ENGLISH GOTHIC

1180 – EARLY 16TH C.

unit 3 late medieval period
ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER
Gothic architecture in England can divided into 4 periods or
styles.
Norman Gothic 1066-1180
Early English Gothic 1180-1275
Decorated Gothic 1275-1375
Perpendicular Gothic 1375 - 1530
Gothic architecture emphasized strong vertical lines, high vaulted
ceilings, minimal wall space, pointed window and door openings, and
buttressed walls. DURHAM CATHEDRAL

NORMAN GOTHIC PERIOD (1066-1200) wasn't very different from

Gothic elsewhere in Europe.

•The buildings of this time are transitional

•The structures have the thick piers
•Rounded window openings of the earlier Romanesque style.
•Vaulting and decoration are simple
•There is little sign of the elaborate stonework to come.
•Examples WELLS CATHEDRAL
Durham Cathedral,
Wells Cathedral, and
Ely Cathedral (west tower 1150-75). WEST TOWER ELY CATHEDRAL
ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER
EARLY ENGLISH GOTHIC 1180 - 1275
It is in the Early English period (1200-1275) that the
Gothic style became truly adapted by English
craftsmen/architects.
Also known as “Lancet” and “First Pointed Style”
The Cistercians gave the lead followed by York Minster

Main features:
•Pointed arches
•Quadripartite vaults
•Lancet windows (untraceried)
•Clustered shafts of tall, narrow piers
•It emphasized simple, almost austere lines, preferring
fine proportion to elaborate decoration.
•Cosmetic rather than structural with application of veneers
on walls
•Importance given to decoration and ornamentation to
space frames
•Instead of soaring spaces and tall stained glass windows,
they had rich mouldings and encrustations of polished
shafts such as Purbeck marble
•Vaults used for grand buildings due to possibilities of
making patterns out of them
ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER
EARLY ENGLISH GOTHIC 1180 - 1275
Buttresses:
The simple buttresses of the Norman period gave way to
flying buttresses, These flying buttresses may be visible
over the aisles, but just as often were concealed in the aisle
roof.
A variation on the Early English buttress is the "Oxford
buttress", set diagonally at corners.

Lancet windows: Where the hood moulding (dripstone)

followed a pointed design, echoing the lines of the
windows, small ornamental holes in the space between the
moulding and the lancets were given. This approach is
called Plate Tracery. As plate tracery developed, the small
holes became more elaborate, evolving into ornate trefoil
SALISBURY CATHEDRAL
and quatrefoil designs.

Towers were topped with steeply pitched roofs, often

surmounted with very slender towers emerging from a
broach, or pyramidal base.
OXFORD BUTTRESS
Eg: The most complete example of Early English is without
a doubt to be seen at Salisbury Cathedral. The
Westminster Abbey is similar to French High Gothic
ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER
DECORATED ENGLISH GOTHIC 1280 - 1380
Other common names used to refer to this period are
Middle Pointed, Curvilinear, Geometric, and
Flamboyant.
These terms refer to the shape of window heads and
window tracery, which became much more elaborate

Main features:
•Elaborately curved tracery
•Wider windows, better lighting
•Richly-coloured stained glass
•Increased use of bricks
•Naturalistic, curved carvings
•Pointed arches

Buttress: Widespread use of the flying buttress made

possible the use of wider, taller windows, and with the
increase in size came a corresponding increase in
decorative elements in the window head.
Ogee Arch: The simple geometric shapes of the Early
English period gave way to complex curves; the ogee
arch being the most obvious. This double-curve is the
basis of most of the curvilinear tracery which
became so popular during the 14th century. PLAN OF TYPICAL ENGLISH GOTHIC
ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER
DECORATED ENGLISH GOTHIC 1280 - 1380
Vault: The vaulting of the Early English
period became lighter, and short ribs
sprouted from the main ribs to form
star-shaped patterns that were as
much ornamental as structural.
The place where the ribs met became a
focal point for decorative touches such as
pendant knobs, grotesque faces, or
foliage.
VAULT Decoration: carving in the Decorated period is focused on
foliage patterns, though the Decorated designs are more
curvaceous than the Early English.
A wider variety of leaves are used; with ivy, oak, rose, and
vines leading the way. Animals, birds, and human figures
are interspersed with foliage, and all the forms are more
natural, less stiffly formal than Early English.
Other common ornamental carving features are the ball-
flower (a partly opened flower set on a sphere within a
hollow moulding) and the symmetrical four-leaved flower.
Columns: became more slender, and the free-standing
shafts of the Early English period gave way to clusters of
BALL FLOWER columns making up larger piers.
ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER
DECORATED ENGLISH GOTHIC 1280 - 1380
Materials: Although stone was still the most popular building medium, certainly for churches,
bricks were used almost entirely for secular buildings

