English Gothic architecture

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Westminster Hall and its hammerbeam roof, pictured in the early 19th century.
English Gothic is the name of the architectural style that flourished in England
from about 1180 until about 1520.
As with the Gothic architecture of other parts of Europe, English Gothic is defi
ned by its pointed arches, vaulted roofs, buttresses, large windows, and spires.
The Gothic style was introduced from France, where the various elements had fir
st been used together within a single building at the choir of the Basilique Sai
nt-Denis north of Paris, built by the Abbot Suger and dedicated on 11 June 1144.
[1] The earliest large-scale applications of Gothic architecture in England are
at Canterbury Cathedral and Westminster Abbey. Many features of Gothic architect
ure had evolved naturally from Romanesque architecture (often known in England a
s Norman architecture). This evolution can be seen most particularly at the Norm
an Durham Cathedral, which has the earliest pointed ribbed high vault known.
English Gothic was to develop along lines that sometimes paralleled and sometime
s diverged from those of continental Europe. Historians traditionally divide Eng
lish Gothic into a number of different periods, which may be further subdivided
to accurately define different styles. Gothic architecture continued to flourish
in England for a hundred years after the precepts of Renaissance architecture w
ere formalised in Florence in the early 15th century. The Gothic style gave way
to the Renaissance in the later 16th and 17th centuries, but was revived in the
late 18th century as an academic style and had great popularity as Gothic Reviva
l architecture throughout the 19th century.
Many of the largest and finest works of English architecture, notably the mediev
al cathedrals of England are largely built in the Gothic style. So also are cast
les, palaces, great houses, universities, and many smaller unpretentious secular
buildings, including almshouses and trade halls. Another important group of Got
hic buildings in England are the parish churches, which, like the medieval cathe
drals, are often of earlier, Norman foundation.
Contents
1 Terms
2 Early English Gothic
2.1 Characteristics
2.2 Other notable examples
3 Decorated Gothic
3.1 Elements of the style
3.2 Notable examples
4 Perpendicular Gothic
4.1 Features
4.2 Notable examples
5 See also
6 References and sources
7 External links
Terms
The Designation of styles in English Gothic architecture follow conventional lab
els given them by the antiquary Thomas Rickman, who coined the terms in his Atte

mpt to Discriminate the Style of Architecture in England (1812 15). Historians som
etimes refer to the styles as "periods", e.g. "Perpendicular period" in much the
same way as an historical era may be referred to as the "Tudor period". The var
ious styles are seen at their most fully developed in the cathedrals, abbey chur
ches and collegiate buildings. It is, however, a distinctive characteristic of t
he cathedrals of England that all but one of them, Salisbury Cathedral, show gre
at stylistic diversity and have building dates that typically range over 400 yea
rs.
Early English (c. 1180 1275)
Decorated (c. 1275 1380)
Perpendicular (c. 1380 1520)
Early English Gothic
The entirety of Salisbury Cathedral (excluding the tower and spire) is in the Ea
rly English style. Lancet windows are used throughout, and a "pure" image is und
erlined by the relative lack of embellishing as was found in Romanesque building
s, and less detailed tracery than would be used in later buildings.
The Early English Period of English Gothic lasted from the late 12th century unt
il midway through the 13th century, according to most modern scholars, such as N
ikolaus Pevsner. According to the originator of the term in 1817, Thomas Rickman
, the period ran from 1189 to 1307; Rickman based his defining dates on the reig
ns of certain English monarchs.
In the late 12th century, the Early English Gothic style superseded the Romanesq
ue or Norman style (as it is better known in England, through its association wi
th the Norman Conquest). During the late 13th century, it developed into the Dec
orated Gothic style, which lasted until the mid-14th century. With all of these
early architectural styles, there is a gradual overlap between the periods. As f
ashions changed, new elements were often used alongside older ones, especially i
n large buildings such as churches and cathedrals, which were constructed (and a
dded to) over long periods of time. It is customary, therefore, to recognise a t
ransitional phase between the Romanesque and Early English periods from the midd
le of the 12th century.
Although usually known as Early English, this new Gothic style had originated in
the area around Paris before spreading to England. There it was first known as
"the French style". It was first used in the choir or "quire" of the abbey churc
h of St Denis, dedicated in June 1144. Even before that, some features had been
included in Durham Cathedral, showing a combination of Romanesque and proto-Goth
ic styles.
By 1175, with the completion of the Choir at Canterbury Cathedral by William of
Sens, the style was firmly established in England.
Characteristics
The most significant and characteristic development of the Early English period
was the pointed arch known as the lancet. Pointed arches were used almost univer
sally, not only in arches of wide span such as those of the nave arcade, but als
o for doorways and lancet windows.
Romanesque builders generally used round arches, although they had very occasion
ally employed slightly pointed ones, notably at Durham Cathedral, where they are
used for structural purposes in the Nave aisles. Compared with the rounded Roma
nesque style, the pointed arch of the Early English Gothic looks more refined; m
ore importantly, it is more efficient at distributing the weight of the stonewor
k above it, making it possible to span higher and wider gaps using narrower colu
mns. It also allows for much greater variation in proportions, whereas the stren
gth of round arches depends on semicircular form.

