THE AISLED PARISH CHURCH
II. TRANSEPTS AND CHANCEL
Sec. 58. The aisled nave, with its usual appendages of porch and tower, has
now been described at length. Before we proceed to the development of
the chancel, the transepts or transeptal chapels of the parish church
invite discussion. The distinction between true transepts, in churches
with central towers, and the transeptal chapels which are nothing more
than northern and southern extensions of the aisles, has been made
already; and it has been seen that the cruciform plan with central tower
reached a very full state of perfection during the twelfth century.
Further dignity was given to some cruciform churches by the addition of
aisles to the transepts. St Mary Redcliffe at Bristol, the plan of which
is that of a large collegiate or cathedral rather than a parish church,
has transepts with eastern and western aisles: there is no central
tower, but the transepts form a definite cross-arm to the church, which
was designed with regard to the central point formed by the crossing of
a longitudinal and a transverse axis. There are few churches in England
as beautiful as that of Melton Mowbray, with its aisled transepts and
tower above the crossing: had the chancel only been planned on a larger
scale and with aisles, the unrivalled beauty and dignity of St Mary
Redcliffe might have been approached here. The cruciform plan with
central tower is the most noble of all church plans, when carried out by
builders with large ideas. Churches like Ludlow, Nantwich, Holy Trinity
and St John's at Coventry, St Mary's at Beverley, excite an admiration
which is the natural result of the fact that the plan, instead of
straggling in the ordinary way from east to west, is brought to a focus
beneath the central tower.
[Illustration: Fig. 14. Plan of 13th century church: west tower, south
porch, unequal transeptal chapels.]
Sec. 59. Apart, however, from the tower above the crossing, the transept
had a value of its own. It gave additional room for the side altars of
the church. The transeptal chapels at Worth allowed of greater width for
the chancel arch: the altars, which naturally would have stood against
the wall on either side of the chancel arch, could be placed within
these excrescences from the north and south walls of the church, and the
central space was thus left clear. This method of extension of the
church by adding north and south chapels to the nave was pursued
throughout the middle ages. The thirteenth century plan of Acton Burnell
is virtually identical with the tenth or eleventh century plan of
Worth. In aisled churches, such transeptal additions are simply
outgrowths of the aisle walls, and were not necessarily planned with any
regard to the spacing of the arcades of the nave. They may, of course,
be placed symmetrically at the east end of the aisles, the width of each
chapel corresponding to the width of the arch of the arcade which is
opposite its opening. Thus Exton church in Rutland, rebuilt about the
beginning of the thirteenth century, has north and south transeptal
chapels whose width is that of the eastern bay of each arcade. A
transverse arch was thrown across each aisle at its junction with the
adjacent chapel. Here the chapels form quasi-transepts in perfect union
with the design of nave and aisles. Symmetrical plans in which it is
clear at a glance that the transeptal chapels are developments of the
aisles, and have no necessary relation to the nave, are those of
Kegworth in Leicestershire, rebuilt in the fourteenth century, and
Aylsham, Cawston, and Sall in Norfolk, which belong to the fifteenth
century. But even more obvious than these are the plans in which
transeptal chapels have been thrown out at different periods, or even at
one and the same period, without the least regard to symmetry. A small
aisleless nave at Stretton in Rutland received a north aisle about the
beginning of the thirteenth century. Soon after, the eastern part of the
side walls was taken down, and chapels built out to north and south. The
width of the south chapel was determined by that of the old chancel
arch, which was rebuilt between the chapel and the nave, there being no
aisle on that side. The north chapel, on the other hand, was formed
simply by returning the wall of the aisle northward, and throwing a
transverse arch across the aisle from the wall above the arcade. Its
width corresponds roughly with that of the south chapel, but has no
correspondence with that of the adjacent bay of the arcade. Examples of
this form of growth of plan, dictated by convenience and the necessity
of the moment, are common in every part of England.
Sec. 60. It is quite clear that the transeptal chapel, being nothing more
than an excrescence from the wall of a nave or aisle, is a feature which
may be treated with some freedom. Its width and length are dependent
upon the convenience and will of the builders. The north chapel of the
aisleless church of Clapton-in-Gordano, Somerset, is entered by an arch
in the east part of the north wall: the chapel itself, however, extends
some distance westward, so that its longer axis is parallel to the
longer axis of the nave. The south chapel, again, at Lowick in
Northamptonshire has its longer axis from east to west, although its
roof is at right angles to that of the adjacent aisle. Externally, its
transeptal character is apparent; internally, it has the appearance of
an additional south aisle. A chantry was founded in this chapel in 1498.
Very often, where special chantry chapels were built, they took the
position of transeptal chapels. Cases in point are the late Gothic
chantry chapels in All Saints and St Lawrence's at Evesham. Such chapels
may obviously be lengthened westward, like the chapel at
Clapton-in-Gordano, so that they become additional aisles. The Milcombe
chapel at Bloxham in Oxfordshire, the Greenway aisle at Tiverton in
Devonshire, and the side chapels of the north and south aisles at St
Andrew's, Plymouth, and Plympton St Mary are the logical outcome of the
habit of adding transeptal chapels to the plan. Two transeptal chapels
of the ordinary type are found in other Devonshire churches rebuilt in
the fifteenth century, as at East Portlemouth: the Kirkham chapel at
Paignton, famous for its carved stone-work, is transeptal. From this it
is but a step to the chapels at Plymouth and Plympton, with their longer
axes from east to west: while the aisle at Tiverton (1517) develops
naturally, in the churches of Cullompton (1526) and Ottery St Mary
(before 1530), into a vaulted aisle the full length of the nave. At
Bloxham, on the other hand, the Milcombe chapel, which extends from the
east wall of the south aisle as far as the porch, was probably grafted
upon an earlier and smaller transeptal chapel. A comparison with the
neighbouring church of Adderbury shows that the fabric of the transeptal
chapels at Adderbury is largely of the twelfth century. The north chapel
at Bloxham is, in its present state, much later; but the similarity of
plan to that of Adderbury leads to the justifiable conclusion that it
was rebuilt on old foundations, and that there was a similar south
chapel. About 1290 the aisles at Bloxham were widened, and a beautiful
arcade of two bays was built at the east end of the north aisle, between
it and the north chapel. Within the next few years, the aisles at
Adderbury were also widened, and arcades similar to that at Bloxham,
though coarser in detail, were built at the east end of either aisle.
