Part 6 (2/2)
Those ill.u.s.trated on the previous page are the most common.
[Ill.u.s.tration: CROYLAND ABBEY CHURCH, LINCOLNs.h.i.+RE]
The Normans were also much skilled in vaulting with stone, as the crypts in our churches testify. Over the vaulted roof of the aisles was the _triforium_, a kind of gallery between this roof and the external roof of the church. Very few of the wooden roofs of Norman churches remain.
The fonts are large, square or cylindrical in shape, and are decorated with mouldings or sculpture, often very elaborate but rudely executed.
At Winchester Cathedral the font is carved with a representation of the baptism of King Cynigils at Dorchester. Other favourite subjects were the creation of man, the formation of Eve, the expulsion from Paradise, Christ upon the cross, the Four Evangelists, the baptism of our Lord, and legendary or symbolical representations.
[Ill.u.s.tration: SEMI-NORMAN ARCH, CHURCH OF ST. CROSS]
This style of architecture prevailed until about the middle of the twelfth century, when the _Transition Norman_ became in vogue. It is characterised by the introduction of the pointed arch. Many conjectures as regards its origin have been made. Some suppose that the idea of making the arch pointed was suggested by the intersection of semicircular arches in ornamental arcades. Others say that the Crusaders introduced it on their return from the East, or that it was suggested by the Norman vaulting, or from the form of the _vesica piscis_, the most ancient of Christian symbols. The Cistercian monks were the first to introduce it to this country, and the Cistercian abbeys of Fountains, Kirkstall, Furness, and Tintern are n.o.ble specimens of Transition Norman work. Religious zeal and enthusiasm are often reflected in the improved condition of our churches, and the grand buildings of this period are outward and visible signs of a great religious revival. Semicircular arches, however, continued to be used for windows and for the triforium; the capitals of the piers were decorated with foliage somewhat similar to that used in a subsequent period.
[Ill.u.s.tration: EARLY ENGLISH PIERS AND CAPITALS (1) Salisbury Cathedral (2) Lincoln Cathedral]
Then arose the Early English style of architecture which flourished from about the year 1175 to 1275, and is characterised by a gradual abandonment of the heavy and ma.s.sive features of the Norman style, and the adoption of lighter and more elegant forms of construction and decoration. Salisbury Cathedral, erected 1220-1260 A.D., is the most perfect example of this period. The arches are pointed, and the piers supporting them are often composed of an insulated cylindrical column surrounded by slender detached shafts, all uniting together under one capital, and divided into parts by horizontal bands. In small churches plain octagonal or circular piers are frequently used, as in the succeeding style, from which they can only be distinguished by the mouldings. Mouldings are often the surest guides in helping us to ascertain the date of a building. We have already studied the Norman mouldings. In this style they are composed of bold rounds and deep hollows, usually plain, or ornamented with the dog-tooth.
[Ill.u.s.tration: TOOTH OR DOG-TOOTH ORNAMENT]
The lancet window is now introduced, at first of only one light, very narrow and long, and differing from the Norman window in having a pointed arch. At the east end of the chancel there are often three lancet windows, the centre one higher than the rest, with one dripstone over them. The first idea of window-tracery was the introduction of a plain lozenge-shaped opening over a double lancet window, the whole being covered by a single dripstone. From this simple arrangement it was not difficult to develop the beautiful bar-tracery which came into vogue in the subsequent period of English architecture. The capitals of the Early English style are bell-shaped, at first quite plain, but subsequently these are often covered with beautifully sculptured foliage of a very graceful character. Circular windows at this period came into vogue in the gables of churches. They were either plain or quatre-foiled. Norman towers were sometimes capped with spires in the thirteenth century. The walls are not so thick or ma.s.sive as in the Norman period, and the b.u.t.tresses are stouter and more numerous, and project further from the wall. Flying b.u.t.tresses were also introduced at this period. We can generally distinguish Early English work from that of the Norman style by its lightness and elegance, as compared with the roughness and ma.s.siveness of the latter; and its plainness and simplicity sufficiently distinguish it from that of the Decorated period.
