GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE IN GREAT BRITAIN.
English Gothic architecture has been usually subdivided into three
periods or stages of advancement, corresponding to those enumerated on
page 1; the early stage known as Early English, or sometimes as
Lancet, occupying the thirteenth century and something more; the
middle stage, known as Decorated, occupying most of the fourteenth
century; and the latest stage, known as Perpendicular, occupying the
fifteenth century and part of the sixteenth.
The duration of each of these coincides approximately with the
century, the transition from each phase to the next taking place
chiefly in the last quarter of the century. Adding the periods of the
English types of round arched Architecture, we obtain the following
table:--
Up to 1066 or up to middle of 11th century, SAXON.
A.D. 1066 to 1189 or up to end of 12th " NORMAN.
A.D. 1189 to 1307 or up to end of 13th " EARLY ENGLISH.
A.D. 1307 to 1377 or up to end of 14th " DECORATED.
A.D. 1377 to 1546 or up to middle of 16th " PERPENDICULAR.
The term "Early English" (short for Early English Gothic) applied to
English thirteenth-century architecture explains itself.
The term "Lancet" sometimes applied to the Early English style, is
derived from the shape of the ordinary window-heads, which resemble
the point of a lancet in outline (Fig. 16). Whatever term be adopted,
it is necessary to remark that a wide difference exists between the
earlier and the late examples of this period. It will suffice for our
purposes if, when speaking of the fully-developed style of the late
examples, we refer to it as Advanced Early English.
The architecture of the fourteenth century is called "Decorated," from
the great increase of ornament, especially in window tracery and
carved enrichments.
The architecture of the fifteenth century is called "Perpendicular,"
from the free use made of perpendicular lines, both in general
features and in ornaments, especially in the tracery of the windows
and the panelling with which walls are ornamented.[4]
The following condensed list, partly from Morant,[5] of the most
striking peculiarities of each period, may be found useful for
reference, and is on that account placed here, notwithstanding that it
contains many technical words, for the meaning of which the student
must consult the Glossary which forms part of this volume.
ANGLO-SAXON--(Prior to the Norman Conquest).--
Rude work and rough material; walls mostly of rubble or
ragstone with ashlar at the angles in long and short courses
alternately; openings with round or triangular heads,
sometimes divided by a rude baluster. Piers plain, square,
and narrow. Windows splayed externally and internally. Rude
square blocks of stone in place of capitals and bases.
Mouldings generally semi-cylindrical and coarsely chiselled.
Corners of buildings square without buttresses.
NORMAN. William I. A.D. 1066.
William II. " 1087.
Henry I. " 1100.
Stephen " 1135.
Henry II. " 1154 to 1189.
Arches semicircular, occasionally stilted; at first plain,
afterwards enriched with chevron or other mouldings; and
frequent repetition of same ornament on each stone. Piers
low and massive, cylindrical, square, polygonal, or composed
of clustered shafts, often ornamented with spiral bands and
mouldings. Windows generally narrow and splayed internally
only; sometimes double and divided by a shaft. Walls
sometimes a series of arcades, a few pierced as windows, the
rest left blank. Doorways deeply recessed and richly
ornamented with bands of mouldings. Doors often square
headed, but under arches the head of the arch filled with
carving. Capitals carved in outline, often grotesquely
sculptured with devices of animals and leaves. Abacus
square, lower edge moulded. Bases much resembling the
classic orders. The mouldings at first imperfectly formed.
Pedestals of piers square. Buttresses plain, with broad
faces and small projections. Parapets plain with projecting
corbel table under.
Plain mouldings consist of chamfers, round or pointed rolls
at edges, divided from plain face by shallow channels.
Enriched mouldings--the chevrons or zig-zag, the billet
square or round, the cable, the lozenge, the chain, nail
heads, and others. Niches with figures over doorways. Roofs
of moderately high pitch, and open to the frame; timbers
chiefly king-post trusses. Towers square and massive--those
of late date richly adorned with arcades. Openings in towers
often beautifully grouped. Vaulting waggon-headed, and
simple intersecting vaults of semicircular outline.