The projection of the transeptal chapels from the side walls was now
very slight; and, in the fifteenth century, the projection of the south
chapel at Bloxham was absorbed by the building of the Milcombe chapel,
between which and the south aisle an arcade of two bays was made. There
is more intrinsic interest in this gradual development of plan than in
the Devonshire plans we have noticed, which are all due to fifteenth
century rebuildings; and the mutual influence exercised throughout the
middle ages by two neighbouring churches like Bloxham and Adderbury
gives us an insight into the progress of local art which the energy of
fifteenth century masons in certain districts has somewhat obscured.
From the arrangement of the south transept at Adderbury, there appear to
have been two altars in each of the chapels.
Sec. 61. Transeptal chapels occasionally appear in unusual positions. For
example, at Branscombe in south Devon, there is a tower between nave and
chancel. There are, however, no transepts; but transeptal chapels are
built out from the walls of the aisleless nave, west of the tower. These
chapels appear to be enlargements of earlier transeptal chapels; while
the tower seems to have been built over the chancel of the earlier
church. Heckington church in south Lincolnshire was rebuilt in the
fourteenth century. The nave has aisles with transeptal chapels, very
regular and symmetrical in plan, but is continued beyond the opening of
the transeptal projections by an aisleless bay, east of which comes the
chancel arch. At Bottesford in north Lincolnshire, where much rebuilding
was done in the thirteenth century, the transeptal chapels open from the
bay east of the chancel arch. In the case of Heckington, the earlier
church was probably cruciform: when the rebuilding came to pass, the
ground plan of the western portion of the church was kept, while the
chancel was built on an extended plan, and the site of the western part
of the old chancel thrown into the nave. The case of Bottesford is
probably accounted for in the opposite way: the site was not enlarged
eastwards, but the chancel was lengthened by the absorption of the
eastern part of the old nave.
Sec. 62. There are a number of cases in which transeptal chapels have been
kept from an earlier cruciform plan, in which they may have formed true
transepts. The fine church of Oundle, whose western tower and spire
already have been mentioned as built about 1400, has very fully
developed transeptal chapels. The nave and aisles, and the greater part
of the chapels, are, in their present state, work of the thirteenth
century; but the eastern bay of the present nave was entirely remodelled
about 1350, when a clerestory was added. This bay had evidently been
designed to carry a central tower: the nave arcades stop west of it, and
there is a thick piece of wall between them and the arches opening from
it into the chapels. These arches and the chancel arch were entirely
reconstructed at the time just mentioned. The western arch, however, was
removed, and an original crossing was thus converted into a bay of the
nave. Whether there ever was a central tower is, of course, an uncertain
point; but the building of a west tower on a new site not many years
after this reconstruction is a fact which makes the previous existence
of a central tower probable. The removal of a central tower would be due
to one of two causes. Either its supports were weak, or it blocked up
the space between nave and chancel too much. The central tower of
Petersfield in Hampshire was taken down; but its east wall still remains
between nave and chancel. However, if there are cases in which a central
tower was removed, and a west tower built, there are probably more in
which a central tower was planned, and then abandoned. Campsall church,
near Doncaster, has unmistakable signs of a projected cruciform plan
with a central tower, and has a regular crossing with transepts. But it
is probable that the builders changed their minds before the nave was
finished; and, although they doubtless left the arches, which were
intended to bear their tower, for a later generation to remove and
rebuild, they went westward and built a tower at the other end of the
nave. This tower was finished towards the end of the third quarter of
the twelfth century. The builders of Newark church, who were peculiarly
susceptible to after-thoughts, apparently planned a central tower in the
later part of the twelfth century. It is difficult to explain otherwise
the slender clusters of shafts which project into the nave from the
first pier west of the chancel arch on either side. Such piers were
hardly capable of bearing the weight of a tower; and so the builders
must have thought. Early in the thirteenth century, they began the
present west tower, the first stage of a rebuilding which, with long
intervals, continued into the sixteenth century. The final step by which
the church reached its present plan was the addition of a transeptal
chapel to either aisle, opposite the site which, more than three
centuries before, had been chosen for the piers of the abandoned central
tower.
[Illustration: Fig. 15. St Mary's, Beverley: arcades of quire and S.
transept, from S.W.]
Sec. 63. Even in strictly cruciform churches, transepts were sometimes
treated with a freedom which was more appropriate to the transeptal
chapel. It is not unusual to find one transept longer than the other, as
at Felmersham in Bedfordshire. Here, however, the transepts are not only
of different lengths, but the south transept is loftier, as well as
shorter, than the north, which is little more than a chapel-like
excrescence from the tower. At Witney in Oxfordshire both transepts are
of great projection, but the north transept is slightly longer than that
on the south. Both have considerable traces of thirteenth century
work; but, in the fourteenth century, the north transept was lengthened
by an addition divided into two stories, the upper of which was a
chapel, while the lower was probably a vaulted bone-hole. The south
transept was also lengthened; and a chapel was built, projecting from
its east wall near the south end. Both transepts have western aisles:
that of the north transept, which stops short of the two-storied
extension, contained an altar near the north end. There are traces of at
least three other altars in the transepts, so that there was excellent
reason for their somewhat unusual projection. At St Mary's, Beverley, an
eastern aisle was added to the south transept in the fifteenth century,
to provide more room for altars. The north transept already had a large
chapel of two stages upon its eastern side, so that the plan was treated
unsymmetrically. The tower of St Mary's at Stafford rests on heavy piers
and narrow arches, and is flanked by north and south transepts. However,
while the south transept, of good thirteenth century work, is rather
small and short, the north transept was rebuilt with great magnificence
in the fourteenth century, and its internal effect is that of a large
side chapel rather than a transept. Aisled transepts are never common,
even in large churches. Instances in which a transeptal chapel is aisled
are even less common. The aisled south chapel at Medbourne in
Leicestershire has been mentioned in an earlier chapter. Oakham and
Langham churches in Rutland have large transeptal chapels with western
aisles: the north chapel at Langham was removed in the fifteenth
century, when the aisles of the nave were widened.