[Ill.u.s.tration: BROWNSOVER CHAPEL, WARWICKs.h.i.+RE]
The Decorated style (1275-1375) which prevailed during the reigns of the three Edwards was ushered in by a period of Transition, during which there was gradually developed the most perfect style which English architectural skill has ever attained. In the thirteenth century our builders were striving to attain the highest forms of graceful design and artistic workmans.h.i.+p. In the fourteenth their work reached perfection, while in the fifteenth there was a marked decline in their art, which in spite of its elaborate details lacked the beauty of the Decorated style.
[Ill.u.s.tration: MOULDINGS, TEWKESBURY ABBEY]
[Ill.u.s.tration: OGEE ARCH]
The arches of this period are usually wider, and are distinguished from those of the Early English by the character of the mouldings. The ball-flower, consisting of a ball inclosed by three or four leaves, somewhat resembling a rosebud, is the favourite ornament, and a four-leaved flower is often used. Roll mouldings, quarter, half, or three-quarters round, frequently occur, and produce a very pleasing effect. The form of the arch is in many instances changed, and the graceful _ogee_ arch is introduced. The piers are round or octagonal in village churches, and in large churches are formed by a cl.u.s.ter of cylindrical shafts, not detached as in the preceding period, but closely united. The capitals are bell-shaped, and in large churches richly sculptured. Few of the wooden roofs remain, as they have been superseded in later times; but the marks of the old roofs may often be seen on the eastern wall of the tower. The windows are larger than those of the earlier style, and are filled with geometrical and flowing tracery of great variety and beauty. Small windows have heads shaped in the ogee or trefoil forms. Square-headed windows are not uncommon, especially in the clerestory, and in monastic churches circular windows are frequently met with. It is characteristic of this style that the carving is not so deep as in the previous work. We find groups of shallow mouldings separated by one cut deeper than the others.
[Ill.u.s.tration: CAPITALS (1) Hanwell (2) Chacombe Church]
[Ill.u.s.tration: DECORATED WINDOWS (1) Merton College Chapel (2) Sandiacre, Derbys.h.i.+re]
[Ill.u.s.tration: MOULDINGS (1) Elton, Huntingdons.h.i.+re (2) Austrey, Warwicks.h.i.+re]
At length the glories of the Decorated period pa.s.s away and are merged and lost in the _Perpendicular_ which held sway from 1375 to 1540. The work is now more elaborate and richer, but lacks the majestic beauty of the Decorated style. It is easy to distinguish Perpendicular windows.
They are larger than any which we have seen before; the mullions are carried straight up through the head of the window; smaller mullions spring from the heads of the princ.i.p.al lights, and thus the windows are broken up into panel-like compartments, very different from the beautiful curves of the Decorated style. Simple pointed arches are still in use, but gradually they become flattened; and the arch, commonly known as the Tudor arch, is a peculiar feature of this style. In village churches the mouldings of the arch are often continued down the piers without any capital or shaft.
[Ill.u.s.tration: MERTON COLLEGE CHAPEL, OXFORD]
Piers are commonly formed from a square or parallelogram with the angles fluted, having on the flat face of each side a semicyclindrical shaft.
The base mouldings are polygonal. The most common doorway is the Tudor arch having a square head over it. The doors are often richly ornamented. There are a large number of square-headed windows, and so proud were these builders of their new style of window that they frequently inserted Perpendicular windows in walls of a much earlier date. Hence it is not always safe to determine the age of a church by an examination of the windows alone. Panel-work tracery on the upper part of the interior walls is a distinctive feature of this style.
[Ill.u.s.tration: VESTRY DOOR, ADDERBURY CHURCH, OXON]
[Ill.u.s.tration: ST. ERASMUS' CHAPEL, WESTMINSTER ABBEY]
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