Towards the close of the style in reign of Henry II.,
details of transitional character begin to appear. Pointed
arch with Norman pier. Arcades of intersecting semicircular
arches. Norman abacus blended with Early English foliage in
capitals.
EARLY ENGLISH. Richard I. A.D. 1189 _Transition._
John " 1199.
Henry III. " 1216.
Edward I. " 1272 to 1307.
General proportions more slender, and height of walls,
columns, &c., greater. Arches pointed, generally lancet;
often richly moulded. Triforium arches and arcades open with
trefoiled heads. Piers slender, composed of a central
circular shaft surrounded by several smaller ones, almost or
quite detached; generally with horizontal bands. In small
buildings plain polygonal and circular piers are used.
Capitals concave in outline, moulded, or carved with
conventional foliage delicately executed and arranged
vertically. The abacus always undercut. Detached shafts
often of Purbeck marble. Base a deep hollow between two
rounds. Windows at first long, narrow, and deeply splayed
internally, the glass within a few inches of outer face of
wall; later in the style less acute, divided by mullions,
enriched with cusped circles in the head, often of three or
more lights, the centre light being the highest. Doorways
often deeply recessed and enriched with slender shafts and
elaborate mouldings. Shafts detached. Buttresses about equal
in projection to width, with but one set-off, or without
any. Buttresses at angles always in pairs. Mouldings bold
and deeply undercut, consisting chiefly of round mouldings
sometimes pointed or with a fillett, separated by deep
hollows. Great depth of moulded surface generally arranged
on rectangular planes. Hollows of irregular curve sometimes
filled with dogtooth ornament or with foliage. Roofs of
high pitch, timbers plain, and where there is no vault open.
Early in the style finials were plain bunches of leaves;
towards the close beautifully carved finials and crockets
with carved foliage of conventional character were
introduced. Flat surfaces often richly diapered. Spires
broached. Vaulting pointed with diagonal and main ribs only;
ridge ribs not introduced till late in the style; bosses at
intersection of ribs.
DECORATED. Edward II. A.D. 1307.
Edward III. " 1377 to 1379.
Proportions less lofty than in the previous style. Arches
mostly inclosing an equilateral angle, the mouldings often
continued down the pier. Windows large, and divided into two
or more lights by mullions. Tracery in the head, at first
composed geometrical forms, later of flowing character.
Clerestory windows generally small. Diamond shaped piers
with shafts engaged. Capitals with scroll moulding on under
side of abacus, with elegant foliage arranged horizontally.
Doors frequently without shafts, the arch moulding running
down the jambs. Rich doorways and windows often surrounded
with triangular and ogee-shaped canopies. Buttresses in
stages variously ornamented. Parapet pierced with
quatrefoils and flowing tracery. Niches panelled and with
projecting canopies. Spires lofty; the broach rarely used,
parapets and angle pinnacles take the place of it. Roofs of
moderate pitch open to the framing. Mouldings bold and
finely proportioned, generally in groups, the groups
separated from each other by hollows, composed of segments
of circles. Deep hollows, now generally confined to inner
angles. Mouldings varying in size and kind, arranged on
diagonal as well as rectangular planes, often ornamented
with ball flower. Foliage chiefly of ivy, oak, and vine
leaves; natural, also conventional. Rich crockets, finials,
and pinnacles. Vaulting with intermediate ribs, ridge ribs,
and late in the style lierne ribs, and bosses.
PERPENDICULAR. Richard II. A.D. 1377. (_Transition._)
Henry IV. " 1399.
Henry V. " 1413.
Henry VI. " 1422.
Edward IV. " 1461.
Edward V. " 1483.
Richard III. " 1483.
TUDOR. Henry VII. " 1485.
Henry VIII. " 1509 to 1546.
Arches at first inclosing an equilateral triangle,
afterwards obtusely pointed and struck from four centres.
Piers generally oblong; longitudinal direction north and
south. Mouldings continued from base through arch. Capitals
with mouldings large, angular, and few, with abacus and bell
imperfectly defined. Foliage of conventional character,
shallow, and square in outline. Bases polygonal. Windows
where lofty divided into stories by transoms. The mullions
often continued perpendicularly into the head. Canopies of
ogee character enriched with crockets. Doors generally with
square label over arch, the spandrels filled with ornament.