Sec. 64. Reference has also been made to those plans in which the side
walls of a tower between chancel and nave have been pierced with arches,
and quasi-transepts have been constructed. This is very noticeable at
Almondsbury in Gloucestershire, where the transeptal chapels, turned at
a later date into burial-places for two local families, are very large
and roomy. The cross-plan of Burford church in Oxfordshire was formed in
this way, early in the thirteenth century. Plans like this, in which the
chapels grow out of the central space, instead of being planned from the
first in relation to it, are imperfectly cruciform; but are highly
characteristic of the irregular methods of development pursued by the
builders of medieval parish churches.
Sec. 65. Towers above transeptal chapels are not uncommon. The two
transeptal towers at Ottery St Mary in Devon were doubtless copied from
the arrangement at Exeter cathedral: there was an altar against the east
wall of each chapel. The tower at Coln St Aldwyn, Gloucestershire, rises
above a south chapel projecting from an aisleless nave. This addition
was made in the fifteenth century. At Duddington in Northamptonshire the
ground floor of the tower virtually forms, in its present state, an
eastward extension of the south aisle parallel to the western part of
the chancel: the original plan was probably similar to the present plan
of Coln St Aldwyn. The noble church of Whaplode had transeptal chapels
projecting from the east end of either aisle: the thirteenth century
tower is above the south chapel. At Clymping in Sussex the arrangement
is very peculiar. The church, which is almost entirely of the thirteenth
century, has north and south transeptal chapels, and only a south aisle
to the nave. The tower, which is at the end of the south chapel, is
earlier than the rest of the building, but is clearly in its original
position.
Sec. 66. The early progress of Gothic art in parish churches was marked by
a general lengthening of chancels, analogous to that elongation of the
eastern arm which is characteristic of cathedrals and monastic churches.
This may be seen very clearly at Iffley, near Oxford, and Avening in
Gloucestershire, where vaulted chancels of the twelfth century were
lengthened in the thirteenth century by an eastern bay. Sometimes, as at
St Mary's, Shrewsbury, where successive generations of builders were
very faithful to the remains of earlier work, the old sedilia of a
twelfth century chancel have been left in place. But, as a rule, the
enlargement of the chancel implied an entire reconstruction, or the
entire transformation of old work by the insertion of new windows or
buttresses. From the end of the twelfth century onwards, the normal
chancel of the parish church has a length which is from a half to
two-thirds of the length of the nave, the nave being slightly broader
than the chancel. This is the case with most of those Norfolk churches,
which may be regarded as the ideal examples of parish church planning.
Room was in this way secured both for the altar and the quire stalls,
for which the ordinary rectangular chancel offered a very restricted
space.
Sec. 67. Sometimes a new chancel encroached upon the nave. This happened at
Skipwith in Yorkshire, where the church underwent some alteration about
the middle of the fourteenth century. The new chancel was made of the
same width as the nave; and apparently the old chancel arch was entirely
removed, and its site, with the part of the nave immediately west of it,
made into an extra bay of the chancel. No new chancel arch was built.
One of the most curious and perplexing instances, in which additional
westward room has been given to the chancel, and there is no structural
division between chancel and nave, is at Tansor in Northants. The
perplexity which arises here is due to the plentiful re-use of old work
by the builders, the presence of which in unexpected places makes the
history of the building a nearly insoluble puzzle. The church reached
its present length about 1140, when probably the Saxon nave was left as
the west part of a church, which was now of the same width the whole way
through, and had no chancel arch. Some forty years later, narrow aisles
of three bays were added to the nave; and, about the same time, a
transeptal chapel may have been thrown out from the south wall,
immediately east of the south aisle. As the church stands on southward
sloping ground, there seems to have been no room for another chapel on
the north side. In the thirteenth century, the aisles were lengthened
eastwards, to flank the western part of the chancel. The builders moved
back the eastern responds of the old arcades to the points from which
the lengthened arcades were to start. They set themselves, however, a
difficult problem when they reserved a space at the end of the north
aisle for a sacristy, and set the respond on the west side of this
narrow bay. Their north aisle thus consisted of five bays and a very
narrow eastern bay for the sacristy. On the south side no space
corresponding to the sacristy was marked out, although the eastern
respond was placed in a line with the east side of the opening of the
sacristy. The number of bays on the south side had to be five, as there
was no room for six. The result is that the pillars of the arcades,
with the exception of those of the two bays furthest west, which were
left unaltered, are not opposite each other. In the meantime, the old
transeptal chapel was left standing between a south aisle and a short
south chapel of the chancel. About 1300, the aisle and chapel seem to
have been widened to the full length of the transeptal chapel, and thus
a broad south aisle was formed. In this plan, the chancel proper
projects for some distance east of the aisles; but, for ritual purposes,
the eastern part of the nave, corresponding to the eastern bay of the
north aisle and the sacristy bay beyond, forms, and has formed since the
twelfth century, a western extension of the chancel.