Secular architecture: The Decorated period had little influence on castle architecture. Many earlier
castles were enlarged, with the addition of curtain walls, crenellations, and elaborate barbicans and
gatehouses. The keep ceased to be a major living-space, and was given over to use as a
storehouse and prison.
Eg: Lichfield Cathedral
Exeter Cathedral

EXETER CATHEDRAL
LICHFIELD CATHEDRAL
 TIERCERON

LIERNE – ELY CHOIR

A Lierne is a tertiary rib spanning
between two other rib called a lierne
vault or stellar vault (named after the
star shape generated by connecting
liernes).

A Tierceron is a secondary arched

diagonal rib which spans from the
springers to the transverse ridge ribs.

FAN VAULT OF EXETER CATHEDRAL

ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER
PERPENDICULAR ENGLISH GOTHIC LATE 14th – EARLY 16th C
It is also known as the Rectilinear style, or Late
Gothic. It is the final phase of Gothic architecture in
England
Main features:
•Strong vertical lines
•Very large windows with elaborate tracery
•Fan vaulting
•Hammer beam roofs

The chief characteristic of Perpendicular architecture

is the emphasis on strong vertical lines, seen
most markedly in window tracery and wall
paneling.

Fan Vault: Roof vaulting became elaborate and

ornate, with a multitude of vaulting ribs
spreading outwards in a fan shape, ornamented
with pendants and cross-ribs that served a
purely decorative function.

Buttress: The flying buttress reached its final

graceful and highly decorated form, with knobs,
crockets and small pinnacles adorning every
possible surface.
ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER
PERPENDICULAR ENGLISH GOTHIC LATE 14th – EARLY 16th C
Windows:
Window openings could be extremely large, and huge
expanses of glass were created separated by thin,
curving stone tracery in ever more elaborate
patterns. Window area was maximized, while wall area
was minimized. The result is lofty, open interiors of
extraordinary lightness and delicacy.

Hammer beam roof:

•The hammer beam roof is the wooden equivalent of
the stone vaulting used in the great cathedrals of the
time.
•Hammer beam construction makes use of short
horizontal and vertical beams to distribute the weight of a
roof. These short beams rise in steps from the top of a
wall to the roof peak, creating a more open space than
earlier techniques allowed. Although the timbers which
made up the supporting elements in hammer beam roofs
were structural, they were also used as ornamental
elements.
•The meeting places of timbers were often adorned with
pendants or fanciful carvings, and the timbers
themselves were often painted and gilded.
ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER
PERPENDICULAR ENGLISH GOTHIC LATE 14th – EARLY 16th C
Decoration: The curvilinear carving which so
characterized the Decorated period became more
formal, less flowing. Foliage designs were still the most
popular motif, but even these are more stiff and formal,
less ebullient, and certainly less natural. Carvings are
shallower, and stand out very little from the surface of their
stone background.

Eg: The finest examples of Perpendicular survive at

Westminster Hall, London, King's College Chapel,
The depressed arch supported by fan
Cambridge and Henry VII's Chapel at Westminster
vaulting -King's College Chapel, England.
Cathedral (1503-1519).

Windows in the Chapter House

at York Minster show the
equilateral arch with typical
circular motifs in the tracery.

