ARCHITECTURE
England
see
also:
Architecture
in
England
PERPENDICULAR STYLE.
The contrast between the bold upward thrust of
the crossing tower and the leisurely horizontal progression throughout
the rest of Salisbury Cathedral suggests that English Gothic had
developed in a new direction during the intervening hundred years. The
change becomes very evident if we compare the interior of Salisbury with the choir
of Gloucester Cathedral, built in the second quarter of the next century
(fig.
470). This is a
striking example of English Late Gothic, also called "Perpendicular."
The name certainly fits, since we now find the dominant vertical accent
that is so conspicuously absent in the Early English style. (Note the
responds running in an unbroken line from the vault to the floor.) In
this respect Perpendicular Gothic is much more akin to French sources,
yet it includes so many features we have come to know as English that it
would look very much out of place on the Continent. The repetition of
small uniform tracery panels recalls the bands of statuary on the west
facade at Salisbury. The plan simulates the square east end of earlier
English churches. And the upward curve of the vault is as steep as in
the nave of Salisbury.
GLOUCESTER CATHEDRAL

Gloucester Cathedral
Gloucester Cathedral, or the Cathedral Church of St Peter and the Holy
and Indivisible Trinity, in Gloucester, England, stands in the north of
the city near the river. It originated in 678 or 679 with the foundation
of an abbey dedicated to Saint Peter (dissolved by King Henry VIII).
The foundations of the present church were laid by Abbot Serlo
(1072–1104). Walter Gloucester (d. 1412) the abbey's historian, became
its first mitred abbot in 1381. Until 1541, Gloucester lay in the see of
Worcester, but the separate see was then constituted, with John Wakeman,
last abbot of Tewkesbury, as its first bishop. The diocese covers the
greater part of Gloucestershire, with small parts of Herefordshire and
Wiltshire. The cathedral has a stained glass window containing the
earliest images of golf. This dates from 1350, over 300 years earlier
than the earliest image of golf from Scotland. There is also a carved
image of people playing a ball game, believed by some to be one of the
earliest images of medieval football.
The cathedral, built as the abbey church, consists of a Norman
nucleus (Walter de Lacy is buried there), with additions in every style
of Gothic architecture. It is 420 feet (130 m) long, and 144 feet (44 m)
wide, with a fine central tower of the 15th century rising to the height
of 225 ft (69 m) and topped by four delicate pinnacles, a famous
landmark. The nave is massive Norman with an Early English roof; the
crypt, under the choir, aisles and chapels, is Norman, as is the chapter
house. The crypt is one of the four apsidal cathedral crypts in England,
the others being at Worcester, Winchester and Canterbury.
The south porch is in the Perpendicular
style, with a fan-vaulted roof, as also is the north transept, the south
being transitional Decorated Gothic. The choir has Perpendicular tracery
over Norman work, with an apsidal chapel on each side: the choir
vaulting is particularly rich. The late Decorated east window is partly
filled with surviving medieval stained glass. Between the apsidal
chapels is a cross Lady chapel, and north of the nave are the cloisters,
the carrels or stalls for the monks' study and writing lying to the
south. The cloisters at Gloucester are the earliest surviving fan
vaults, having been designed between 1351 and 1377 by Thomas de
Cambridge.

470. Choir, Gloucester Cathedral.
1332-57
Gloucester Cathedral. Interior
The ribs of the vaults, on the other hand, have assumed an altogether
new role. They have been multiplied until they form an ornamental
network that screens the boundaries between the bays and thus makes the
entire vault look like one continuous surface. This, in turn, has the
effect of emphasizing the unity of the interior space. Such decorative
elaboration of the "classic" quadripartite vault is characteristic of
the so-called Flamboyant style on the Continent as well, but the English
started it earlier and carried it to greater lengths. The ultimate is
reached in the amazing pendant vault of Henry VII's Chapel at Westminster Abbey, built in the early years of the sixteenth
century (figs.
471 and
472), with its lanternlike
knobs hanging from conical "fans." This fantastic scheme merges ribs and
tracery patterns in a dazzling display of architectural pageantry.

471. Chapel of Henry VII,
Westminster Abbey. London (view toward west).
1503-19
472. Diagram of vault construction,
Chapel of Henry VII, Westminster Abbey (after Swaan)
WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL

Winchester Cathedral
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Winchester Cathedral
From Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia
Winchester Cathedral at Winchester in Hampshire is one of
the largest cathedrals in England, with the longest nave and
overall length of any Gothic cathedral in Europe. Dedicated
to the Holy Trinity, Saint Peter, Saint Paul, and Saint
Swithun, it is the seat of the Bishop of Winchester and
centre of the Diocese of Winchester.
The cathedral was originally founded in 642 on an
immediately adjoining site to the north. This building
became known as the Old Minster. It became part of a
monastic settlement in 971. Saint Swithun was buried near
the Old Minster and then in it, before being moved to the
new Norman cathedral. So-called mortuary chests said to
contain the remains of Saxon kings such as King Eadwig of
England, first buried in the Old Minster, and his wife
Ælfgifu, are also housed in the present cathedral. The Old
Minster was demolished in 1093.
Construction of the cathedral began in 1079 under bishop
Walkelin and, on April 8, 1093, in the presence of nearly
all the bishops and abbots of England, the monks removed
from the Saxon cathedral church of the Old Minster to the
new one, "with great rejoicing and glory" to mark its
completion. The earliest part of the present building is the
crypt, which dates from that time. William II of England and
his older brother, Richard, Duke of Bernay are both buried
in the cathedral. The squat, square crossing tower was begun
in 1202 to replace an earlier version which collapsed,
partly because of the unstable ground on which the cathedral
is built. It has an indisputably Norman look to it. Work
continued on the cathedral during the 14th century. In 1394
the remodelling of the Norman nave commenced to the designs
of master mason William Wynford, this continued into the
15th and 16th centuries, notably with the building of the
retroquire to accommodate the many pilgrims to the shrine of
Saint Swithun.
Much of the sturdy limestone used to build
the structure was brought across from the Isle of Wight from
quarries around Binstead. Nearby Quarr Abbey draws its name
from these masonry workings, as do many local places such as
Stonelands and Stonepitts. The remains of the Roman trackway
used to transport the blocks are still evident across the
fairways of the Ryde Golf Club, where the stone was hauled
from the quarries to the hythe at the mouth of Binstead
Creek, and thence by barge across the Solent and up to
Winchester.
After King Henry VIII seized control of
the Catholic Church in England and declared himself head of
the Church of England, the Benedictine foundation, the
Priory of Saint Swithun, was dissolved (1539) and the
cloister and chapter house were demolished, but the
cathedral continued.
Restoration work was carried out by T.G.
Jackson during the years 1905–1912, including the famous
saving of the building from total collapse. Some waterlogged
foundations on the south and east walls were reinforced by a
diver, William Walker, packing the foundations with more
than 25,000 bags of concrete, 115,000 concrete blocks, and
900,000 bricks. Walker worked six hours a day from 1906 to
1912 in total darkness at depths up to 6 metres (20 ft), and
is credited with saving the cathedral from total collapse.
For his troubles he was awarded the MVO.
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Winchester Cathedral

Winchester Cathedral

Winchester Cathedral. Interior

View along the nave of Winchester Cathedral to the west door.
Winchester Cathedral. Interior
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