Sec. 68. The addition of aisles to chancels was an even more gradual
process than the addition of aisles to naves; and, as a rule, the aisles
were at first mere chapels. Chancel aisles or chapels of twelfth century
date are not very common in smaller churches. But a plan like that at
Melbourne, where the apsidal chapels east of the transepts flank the
chancel very closely, leads naturally to the provision of chapels
communicating directly with the chancel. The logical consequence of such
a plan is seen at Oundle, at the close of the twelfth century, where
rectangular chapels were built along the north and south walls of the
western part of the chancel. The walls were pierced with broad, low
arches, and arches were built between the chapels and the transepts. The
chapels, in this instance, are at the back of the quire stalls; and a
long projecting piece of aisleless chancel was left beyond them, to
which, in the fifteenth century, a large northern vestry was added. This
plan, where both chancel chapels were added at much the same time and on
the same scale, is symmetrical. But, as a rule, chancel chapels were
built just when they were needed. At Arksey, near Doncaster, where, as
at St Mary's, Shrewsbury, the walls of late twelfth century transepts
have been largely preserved inside the church in spite of many
alterations, the chancel is a long aisleless twelfth century building
east of a central tower. Towards the end of the thirteenth century, the
north chancel wall was pierced, and a narrow chapel built, which was one
bay shorter than the chancel itself. In the fourteenth and fifteenth
centuries the nave was enlarged, and the south aisle was widened to the
full length of the south transept. A south chapel was added to the
chancel: its outer wall was continued from the south wall of the
transept, and carried eastwards for a little distance beyond the east
wall of the chancel. Thus chancel, south chapel, and north chapel, are
all of three different lengths and breadths, the south chapel being the
longest and widest. When the south chapel was built, a considerable
portion of the old chancel wall was left untouched on its north side. It
is obvious that the methods of building employed in such additions were
those which have been described in connexion with the addition of aisles
to a nave. It is no uncommon thing to enter, as at Tamworth, a chancel
aisle or chantry chapel, and find substantial remains of the old outer
wall of the chancel, which has been pierced with one or more arches of
communication.
Sec. 69. As the relative dates and proportions of chancel chapels vary so
greatly, it is obvious that in many cases only one will be found. We
frequently meet with churches which have only one aisle to the nave; but
these are for the most part small buildings, and one aisle usually, in
larger buildings, presupposes another, although symmetry of proportion
need not be expected. However, many important churches have one chancel
chapel, and no more. Raunds in Northamptonshire, and Leverington in
Cambridgeshire, have south, but not north, chapels. Stanion in
Northamptonshire, and Hullavington in Wiltshire, have north, but not
south chapels. In both these last cases, the chapels are simply
continuations of the aisles, without a break or intermediate arch; and
the chapel at Stanion is neither more nor less than a second chancel. As
the dedication of Stanion church is to St Peter and St Paul, it is not
unlikely that the prominence given to the north chapel may be due to the
provision of altars for both saints. The same consideration may have
influenced the building of the church at Wisbech, which is also
dedicated to St Peter and St Paul. Here, the twelfth century chancel had
a south chapel; but when, at the end of the thirteenth century, the
chancel was lengthened, the south chapel was also enlarged into what is
practically a second chancel. Not only this, but the south aisle of the
church was rebuilt on the scale of a second nave, a second south aisle
was built out beyond it, and the whole church, which afterwards was
enlarged towards the north and otherwise altered, was more than doubled
in size.
Sec. 70. Where chantry chapels are attached to one side or other of a
chancel, their variations in size and plan are almost infinite. In the
smallest examples, they are mere projections from the wall of the
chancel, and little more than tomb recesses, such as the Cresacre chapel
at Barnburgh, near Rotherham, or the Booth chapel on the south side of
the chancel at Sawley in Derbyshire. The little north chapel of the
chancel at Clapton-in-Gordano in Somerset may have served as a vestry.
At Brancepeth, near Durham, where there is a long chancel and an aisled
nave with transeptal chapels, a south chantry chapel adjoins the east
side of the south transeptal chapel, while a north chantry chapel forms
an independent excrescence from the north wall, and is shut off from the
chancel by a doorway. Brigstock in Northamptonshire has a very large
north chancel chapel, which is virtually the eastern portion of a
widened aisle: the south chapel, on the other hand, is of much later
date, and is so small that there must have been room in it for an altar
and little more. These smaller chantry chapels, like the beautiful south
chapel at Aldwinkle All Saints, Northants, have often great
architectural beauty of their own, and give great variety to the plan of
the church. But chancel chapels are often larger and more important,
like the fourteenth century south chapel at Leverton, near Boston, which
is practically a separate building, separated from the chancel by a wall
without an arcade, or like the very spacious north chapel of the priory
church at Brecon. The south chapel of the chancel at Berkeley in
Gloucestershire, and the Clopton chapel at Long Melford in Suffolk, are
shut off from the adjacent parts of the church, and belong to that class
of chantry chapel of which our cathedrals furnish many examples. In this
case, the chapel is a small separate building, attached to the fabric of
the church, but hardly forming an integral part of it.
Sec. 71. One very important consequence of the addition of aisles and
chantry chapels to chancels, at any rate on a large scale, is seen where
they are applied to plans originally cruciform. We have already seen
that at St Mary's, Shrewsbury, and at Arksey, although much of the
fabric of the old transepts was left, broad chancel chapels tended to
obliterate the cruciform character of the building. The transepts at
Spalding almost escape notice, owing to the double aisle on the south
side of the nave, the aisle and north chapel on the opposite side, and
the large chapel east of the south transept. Moreover, when, in the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, aisles were rebuilt or widened,
there was always, as at Tansor, a tendency to decide the width of the
aisle by the length of an existing transept or transeptal chapel, and to
build the new outer wall flush with its gable wall. In this case, the
aisle would be planned to communicate with the transept, and the west
wall of the transept would have to be cut through. Where, as at Arksey,
there was a central tower, the old transept was structurally necessary,
and only as much of its masonry would be removed as was absolutely
necessary. But we have seen that there were cases in which it was
thought advisable to take down the central tower altogether, and build a
new one at the west end, in which case the transepts were of no
structural use; and there were far more cases in which the transeptal
excrescences were merely projecting chapels. In these instances, the
transept was felt to intervene awkwardly between the aisles of nave and
chancel. Accordingly, its side walls and gabled roof were taken down,
its end wall was remodelled, and it was placed under one roof with the
adjacent aisles, in which it became merged. The cruciform plan was thus
lost in certain churches, becoming absorbed in the ordinary elongated
plan, with aisles to nave and chancel. Tamworth church in Staffordshire,
and Marshfield in Gloucestershire, had twelfth century central towers.