Flamboyant tracery at Limoges

Cathedral
WESTMINSTER ABBEY, LONDON
EARLY ENGLISH GOTHIC – PERPENDICULAR - 1045 - 1400
The Collegiate Church of St Peter,
Westminster, which is referred to by its original
name of Westminster Abbey, is an English
Gothic church.
With Benedictine planning, the stone Abbey was
built around 1045–1050 by King Edward the
Confessor, it was the site of the last coronation
prior to the Norman Invasion.
Henry III rebuilt the Abbey in Anglo-French
Gothic style as a shrine to honour Edward the
Confessor
Henry VII added a Perpendicular style chapel
dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1503
Stone came from Caen, the Isle of Portland
(Portland stone) and the Loire Valley region of
France (tuffeau limestone).
The abbey's two western towers were built
between 1722 and 1745 by Nicholas Hawksmoor,
constructed from Portland stone to an early
example of a Gothic Revival design.
WESTMINSTER ABBEY, LONDON
EARLY ENGLISH GOTHIC – PERPENDICULAR - 1045 - 1400
Planning:
The architect was greatly influenced by the
cathedrals at Reims, Amiens and
Chartres, borrowing the ideas of
•Apse with radiating chapels
•characteristic Gothic features of pointed
arches, ribbed vaulting, rose windows
and flying buttresses.
•The design is based on the continental
system of geometrical proportion, but its
English features include single rather than
double aisles and a long nave with wide
projecting transepts.
•The Abbey has the highest Gothic vault in
England (nearly 102 feet) and it was made
to seem higher by making the aisles
narrow.
•The Englishness is also apparent in the
elaborate mouldings of the main arches,
the lavish use of polished Purbeck
marble for the columns and the overall
sculptural decoration.
•The east-west axis was determined by the
existing position of the Lady Chapel.
WESTMINSTER ABBEY, LONDON
EARLY ENGLISH GOTHIC – PERPENDICULAR - 1045 - 1400
The total length of the church
including the chapel of Henry VII is
513’
Length of the transept - 200’
Breadth of the aisles 75’
Transept 80’
Height of the church 102’
Tower 225 feet
CHAPEL HENRY VII

VIEW SHOWING THE

BUTTRESSES

NORTHERN ENTRANCE
WESTMINSTER ABBEY, LONDON
EARLY ENGLISH GOTHIC – PERPENDICULAR - 1045 - 1400
INTERIORS:
Inside, the main nave of Westminster
Abbey rises in three storeys –
•one big pointed (Gothic) arch at the
bottom,
•then a blind (false) gallery,
•and above that a big glass window to
let in the light.
•Thin colonnettes attached to the wall
rise straight up from the floor to the
ceiling to make the ceiling seem as high
as possible, as if the whole building
were soaring up to the sky, trying to
leap right up off the ground to Heaven.
•The vault used is the ribbed fan vault
which was added in the 13th c.
•A spacious area between the high
altar and the beginning of the quire
was necessary to provide a ‘theatre’
where coronations could take place.
WESTMINSTER ABBEY, LONDON
EARLY ENGLISH GOTHIC – PERPENDICULAR - 1045 - 1400
WESTMINSTER ABBEY, LONDON
EARLY ENGLISH GOTHIC – PERPENDICULAR - 1045 - 1400
MATERIALS:
The stonework (which came from
Caen in France and Reigate in
Surrey), the sculptured roof bosses
and the other carvings would have
been brightly coloured and the wall
arcades may have been decorated in
vermilion and gold.
The walls were adorned with fine
paintings .
Brilliant ruby and sapphire glass,
with heraldic shields set in a grisaille
(or grey monochrome) pattern, filled
the windows.
The chapel screens and tombs added
to the display of colour.
WESTMINSTER ABBEY, LONDON
EARLY ENGLISH GOTHIC – PERPENDICULAR - 1045 - 1400
CHAPEL:
The next great addition to the Abbey was
the construction of a magnificent new Lady
Chapel by Henry VII between 1503 and
1519 to replace the 13th century chapel.
The Perpendicular architecture here is in
total contrast to the rest of the Abbey.
It has been called "one of the most perfect
buildings ever erected in England" and "the
wonder of the world".
The decoration is lavish. The glory of the
chapel is its delicately carved fan vaulted
roof, with hanging pendants.
These are constructed on half-concealed
transverse arches.
All around the chapel are Tudor emblems
such as the rose and portcullis, and
nearly one hundred statues of saints still
remain in niches around the walls. The
original jewel-like stained glass by
Bernard Flower has, however, disappeared.