Through the use of the pointed arch, architects could design less massive walls
and provide larger window openings that were grouped more closely together, so t
hey could achieve a more open, airy and graceful building. The high walls and va
ulted stone roofs were often supported by flying buttresses: half arches which t
ransmit the outward thrust of the superstructure to supports or buttresses, ofte
n visible on the exterior of the building. The barrel vaults and groin vaults ch
aracteristic of Romanesque building were replaced by rib vaults, which made poss
ible a wider range of proportions between height, width and length.
The arched windows are usually narrow by comparison to their height and are with
out tracery. For this reason Early English Gothic is sometimes known as the Lanc
et style. Although arches of equilateral proportion are most often employed, lan
cet arches of very acute proportions are frequently found and are highly charact
eristic of the style. A notable example of steeply pointed lancets being used st
ructurally is the apsidal arcade of Westminster Abbey. The Lancet openings of wi
ndows and decorative arcading are often grouped in twos or threes. This characte
ristic is seen throughout Salisbury Cathedral, where groups of two lancet window
s line the nave and groups of three line the clerestory. At York Minster the nor
th transept has a cluster of five lancet windows known as the Five Sisters; each
is 50 feet tall and still retains ancient glass.
Instead of being massive, solid pillars, the columns were often composed of clus
ters of slender, detached shafts (often made of dark, polished Purbeck "marble")
surrounding a central pillar, or pier, to which they are attached by circular m
oulded shaft-rings. Characteristic of Early Gothic in England is the great depth
given to the hollows of the mouldings with alternating fillets and rolls, by th
e decoration of the hollows with the dog-tooth ornament and by the circular abac
i of the capitals.
The arches of decorative wall arcades and galleries are sometimes cusped. Circle
s with trefoils, quatrefoils, etc., are introduced into the tracery of galleries
and large rose windows in the transept or nave, as at Lincoln Cathedral (1220).
The conventional foliage decorating the capitals is of great beauty and variety
, and extends to spandrels, roof bosses, etc. In the spandrels of the arches of
the nave, transept or choir arcades, diaper work is occasionally found, as in th
e transept of Westminster Abbey, which is one of the best examples of the period
.
At its purest the style was simple and austere, emphasising the height of the bu
ilding, as if aspiring heavenward.
Other notable examples
Early English architecture is typical of many Cistercian abbeys (both in Britain
and France), such as Whitby Abbey and Rievaulx Abbey in Yorkshire. Salisbury Ca
thedral is a superb example of the style; because it was built over a relatively
short period (the main body between 1220 to 1258), it is relatively unmixed wit
h other styles (except for its faade and famous tower and spire, which date from
the 14th century). Other good examples are the Galilee porch at Ely Cathedral; t
he nave and transept of Wells Cathedral (1225 1240); the west front of Peterboroug
h Cathedral; and Beverley Minster and the south transept at York. The style has
also been used in academic buildings, such as the old library of Merton College,
Oxford, which constitutes a portion of the so-called "Mob Quad."
Decorated Gothic
The west front of York Minster is a fine example of Decorated architecture, in p
articular the elaborate tracery on the main window. This period saw detailed car
ving reach its peak, with elaborately carved windows and capitals, often with fl
oral patterns.
The Decorated Period in architecture (also known as the Decorated Gothic, or sim