These were removed or destroyed, at Tamworth in the fourteenth, at
Marshfield in the fifteenth century, and the aisles and chancel chapels
were widened to the original length, approximately, of the transepts.
The north and south arches of the crossing, however, remain in a blocked
condition, and tell the tale of what has happened. Wakefield cathedral
is another instance of a large parish church whose aisleless cruciform
plan has gradually disappeared within the aisles, until the plan is--or
was till the additions of a few years ago--an aisled rectangle, the
origin of which is certainly not obvious at first sight. The
transformations here described must clearly be understood not to apply
to cruciform churches generally, but merely to churches which, with an
originally cruciform plan, needed enlargement. Many handsome late Gothic
buildings, like the churches of Rotherham and Chesterfield, or St Mary's
at Nottingham, are regular cruciform churches with central towers; and
sometimes, as at Newark, transeptal chapels were the latest of all
additions to a church. But, where the transeptal chapel cramped
necessary space, it had to disappear. At St Margaret's, Leicester, the
arches into the transeptal chapels remain; but the chapels themselves
have entirely disappeared, and the arches merely form part of the arcade
between the nave and its broad aisles.
Sec. 72. The aim of restorers and rebuilders from the middle of the
fourteenth century onwards was to convert the church into a rectangle
with aisles. As we have seen, the chancel was constantly, in late Gothic
churches, an aisleless projection from the main fabric; but, where it
was aisled, the old haphazard methods were often abandoned, and the
aisles were made of approximately equal size. The old distinction
between nave and chancel, marked by the chancel arch, and the arches
between chapels and aisles, begin to vanish. Where the chancel arch was
kept, as at Long Sutton in Lincolnshire, new chancel chapels were
prolonged westward on each side of the nave, in place of the old nave
aisles. Fairford church in Gloucestershire was rebuilt towards the end
of the fifteenth century, to contain the splendid stained glass which
had just been acquired for it. A central tower was built on strong
piers, as a concession to the old plan; but the aisles of the nave were
continued on either side of the tower and along the sides of the chancel
till within a bay of the east end. But, in a great many churches, not
merely the aisles, but the nave and chancel also became continuous,
without a structural division. This feature, common in East Anglia and
the south-west of England, was the result of the importance of carved
and painted wood-work in late Gothic churches. The rood screen,
stretching across nave and aisles, appeared to full advantage, when
unbroken by the chancel arch. The splendid timber roofs of nave and
aisles gained in effect, if they formed, as at Southwold, or in the
churches of Norwich, an unbroken covering to the church from end to end.
In Norfolk and Suffolk, where the work of rebuilding began in the
fourteenth century, as at Cawston, Worstead, or Tunstead, the chancel
arch was often kept. At Worstead and other Norfolk churches the method
pursued by the builders was precisely opposite to that which we have
seen employed by Gloucestershire masons at Cirencester and other places,
and may see in most of the fifteenth century churches of Somerset. The
arcades were rebuilt first, and the aisles followed. Many of these
churches were doubtless enlarged from much smaller buildings. The south
aisle at Ingham was probably the nave of the earlier church, to which
the present nave, north aisle, chancel, and west tower, were added. The
aisles in most cases continued at a uniform width eastward as chancel
chapels. The north aisle at Worstead was continued by a two-storied
sacristy to the level of the east wall of the chancel. The south aisle
stops at a bay short of the east wall, leaving the end of the chancel
projecting as an altar space. Whether the chancel arch was retained or
not, the projection of this aisleless eastern bay became a very general
feature of the larger churches of East Anglia, and, in churches like
Trunch, Southwold, and Clare, its tall side windows flood the space with
light The most striking example of this plan is at Long Melford in
Suffolk, where there is no chancel arch, and the actual chancel projects
beyond the aisles. Here, however, it is flanked on the north by the
Clopton chapel, and on the south by the vestry, which forms a covered
way to the detached lady chapel further east. The Long Melford plan,
with a projecting altar space, and without a chancel arch, is nearly
universal in Cornwall, and is common in south Devon, where, as at
Totnes, the aisles of the chancel are usually little more than
comparatively short chapels, and sometimes, as at West Alvington, near
Kingsbridge, extend only a bay beyond the screen. Its great advantages,
apart from the display of wood-work which it permits, are the gain of
internal space permitted by the reduction of the solid portions of the
building to a minimum, the additional light admitted by the same means,
and the long uninterrupted clerestory which forms a wall of glass, with
thin stone divisions, on each side of the upper part of the church.
Sec. 73. The tendency to give the whole church aisles of equal width
throughout, and extending along its whole length, was irresistible,
especially in East Anglia. The church of North Walsham, rebuilt towards
the end of the fourteenth century, is a great rectangle of three
parallel divisions, with axes from east to west, and of nearly equal
breadth. The chapel of St Nicholas at Lynn, rebuilt in 1419, is an even
more striking example of the same design: in both cases the simple and
somewhat monotonous plan is varied by the projection of a handsome south
porch. At Lynn, the thirteenth century west tower, with a spire, was
kept at the south-west corner of the aisled building. But the aisled
rectangular plan, if it attained its highest development in East Anglia,
had been reached already in other parts of England by gradual methods.
It has sometimes been fathered upon aisled naves of friary churches,
which, like the great nave of the Black friars at Norwich, afforded
space for large congregations who came to hear sermons. But it is
probable that the first churches which followed the course of expansion
into the aisled rectangle were directly influenced by the example of the
larger churches, like Lincoln, or, at a later date, York, which, in
extending their eastern arms, aisled their quires, presbyteries, and
eastern chapels, right up to the east wall. Thus the whole quire and
chancel of Newark, with aisles extending their whole length, were
planned in the early part of the fourteenth century, when the great
eastern chapel, the "Angel Quire," of Lincoln, was little more than a
generation old; and, although the progress of the work was long
delayed, the eventual arrangement, in which the high altar was brought
two bays forward from the east wall, and a spacious chapel was left at
the back, exactly recalls the arrangements of Lincoln and York.