Buttresses with bold projection often ending in finials.
Flying buttresses pierced with tracery. Walls profusely
ornamented with panelling. Parapets embattled and panelled.
Open timber roofs of moderate pitch, of elaborate
construction, often with hammer beams, richly ornamented
with moulded timbers, carved figures of angels and with
pierced tracery in spandrels. Roofs sometimes of very flat
pitch. Lofty clerestories. Mouldings large, coarse, and with
wide and shallow hollows and hard wiry edges, meagre in
appearance and wanting in minute and delicate detail,
generally arranged on diagonal planes. Early in the style
the mouldings partake of decorated character.
In the Tudor period depressed four-centered arch prevails;
transoms of windows battlemented. Tudor flower, rose,
portcullis, and fleur-de-lis common ornaments. Crockets and
pinnacles much projected. Roofs of low pitch.
Vaulting. Fan vaulting, with tracery and pendants
elaborately carved.
Other modes of distinguishing the periods of English Gothic have been
proposed by writers of authority. The division given above is that of
Rickman, and is generally adopted. A more minute subdivision and a
different set of names were proposed by Sharpe as follows:--
ROMANESQUE. Saxon A.D. to 1066.
Norman " 1066 to 1145.
GOTHIC. Transitional " 1145 to 1190.
Lancet " 1190 to 1245.
Geometrical " 1245 to 1315.
Curvilinear " 1315 to 1360.
Rectilinear " 1360 to 1550.
Of the new names proposed by Mr. Sharpe "transitional" explains
itself; and "geometrical, curvilinear, and rectilinear" refer to the
characters of the window tracery at the different periods which they
denote.[6]
* * * * *
The history of English Gothic proper may be said to begin with the
reign of Henry II., coinciding very nearly with the commencement of
the period named by Mr. Sharpe transitional (1145 to 1190), when
Norman architecture was changing into Gothic. This history we propose
now to consider somewhat in detail, dividing the buildings in the
simplest possible way, namely, into floors, walls, columns, roofs,
openings, and ornaments. After this we shall have to consider the mode
in which materials were used by the builders of the Gothic period,
_i.e._ the construction of the buildings; and the general artistic
principles which guided their architects, _i.e._ the design of the
buildings.
* * * * *
It may be useful to students in and near London to give Sir G. Gilbert
Scott's list of striking London examples[7] of Gothic architecture
(with the omission of such examples as are more antiquarian than
architectural in their interest):--
_Norman_ (temp. Conquest).--The Keep and Chapel of the Tower
of London.
_Advanced Norman._--Chapel of St. Catherine, Westminster
Abbey; St. Bartholomew's Priory, Smithfield.
_Transitional._--The round part of the Temple Church.
_Early English._--Eastern part of the Temple Church; Choir
and Lady Chapel of St. Mary Overy, Southwark; Chapel of
Lambeth Palace.
_Advanced Early English_ (passing to decorated).--Eastern
part of Westminster Abbey generally and its Chapter House.
_Early Decorated._--Choir of Westminster, (but this has been
much influenced by the design of the earlier parts
adjacent); Chapel of St. Etheldreda, Ely Place, Holborn.
_Late Decorated._--The three bays of the Cloister at
Westminster opposite the entrance to Chapter House; Crypt of
St. Stephen's Chapel, Westminster; Dutch Church, Austin
Friars.
_Early Perpendicular._--South and West walks of the
Cloister, Westminster; Westminster Hall.
_Advanced Perpendicular (Tudor period)._--Henry VII.'s
Chapel; Double Cloister of St. Stephen's, Westminster.
FOOTNOTES:
[4] The abbreviations, E. E., Dec., and Perp., will be employed to
denote these three periods.
[5] _Notes on English Architecture, Costumes, Monuments, &c._
_Privately printed._ Quoted here with the author's permission.
[6] See examples in Chapter V. and in Glossary.
[7] Address to Conference of Architects, _Builder_, June 24, 1876.
[Illustration: {SCULPTURED ORNAMENT FROM WESTMINSTER ABBEY.}]