman churches consisted of a single story only; cathedral and
conventual churches were carried up to a great height, and were frequently
divided into three tiers, the lowest of which consisted of single arches,
separating the nave from the aisles: above each of these arches in the
second tier were two smaller arches constructed beneath a larger;
sometimes the same space was occupied by a single arch; and in this tier
was the triforium or gallery. In the third tier or clerestory were
frequently arcades of three arches connected together, the middle one of
which was higher and broader than the others: and all these three occupied
a space only equal to the span of the lowest arch. Blank arcades were also
much used in the exterior walls, as well as in the interior of rich
Norman buildings; and some of the arches which composed them were often
pierced for windows.
Q. What were the mouldings principally used in the decoration of Norman
churches?
A. The chevron, or zig-zag, which is not always single, but often
duplicated, triplicated, or quadrupled.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
The reversed zig-zag.
[Illustration]
The indented moulding.
[Illustration]
The embattled moulding.
[Illustration]
The dovetail moulding.
[Illustration]
The beak head.
[Illustration]
The nebule, chiefly used for the fascia under a parapet.
[Illustration]
The billet.
[Illustration]
The square billet, or corbel bole, used for supporting a blocking course.
[Illustration]
The cable moulding.
[Illustration]
The double cone.
[Illustration]
The pellet, or stud.
[Illustration]
The hatched, or saw tooth.
[Illustration]
The nail head.
[Illustration]
The lozenge.
[Illustration]
The studded trellis.
[Illustration]
The diamond fret.
[Illustration]
The medallion.
[Illustration]
The star.
[Illustration]
The scalloped or invected moulding.
[Illustration]
A variety of other mouldings and ornamental accessories are also to be met
with, but those above described are the most common.
Q. What kind of string-course do we usually find carried along the walls
of Norman churches, just below the windows?
A. A string-course similar in form to the common Norman abacus, with a
plain face and the under part bevelled, is of most frequent occurrence; a
plain semihexagon string-course is also often to be met with. Sometimes
the string-course is ornamented with the zig-zag moulding.
[Illustration: Norman Mouldings, from Binham Church, Norfolk, and
Peterborough.]
Q. What difference is there as to their general character and appearance
between the early and late examples of Norman architecture?
A. The details of those buildings early in the style are characterized by
their massiveness, simplicity, and plain appearance; the single or
double-faced semicircular arches, both of doorways and windows, as well as
the arches supporting the clerestory walls, are generally devoid of
ornament, and the edges of the jambs and arches are square. The undercroft
of Canterbury Cathedral, the work of Archbishop Lanfranc, between A. D.
1073 and A. D. 1080; the crypt and transepts of Winchester Cathedral, built
by Bishop Walkelyn between A. D. 1079 and A. D. 1093; the plain Norman work
of the Abbey Church at St. Alban’s, built by Abbot Paul, between
1077-1093; and the north and south aisles of the choir of Norwich
Cathedral, the work of Bishop Herbert, between A. D. 1096 and A. D. 1101,
not to multiply examples, may be enumerated as instances of plain and
early Norman work. In buildings late in the style we find a profusion of
ornamental detail of a peculiar character, and numerous semi and
tripartite cylindrical mouldings on the faces and edges of arches and
vaulting-ribs. The transepts of Peterborough Cathedral, built by Abbot
Waterville between A. D. 1155 and A. D. 1175, exhibit vaulting-groins faced
with roll mouldings, and other details of an advanced stage; whilst the
Galilee, Durham Cathedral, built by Bishop Pudsey, A. D. 1180, is
remarkable for the lightness and elongation of the piers, which are formed
of clustered columns; and the semicircular arches which spring from these
are enriched both on the face and soffits with the chevron or zig-zag
moulding. There are many intermediate gradations between the extreme plain
and massive work of early date, and the enrichments, mouldings, and
elongated proportions to be found late in the style; and in detail we may
perceive an almost imperceptible merging into that style which succeeded
the Norman.
[Illustration: Base. Crypt, St. Peter’s, Oxford, c. 1100.]
FOOTNOTES:
[52-*] Defunctus autem Rex beatissimus in crastino sepultus est Londini,
in Ecclesia, quam ipse novo compositionis genere construxerat, a qua
post, multi Ecclesias construentes, exemplum adepti, opus illud expensis
œmulabantur sumptuosis.--MATT. PARIS.
[Illustration: Vesica Piscis in the tympan of the south doorway, Ely
Cathedral]