Similarly the quire and chancel of the cruciform church of Holy Trinity
at Hull are aisled to their full length: the arrangement, again, is that
of a cathedral rather than a parish church. The influence of cathedral
plans is clearly visible in St Mary Redcliffe at Bristol, and in the
collegiate churches of Ottery St Mary and Crediton: but here the type
followed is not that of Lincoln and York, but that more usual in the
west and south of England at Hereford, Wells, Salisbury, Exeter, and
elsewhere, where the aisles of the chancel are returned at the back of
the east wall, and form a vestibule to a projecting aisleless lady
chapel. This type of plan occurs outside its regular district at
Tickhill, on the borders of Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire. But it is
naturally exceptional, and would be used only where there was plenty of
money and space to spare: it demands for its full effect a considerable
elevation, involving a large clerestory, and a church could seldom, if
ever, be found whose original plan invited expansion on these lines. On
the other hand, the aisling of the chancel throughout was simply the
logical development of the ordinary church plan: if the plans of
cathedrals may have suggested the later developments at churches like
Newark or Hull, the simple aisled rectangle, with its three parallel
divisions, and without any clerestory to distinguish the nave from the
aisles--a plan remarkably characteristic of Cornwall--came into
existence in the ordinary course of things, by an extension of the wings
of the building until they flanked the whole of the nave and chancel.
Sec. 74. The work done at Grantham in the fourteenth and fifteenth
centuries illustrates the purely natural development of the ordinary
aisled church into the aisled rectangle. We have seen, in an earlier
chapter, that, soon after 1300, the church consisted of an aisleless
chancel, which was, however, overlapped at the west end by the north
aisle of the nave; a nave, the north and south aisles of which followed
different systems of spacing; a western tower and spire, engaged within
the aisles; and north and south porches. Several chantries were founded
in the church during the fourteenth century. Not long after the Black
Death of 1349, the south aisle was extended eastward to the whole length
of the chancel. The south wall of the chancel was pierced by an arcade;
and the lady chapel thus formed was raised upon a double crypt. It was
not until more than a century later that the east wall of the north
aisle was taken down, and the "Corpus Christi chancel" built out,
continuing the north aisle without a break, and completely flanking
the north wall of the chancel, through which an arcade was made. Here
the reason of expansion was obviously the growth of chantry chapels; and
the expansion follows the simplest course. The last addition to the
fabric was the present vestry, in which was a chantry founded by the
Hall family. This was built out at right angles to the north aisle, at
the point where the old work was met by the later extension. Not until
the church had been fully aisled, and afforded no further room for new
altars, were chantry chapels usually added in the shape of excrescences
from the fabric.
[Illustration: Fig. 16. Plans of Grantham church: (3) about 1350; (4)
present day.]
Sec. 75. One interesting feature in the planning of chancels, which has
been much discussed, is worth a note. This is the fact that the axis of
the chancel is frequently out of line with the axis of the nave, and
generally has a slight northward inclination. Sometimes, as at Henbury
in Gloucestershire, the inclination is very considerable, so that, from
the west end of the church, nearly a quarter of the east wall is out of
sight. Usually, the inclination is very slight; and there are many cases
in which it is not northward, but southward--Sidbury and Salcombe Regis,
near Sidmouth, Eastbourne in Sussex and Aldwinkle St Peter in Northants,
are cases in point. The popular explanation is that it symbolises the
leaning of our Saviour's head upon the cross. Like most symbolical
explanations, this is founded entirely upon fancy: the inclination is
by no means confined to churches with cross plans, and, if it were, the
theorists who argue from this standpoint confound the symbolism of the
cross-plan between the cross itself and the Body which it bore. Others
have sought to explain the phenomenon by suggesting that the orientation
of the chancel followed the direction in which the sun rose on the
morning of the patronal feast. A succession of visits at sunrise to
churches on appropriate dates has not hitherto been attempted upon a
comprehensive scale: if it were undertaken, it probably would be found
that the sun, instead of rising obediently opposite the middle light of
every east window, as the theory requires, would have many puzzling
exceptions in reserve. The marked divergence of axis at Henbury is
explained by the site of the building, which is on a gentle slope, with
the axis of the nave distinctly from south-east to north-west. When the
chancel was rebuilt in the thirteenth century, the masons kept as high
upon the slope as they could, and so twisted the axis of the chancel a
little further east. But we must also remember that, when chancels were
lengthened and rebuilt, the work was done while the old chancels were
still standing. The axis of the old chancel might be out of line with
that of the nave. Unless very careful measurements were taken, the new
east wall would probably be not quite parallel with the old east wall of
the chancel. The side walls would be set out at right angles to the new
east wall; and thus, when the new chancel was joined to the church, the
divergence of axis would be more palpable than before. Or, for the same
reason, a divergence of axis might be created for the first time. This
seems to be the common sense explanation of a very common feature. But
it must be added that there are instances in which the inclination is so
decided that one is tempted to conclude either that the masons had very
crooked sight, or that they were playing tricks with their perspective.
The feature, where it is at all marked, is something of a deformity. In
our own day it has been introduced, apparently by design, into the plan
of Truro cathedral. In medieval work, however, it will seldom be found
in a chancel where no enlargement upon an early site has taken place;
and it seems safe to conclude that, like so much else in medieval
building which is irregular, it generally arises from the rebuilding of
a fabric upon an encumbered site.
