THE EARLY ENGLISH STYLE.
The origin of what is loosely called Gothic architecture--which is
generally considered to include the styles, with their transitions, from
Early English to late Perpendicular, or Tudor-Gothic--is not free
from obscurity, but it is certain that it began to be employed in
ecclesiastical edifices about the time that the Goths settled in Italy,
although all the available evidence goes to prove that the style
originated and underwent its earliest developments in the north-west of
Europe, and penetrated by slow degrees to the south and east.
England was somewhat later than France in introducing this style of
architecture, our earliest purely Gothic building being Salisbury
Cathedral, begun in 1220, although the choirs of Rievaulx and Fountains
Abbey were commenced a few years earlier. The Early English style in its
earliest developments is nowhere seen to better advantage than in
Salisbury Cathedral, and in its very latest forms at Westminster Abbey,
the period of time being chronologically measured by the reigns of
Richard I., John and Henry III.
[Illustration: An Early English Arch.
Rochester Cathedral. _Photograph Eastmead._]
Most of our Gothic buildings were carried out under the supervision of a
master-mason, but the most subordinate workman was left plenty of scope
within reasonable limits for whatever artistic individuality he
possessed, and the enrichments and ornaments of the Gothic era point out
the noble aim, the delicate and graceful thought, the refined and
exquisite taste expended upon every portion of their buildings by these
Gothic masons.
[Side note: The Pointed Arch.]
One of the chief differences between pure Gothic and Norman
architecture is in the use of the pointed form of arch, yet in the study
of the early buildings of this date it is curious to notice how evenly
the balance is held between the pointed and the round arch, and how at
one time it was quite an open question whether the Gothic style would be
distinguished by a round or a pointed arch. In Germany and Italy the
round arch held its own and continued to be used right through the
Middle Ages. In England, however, the pointed arch soon gained a decided
victory over its rival. Many theories have been put forward concerning
the introduction of the pointed arch, one amongst them being that it was
the result of the intersection of two circular arches such as is very
commonly found in late Norman work; another theory is the poetical idea
that it was copied from an avenue of trees. Whether or not either of
these theories holds good, it is quite certain that this form of arch
was known in the East for centuries before it reached Europe, being
found in cisterns and tombs in Egypt and Arabia dating from long before
the Christian era.
It has also been suggested that it was introduced from the East by the
Crusaders, in which case we should have found it making its first
appearance in Hungary, Poland, Bohemia and Russia, but it so happens
that these were the very last countries in Europe to adopt the pointed
arch.
[Side note: The Transitional Period.]
The first form of the pointed arch, known as the Early English, was used
from about 1180 to 1300, including part of the reigns of Henry II.,
Richard I., John, Henry III. and Edward I. "Nothing," says the Rev. J.
M. Hutchinson, "could be more striking than the change from Norman to
Early English. The two styles were the complete opposites of each other;
the round arch was replaced by the pointed, often by the acute, lancet;
the massive piers by graceful clustered shafts; the grotesque and
rudely-sculptured capitals by foliage of the most exquisite character;
and the heavy cylindrical mouldings by bands of deeply undercut
members."
[Illustration: Arcading showing the junction of the Norman
and Early English Masonry. Dunstable Priory Church.
_Photograph H. A. Strange._]
Gothic architecture differs from all previous forms in the economical
use of material, and the small size of the stones used. Whereas in both
Roman and Norman buildings the arrangement of the materials depended
upon their strength in masses, the Gothic masons employed stones of
small size in the construction of edifices of equal strength and of far
greater magnificence; while in constructive properties the Gothic style
was a great advance on anything that had gone before, as the buildings
in this style did not depend for their stability on the vertical
pressure of columns, but on the correct adjustment of the bearings and
thrusts of different arches operating in various directions. Owing to
the fact, then, that each portion of a Gothic Church helps to support
something besides itself, it is obvious that such buildings could be
erected with a far smaller quantity of material than was previously
necessary. The various little shafts or columns are so disposed as to
distribute the weight of the superstructure and thus relieve the greater
columns or piers of some portion of the superincumbent weight; the
aisles help to support the nave; the walls of the side chapels act
as abutments against the walls of the aisles, while the towers are
generally placed so as to resist the accumulated thrust of all the
arches along the sides of the nave.
[Illustration: An Early English Doorway. Huntingdon.]
The enrichments and little ornaments attached to mouldings, and
particularly those placed in the hollows, are most characteristic of the
various styles of Gothic architecture. The zig-zag is peculiar to the
Norman, the nail head to the Transitional or semi-Norman, and the dog
tooth to the Early English.