ply "Decorated") is a name given specifically to a division of English Gothic ar

chitecture. Traditionally, this period is broken into two periods: the "Geometri
c" style (1250 90) and the "Curvilinear" style (1290 1350).
Elements of the style
Decorated architecture is characterised by its window tracery. Elaborate windows
are subdivided by closely spaced parallel mullions (vertical bars of stone), us
ually up to the level at which the arched top of the window begins. The mullions
then branch out and cross, intersecting to fill the top part of the window with
a mesh of elaborate patterns called tracery, typically including trefoils and q
uatrefoils. The style was geometrical at first and flowing in the later period,
owing to the omission of the circles in the window tracery. This flowing or flam
boyant tracery was introduced in the first quarter of the 14th century and laste
d about fifty years. This evolution of decorated tracery is often used to subdiv
ide the period into an earlier "Geometric" and later "Curvilinear" period.
Interiors of this period often feature tall columns of more slender and elegant
form than in previous periods. Vaulting became more elaborate, with the use of i
ncreasing number of ribs, initially for structural and then aesthetic reasons. A
rches are generally equilateral, and the mouldings bolder than in the Early Engl
ish Period, with less depth in the hollows and with the fillet (a narrow flat ba
nd) largely used. The ballflower and a four-leaved flower motif take the place o
f the earlier dog-tooth. The foliage in the capitals is less conventional than i
n Early English and more flowing, and the diaper patterns in walls are more vari
ed.
Notable examples
Examples of the Decorated style can be found in many British churches and cathed
rals. Principal examples are those of the east ends of Lincoln Cathedral and of
Carlisle Cathedral and the west fronts of York Minster and Lichfield Cathedral.
Much of Exeter Cathedral is built in this style, as is the crossing of Ely Cathe
dral, (including the famous octagonal lantern, built between 1322 and 1328 to re
place the fallen central tower), three west bays of the choir and the Lady Chape
l. In Scotland, Melrose Abbey was a noteworthy example, though much of it is now
in ruins.
Perpendicular Gothic
The interior of Gloucester Cathedral conveys an impression of a "cage" of stone
and glass, typical of Perpendicular architecture. Elaborate Decorated style trac
ery is no longer in evidence, and the lines on both walls and windows have becom
e sharper and less flamboyant.
Finely decorated two-storey Perpendicular south porch of 1480 at Northleach, Glo
ucestershire.
The perpendicular Gothic period (or simply Perpendicular) is the third historica
l division of English Gothic architecture, and is so-called because it is charac
terised by an emphasis on vertical lines. An alternative name, the Rectilinear,
was suggested by Edmund Sharpe,[2] and is preferred by some as more accurate,[3]
but has never gained widespread use.
The Perpendicular style began to emerge c. 1350. Harvey (1978) puts the earliest
example of a fully formed Perpendicular style at the chapter house of Old St Pa
ul's Cathedral, built by William Ramsey in 1332.[4] It developed from the Decora
ted style of the late 13th century and early 14th century, and lasted into the m
id 16th century. It began under the royal architects William Ramsey and John Spo
nlee, and fully developed in the prolific works of Henry Yevele and William Wynf
ord.[4]
In the later examples of the Decorated Period the omission of the circles in the
tracery of windows had led to the employment of curves of double curvature whic
h developed into flamboyant tracery: the introduction of the perpendicular lines