INDEX OF PLACES
Aachen, Rhenish Prussia, palace church, 33, 34
Acaster Malbis, Yorks., 65
Achurch, Northants., 56, 58
Acton Burnell, Salop., 55, 56, 58, 65, 102
Adderbury, Oxon., 106, 107
Adel, Yorks., 49
Africa, basilicas in north, 14
Aldwinkle, Northants., All Saints, 121;
St Peter, 131
Almondsbury, Glouces., 54, 113
Alvington, West, Devon, 126
Amiens, France (Somme), cathedral, 68
Appleton-le-Street, Yorks., 84
Arksey, Yorks., 118, 121, 122
Askham Bryan, Yorks., 49
Avening, Glouces., 54, 114
Aylsham, Norfolk, 104
Bakewell, Derby, 70
Bampton-in-the-Bush, Oxon., 59, 60, 61
Barnack, Northants., 30, 32
Barnburgh, Yorks., 120
Barton-on-Humber, Lincs., St
Peter, 30, 32, 33, 34, 40, 41
Berkeley, Glouces., 121
Beverley, Yorks., minster, 74, 75;
St Mary, 102, 111, 112
Bewick, Old, Northumb., 50, 52
Bibury, Glouces., 94
Billingborough, Lincs., 82
Billingham, Durham, 73
Birkin, Yorks., 46, 51, 52, 82, 83
Bishopstone, Sussex, 36
Blatherwycke, Northants., 46
Bloxham, Oxon., 105, 106, 107
Bottesford, Lincs., 108
Bracebridge, Lincs., 28
Bradford-on-Avon, Wilts., 16, 29, 36
Bradwell-juxta-Mare, Essex, St Peter's on the Wall, 16
Brampton Ash, Northants., 76
Brancepeth, Durham, 120
Branscombe, Devon, 107
Brayton, Yorks., 46
Breamore, Hants., 38, 40, 54
Brecon, priory church, 121
Brigstock, Northants., 28, 97, 120, 121
Bristol, St John Baptist, 98;
St Lawrence, 98;
St Mary Redcliffe, 95, 99, 101, 102, 128
Britford, Wilts., 36
Brixworth, Northants., 21, 22, 23, 24, 29, 32, 53
Broughton, Lincs., 32
Bubwith, Yorks., 93
Burford, Oxon., 60, 61, 99, 113
Caistor, Lincs., 45
Cambridge, All Saints, 97, 98;
St Benedict, 28;
Holy Trinity, 97;
St Michael, 94, 95
Campsall, Yorks., 109, 110
Canterbury, Kent, cathedral, 15, 35;
St Pancras, 15, 16, 23, 24, 35, 36, 53
Caunton, Notts., 93
Cawston, Norfolk, 104, 125
Chesterfield, Derby, 123
Chichester, Sussex, cathedral, 68
Childs Wickham, Glouces., 56, 58
Chipping Norton, Oxon., 99
Christon, Som., 53
Cirencester, Glouces., 87, 88, 89, 125
Clapton-in-Gordano, Som., 105, 120
Clare, Suffolk, 126
Clymping, Sussex, 114
Coln Rogers, Glouces., 28, 29, 97
Coln St Aldwyn, Glouces., 113, 114
Coln St Denis, Glouces., 53
Cologne, Rhenish Prussia, St Gereon, 34
Colsterworth, Lincs., 47, 92
Constantinople, Sta Sophia, 10, 12, 13
Copford, Essex, 52, 74
Copmanthorpe, Yorks., 49
Corbridge-on-Tyne, Northumb., 19, 20, 56
Corstopitum, _see_ Corbridge-on-Tyne
Coventry, Warwicks., Holy Trinity, 102;
St John Baptist, 102;
St Michael, 98
Crediton, Devon, 128
Cullompton, Devon, 106
Dedham, Essex, 97
Deerhurst, Glouces., 27, 36, 37
Dover, Kent, St Mary in the Castle, 37, 38, 40, 54
Duddington, Northants., 114
Dunham Magna, Norfolk, 38
Durham, cathedral, 50, 67, 69
Earl's Barton, Northants., 30, 48
Eastbourne, Sussex, 131
Easton, Great, Leices., 86
Ely, Cambs., cathedral, 50
Escomb, Durham, 17, 18, 20, 26, 27, 29
Evesham, Worces., All Saints, 105;
St Lawrence, 105
Ewerby, Lincs., 96
Exeter, Devon, cathedral, 113, 128
Exton, Rutland, 103, 104
Fairford, Glouces., 124
Felmersham, Beds., 110
Felton, Northumb., 83
Finchingfield, Essex, 45
Fountains abbey, Yorks., 67
Garton-on-the-Wolds, Yorks., 46
Geddington, Northants., 28, 72
Gedling, Notts., 94
Gloucester, cathedral, 67
Grantham, Lincs., 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 96, 99, 100, 129, 130, 131
Greenstead, Essex, 43
Gretton, Northants., 72, 78, 93, 94
Hallaton, Leices., 83, 99
Harringworth, Northants., 85, 86, 87
Heapham, Lincs., 46
Heckington, Lincs., 76, 107, 108
Heddon-on-the-Wall, Northumb., 48
Henbury, Glouces., 99, 131, 132
Hereford, cathedral, 128
Heslerton, West, Yorks., 64
Hexham, Northumb., priory church, 20, 21, 23;
St Mary, 33, 34, 41
Heysham, Lancs., 25
Hooton Pagnell, Yorks., 46
Hough-on-the-Hill, Lincs., 32
Hull, Yorks., Holy Trinity, 128, 129
Hullavington, Wilts., 119
Iffley, Oxon., 53, 54, 114
Islip, Northants., 76
Jarrow-on-Tyne, Durham, St Paul, 19
Jerusalem, Holy Sepulchre, 34, 52, 62
Kegworth, Leices., 104
Kirkburn, Yorks., 46
Kirk Hammerton, Yorks., 46
Laceby, Lincs., 45
Langford, Essex, 52
Langham, Rutland, 113
Lavenham, Suffolk, 94
Leckhampton, Glouces., 54
Leicester, St Margaret, 123, 124;
St Mary in the Castle, 49, 95, 97
Leverington, Cambs., 119
Leverton, Lincs., 121
Lincoln, cathedral, 67, 127, 128;
St Mary-le-Wigford, 28; St
Peter-at-Gowts, 28
Lowick, Northants., 105