[Side note: Early English Ornament.]
This last ornament represents a flower, looking like four sweet almonds
arranged pyramidically, and there is no other ornament so distinctive of
this period. Early English foliage is known by reason of the stalks
always being shown as growing upwards from the lower ring of the
capital, called the astrigal. These stalks are generally grouped
together and curve forward in a very graceful manner. The plants mostly
represented are the wild parsley, seakale and celery, and this foliage,
called stiff-leaved foliage, is found at no other period than the end of
the 12th century.
[Side note: Early English Mouldings.]
Early English mouldings are very complicated and yet very beautiful, and
consist of beads, keel and scroll patterns, separated by deep hollows
giving a rich effect of light and shade round the arch. These deeply-cut
hollows are also a distinctive mark of the style.
[Side note: Early English Windows.]
The earliest windows of this period are long and narrow, with acutely
pointed heads, the exterior angle being merely chamfered and the
interior widely splayed. Somewhat later the introduction of tracery gave
a highly beautiful appearance to the windows and from the character of
this feature the date of the window can be fairly accurately determined.
Where the tracery is formed by ornamental apertures pierced through a
plate of stone, it is called plate tracery, and is certain to be of not
later date than the earlier part of the 13th century. If it is bar
tracery, with the bars forming plain circles, the work is also Early
English, but if, on the other hand, the bars form other shapes filled in
with patterns, or consisting of a single trefoil or quatrefoil, they are
of later date.
[Illustration: The Church of St. Margaret, Lynn.
West Front showing the Early English work in the base of the Tower.
_Photograph Dexter & Son._]
[Illustration: Example of Group of Thirteenth Century Lancet Windows.
Ockham, Surrey. _Homeland Copyright._]
The traceried window originated from the placing of a two-light narrow
lancet window under one dripstone having a plain head, the introduction
of tracery between the heads of the lancets and the dripstone
becoming necessary for beauty and lightness of the form (_see page 47_).
[Side note: Early English Porches.]
Early English porches project much further from the main walls than
do the Norman doorways, and in large and important buildings they
frequently have a room above. The gables are usually bold and high
pitched, and the interiors quite as rich in design as are the
exteriors.
[Side note: Early English Doorways.]
The doorways of this period are usually pointed, though occasionally
they have a semi-circular head. The mouldings are boldly cut and often
enriched with dog tooth ornament. The jambs frequently contain a shaft
or shafts with plain or foliated capitals (_see page 51_).
[Side note: Early English Capitals and Piers.]
Early English capitals are usually bell-shaped, and are, in the smaller
examples, quite devoid of ornament, with the exception of a necking and
one or two mouldings round the abacus. The bell is generally deeply
undercut, which, as in the mouldings, is a strong characteristic of the
style. The nail head and dog tooth ornaments sometimes appear in the
hollows between the mouldings. In the large examples the bell is covered
with foliage, which, springing direct from the necking, curls over most
gracefully beneath the abacus. In clustered piers the capitals follow
the form of the pier, and they also adopt the same form in the single
shaft, with the exception that multiangular shafts have often circular
capitals. The base consists of a series of mouldings and frequently
stands upon a double or single plinth, which in the earlier examples
is square, but in later examples assumes the form of the base, and is
either circular or polygonal. At Stone church, Kent, is a good example
of an Early English capital, decorated with stiff-leaved foliage, and
the dog tooth ornament, which in this case is seen between the mouldings
of the arch, and is of a perforated character.
[Side note: Early English Buttresses.]
The buttresses (_see page 17_) of this period are, as a rule, simple
in form, and in small churches consist of two or more stages, each
set-off or division being sloped at the top to carry off the rain. In
larger buildings the buttress generally finishes with a triangular head
or gable, and is frequently carried above the parapet, except where
stone vaulting is used, in which case it is covered with a pinnacle
either plain or ornamented. The edges are often chamfered or the
angles ornamented with slender shafts. A niche to contain a statue is
occasionally sunk in the face of the buttress, but this feature is
more common in the next or Decorated period, although the change from
one period to another was so gradual that the exact date of a niched
buttress would be difficult to determine were there no other features to
guide us.
[Illustration: Salisbury Cathedral. Begun in 1220.
The spire was added, 1350. _Drawn by Sidney Heath._]
Flying buttresses were first introduced at this period, and are common
in all large buildings with vaulted roofs. They are generally of simple
design, with a plain capping and archivolt, and they spring from the
wall buttress to the clerestory (_see page 17_).
[Illustration: Examples of Early English Capitals and Ornament.]