was a reaction in the contrary direction. The style grew out of the shadow of t
he Black Death which killed about a third of England's population in 18 months b
etween June 1348 and December 1349 and returned in 1361 62 to kill another fifth.
This had a great effect on the arts and culture, which took a decidedly morbid a
nd pessimistic direction. It can be argued that Perpendicular architecture revea
ls a populace affected by overwhelming shock and grief, focusing on death and de
spair, and no longer able to justify previous flamboyance or jubilation present
in the Decorated style. The style was affected by the labour shortages caused by
the plague as architects designed less elaborately to cope.
Features
This perpendicular linearity is particularly obvious in the design of windows, w
hich became very large, sometimes of immense size, with slimmer stone mullions t
han in earlier periods, allowing greater scope for stained glass craftsmen. The
mullions of the windows are carried vertically up into the arch moulding of the
windows, and the upper portion is subdivided by additional mullions (supermullio
ns) and transoms, forming rectangular compartments, known as panel tracery. Butt
resses and wall surfaces are likewise divided up into vertical panels. The techn
ological development and artistic elaboration of the vault reached its pinnacle,
producing intricate multipartite lierne vaults and culminating in the fan vault
.
Doorways are frequently enclosed within a square head over the arch mouldings, t
he spandrels being filled with quatrefoils or tracery. Pointed arches were still
used throughout the period, but ogee and four-centred Tudor arches were also in
troduced.
Inside the church the triforium disappears, or its place is filled with panellin
g, and greater importance is given to the clerestory windows, which are often th
e finest features in the churches of this period. The mouldings are flatter than
those of the earlier periods, and one of the chief characteristics is the intro
duction of large elliptical hollows.
Some of the finest features of this period are the magnificent timber roofs; ham
merbeam roofs, such as those of Westminster Hall (1395), Christ Church Hall, Oxf
ord, and Crosby Hall, appeared for the first time. In areas of Southern England
using flint architecture, elaborate flushwork decoration in flint and ashlar was
used, especially in the wool churches of East Anglia.
Notable examples
Some of the earliest examples of the Perpendicular Period, dating from 1360, are
found at Gloucester Cathedral, where the masons of the cathedral seemed to be f
ar in advance of those in other towns; the fan-vaulting in the cloisters is part
icularly fine. Perpendicular additions and repairs can be found in smaller churc
hes and chapels throughout England, of a common level of technical ability which
lack the decoration of earlier stonemasonry at their sites, so can be used for
school field trips seeking evidence of the social effects of the plagues.
Among other buildings and their noted elements are:
nave, western transepts and crossing tower of Canterbury Cathedral (1378 1411)
,
late 15th-century tower, New College, Oxford (1380 86, Henry Yevele);
Beauchamp Chapel, Warwick (1381 91);
Quire and tower of York Minster (1389 1407);
remodelling of the nave and aisles of Winchester Cathedral (1399 1419);
transept and tower of Merton College, Oxford (1424 50);
Manchester Cathedral (1422);
Divinity School, Oxford (1427 83);
King's College Chapel, Cambridge (1446 1515) [1]

Eton College Chapel, Eton (1448 1482) [2]

central tower of Gloucester Cathedral (1454 57);
central tower of Magdalen College, Oxford (1475 80);
choir of Sherborne Abbey (1475 c. 1580)
Collegiate Church Of The Holy Trinity, Tattershall, Lincolnshire. (c1490 - 1
500) [3]
Charterhouse School, Surrey, main buildings and chapel
Notable later examples include Bath Abbey (c. 1501 c. 1537, although heavily res
tored in the 1860s), Henry VII's Lady Chapel at Westminster Abbey (1503 1519), and
the towers at St Giles' Church, Wrexham and St Mary Magdalene, Taunton (1503 1508
).
The Perpendicular style was less often used in the Gothic Revival than the Decor
ated style, but major examples include the rebuilt Palace of Westminster (i.e. t
he Houses of Parliament), Bristol University's Wills Memorial Building (1915 25),
and St. Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney.
See also
Portal icon

Anglicanism portal

Gothic architecture
Romanesque architecture
Tudor architecture
Architecture of the medieval cathedrals of England
Cathedral architecture of Western Europe
Stained glass
Poor Man's Bible
References and sources
References
Honour, H. and J. Fleming, (2009) A World History of Art. 7th edn. London: Laure
nce King Publishing, p. 376. ISBN 9781856695848
Sharpe, Edmund (1871). The Seven Periods of English Architecture Defined and Ill
ustrated.
Frankl, Paul (2000). Gothic Architecture. Yale: Yale University Press. p. 193.
Harvey, John (1978). The Perpendicular Style. Batsford.
Sources
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chi
sholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Decorated Period". Encyclopdia Britannica 7 (11th ed.).
Cambridge University Press. p. 915.
External links
BritainExpress: Decorated Gothic architecture
Britain Express Architectural Guide
Britain Express Architectural Guide
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