Ludlow, Salop., 99, 100, 102
Lydd, Kent, 24
Lynn, King's, Norfolk, St Margaret, 96;
St Nicholas, 127
Marshfield, Glouces., 123
Medbourne, Leices., 56, 58, 113
Melbourne, Derby, 59, 60, 69, 70, 75, 76, 96, 117
Melford, Long, Suffolk, 121, 126
Melton Mowbray, Leices., 102
Middleton Tyas, Yorks., 78, 79
Minster Lovell, Oxon., 61
Monkwearmouth, Durham, 18, 19, 20, 23, 29
Montacute, Som., 56, 58
Moor Monkton, Yorks., 48
Nantwich, Cheshire, 102
Newark-on-Trent, Notts., 87, 89, 96, 99, 110, 123, 127, 128, 129
Newbald, North, Yorks., 57, 58, 59, 60
Newcastle-on-Tyne, Northumb., St Nicholas, 96, 100
Newhaven, Sussex, 53
Norham-on-Tweed, Northumb., 69, 70
Northallerton, Yorks., 78
Northampton, St Giles, 60, 61;
St Peter, 49
Northleach, Glouces., 87, 88, 89, 99
Norton-on-Tees, Durham, 40, 41, 54
Norwich, cathedral, 67;
church of Black friars, 127
Nottingham, St Mary, 123
Oakham, Rutland, 113
Othery, Som., 65
Othona, _see_ Bradwell-juxta-Mare
Ottery St Mary, Devon, 106, 113, 128
Oundle, Northants., 82, 94, 98, 108, 109, 117, 118
Paignton, Devon, 106
Patricio, Brecon, 66, 67, 68
Peterborough, Northants., Saxon abbey church, 21, 22
Petersfield, Hants., 109
Plymouth, Devon, St Andrew, 105, 106
Plympton St Mary, Devon, 105, 106
Portlemouth, East, Devon, 106
Potterne, Wilts., 55, 56, 65
Ramsey, Hunts., Saxon abbey church, 39
Ranworth, Norfolk, 64, 68
Raunds, Northants., 79, 80, 81, 83, 84, 119
Ravenna, Italy, Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, 10;
of Theodoric, 10, 11, 12;
Sant' Apollinare in Classe, 8, 9;
Sant' Apollinare Nuovo, 8, 9;
San Giovanni in Fonte, 10;
Sta Maria in Cosmedin, 10;
San Vitale, 11, 12, 13, 33
Reculver, Kent, 15, 24
Repton, Derby, 28, 37
Riccall, Yorks., 46
Ripon, Yorks, cathedral, 21, 23
Rochester, Kent, cathedral, 15
Rome, Basilica of Maxentius, 3;
Basilica Ulpia, 2;
Baths of Caracalla, 9;
Castle of Sant' Angelo, 9;
San Clemente, 9;
Sta Costanza, 9;
San Lorenzo fuori le Mura, 8;
San Paolo, 8;
old St Peter's, 4, 6, 7, 8, 14, 15;
_scholae_, 5
Rotherham, Yorks., 123
St-Georges-de-Boscherville, France (Seine-Inf.), 60
St Peter's on the Wall, _see_ Bradwell-juxta-Mare
Salcombe Regis, Devon, 131
Salisbury, Wilts., cathedral, 67, 128
Sall, Norfolk, 104
Sawley, Derby, 120
Seamer, Yorks., 73
Sherburn-in-Elmet, Yorks., 69, 70, 96
Shrewsbury, Salop., St Mary, 114, 118, 121
Sidbury, Devon, 28, 131
Silchester, Hants., 14, 24, 25
Sileby, Leices., 96
Skipwith, Yorks., 115
Skirlaugh, South, Yorks., 65
Sleaford, Lincs., 82, 97
Southwell, Notts., cathedral, 70
Southwold, Suffolk, 125, 126
Spalding, Lincs., 95, 122
Stafford, St Mary, 112
Stanion, Northants., 119
Stanton Lacy, Salop., 38
Stow, Lincs., 39, 40, 42, 54
Stretton-in-the-Street, Rutland, 104
Studland, Dorset, 53
Sutton, Long, Lincs., 70, 124
Swaton, Lincs., 82
Tamworth, Staffs., 119, 123
Tansor, Northants., 49, 82, 100, 115, 116, 117, 122
Taunton, Som., St Mary Magdalene, 99
Temple Balsall, Warwicks., 65
Theddingworth, Leices., 79
Tickencote, Rutland, 48
Tickhill, Yorks., 96, 128
Tilney All Saints, Norfolk, 92, 93
Tiverton, Devon, 105, 106
Totnes, Devon, 126
Trier, Rhenish Prussia, basilica, 3;
Liebfrauenkirche, 34
Trunch, Norfolk, 126
Truro, Cornwall, cathedral, 133
Tunstead, Norfolk, 125
Tytherington, Glouces., 73
Vinovium, _see_ Escomb.
Waith, Lincs., 38, 39
Wakefield, Yorks., cathedral, 123
Walberswick, Suffolk, 99
Walsham, North, Norfolk, 127
Walsoken, Norfolk, 70
Warkworth, Northumb., 48
Warmington, Northants., 99, 100
Wells, Som., cathedral, 128
Whaplode, Lincs., 92, 114
Whitwell, Rutland, 78
Winchester, cathedral, 50
Wing, Bucks., 24, 27
Winterton, Lincs., 28, 97
Wisbech, Cambs., 120
Witham, North, Lincs., 47
Witney, Oxon., 61, 110, 112
Wittering, Northants., 28
Wollaton, Notts., 97
Worstead, Norfolk, 99, 125
Worth, Sussex, 37, 102, 103
Yainville, France (Seine-Inf.), 53
Yatton, Som., 99
York, cathedral, 67, 127, 128
Ythanceaster, _see_ Bradwell-juxta-Mare
* * * * *
CAMBRIDGE: PRINTED BY JOHN CLAY, M.A. AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS
* * * * *
Transcriber's note
Minor punctuation errors have been corrected without notice. An obvious
printer error has been corrected, and it is listed below. All
other inconsistencies are as in the original. The author's spelling has
been maintained.
Page 36: "a Saxon ex-example" changed to "a Saxon example".