An introduction to the study of Gothic architecture

Introduction

TO

THE STUDY

Gothic Architecture.

BY

JOHN HENRY PARKER, F:S.A.,

VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE OXFORD ARCHITECTURAL SOCIETY 3 MEMBER OF THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF NORMANDY, “LA sOCcIKTE FRANCAISE POUR LA CONSERVATION DES MONUMENS,” AND MANY LOCAL SOCIETIES,

Second Gdition, Rebised and’ Enlarged.

OXFORD & LONDON; J. H. ann Jas. PARKER.

.

v

MESSRS. PARKER, CORNMAK

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Preface To The Second Edition

Tue present edition has been carefully revised and considerably enlarged. The parts intended for the use of beginners are printed in larger type; these consist of the description of the characteristic features of each of the styles in succession, with illustrative engravings on wood, to which descriptions have been added, to make the technical terms more intelligible. The part of the work printed in smaller type is chiefly historical, and intended for the use of more advanced students. The book is one of facts, not of theories or fancies. Some persons may think it dry, as matter-of-fact is apt to be considered by those who are fond of speculation: but the facts here collected afford ample room for further investigation, and for theorizing within certain limits, that is, so far as the theories based upon them are consistent with the facts.

The rapid progress which has been made both in the study and in the practice of Gothic Architecture since this book was written, is very gratifying ; the two things should always go together :

vi PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

we always find that the architects who are most successful in practice are those who have studied the history of their art the most carefully. An objection may be made to this book that too much stress is laid upon: French architecture ; that the English Gothic is complete in itself, may have been entirely developed at home, and that there is no need for English architects to study the French or any other foreign style. This is true to a certain extent, but at the time that the Gothic style was developed, England and France were so closely connected together that it is impossible to believe that one did not influence the other; and this work is not intended for architects so much as for their employers, the gentry and clergy of England, to whom some knowledge of this subject has become a necessary part of education. They are naturally more interested in the historical than in the practical view of architecture, and the connection between England and foreign countries adds greatly to the interest of a study which has a singular fascination for many minds.

Preface To The First Edition

oe little work was originally written as part of a series

of Elementary Lectures recommended by the Committee of the Oxford Architectural Society to be delivered to the junior Members of the Society, in the spring of 1849. They were considered useful and interesting by those who heard them, and as it was thought they might be equally so to others who had not the same opportunity, the President, in the name of the Soeiety, requested the author to publish them. Mr. Winston’s admirable Introduction to the Study of Painted Glass formed part of the same series of Elementary Lectures, and has also been published under the same auspices.

The distinction between “plate tracery” and “bar tracery” was first clearly pointed out, and these names applied to them, by Professor Willis at the meeting of the Archeological Institute at Salisbury in August, 1849. This distinction is - of so much importance in the history of architecture, and these names are so expressive, that when once pointed out it was hapossible to avoid making use of them.

The chapter on French Gothic is chiefly the result of observations made on a tour in the central part of France in the summer of 1849, assisted by the remembrance of several previous visits to Normandy.

vill PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.

The author is happy to take this opportunity of expressing his obligation to several friends for the valuable information and suggestions with which they have favoured him, especially to the Rev. Professor Willis, and R. C. Hussey, Esq., and in France to M. De Caumont of Caen, M. Viollet-le-Duc of Paris, and the Abbé Bulteau of Chartres. He trusts that the slight sketch which he has been enabled to give of French Gothic, and the comparison of it with English, will lead to a more careful investigation of that interesting subject.

THE TURL, OxFoRD, Nov. 6, 1849.

Contents

From tur Roman Prertop 10 THE END OF THE TENTH CENTURY

The Basilica.—The Tribune, or Apse.—The Byzantine Style. —Roman Masonry.—The Barbarian Period.—The time of Augustine.—The Anglo-Saxon Period.— Wooden buildings. Stone buildings.—Crypts,

Tur ELeventa Century

Chapter I

From the Roman Period to the end of the Tenth Century.

HE history of ecclesiastical architecture cannot be clearly understood without going back to the beginning: the original type of all Christian churches is uniyersally acknowledged to have been the Roman Basilica. These buildings were numerous in all parts of the empire, and were the most convenient structures then existing for the purpose of congregational worship. Their original use was for the law courts and the merchants’ exchange, no place being entitled to municipal privileges which did not possess one. We do not find any notice of their having been converted into churches in Eusebius or the other ecclesiastical historians of the period, though it is constantly asserted by modern writers. It is, however, clear that they served as models for the churches. Many of them are said to have been consecrated by order of the Emperor Constantine, and they became the type of the earliest Christian churches. Their plan was uniform, consisting of a parallelogram divided into three parts longitudinally by two rows of pillars; these divisions became the nave and aisles of B

2 THE ROMAN BASILICAS, the church: at one end was the tribune for the judges, arranged in a semicircle; this became the apse of the church, and the place for the altar, the entrance being at the opposite end. In a few instances they were double, having a tribune at each end, and the entrances at the sides. For some centuries the type of the Basilica appears to have been generally followed, but in process of time various changes were introduced; one of the first was to place a transept across, thus producing a cruciform plan. In the western parts of the empire, the plan was that of the Latin cross, the nave being long, the choir and transepts short; in the eastern — parts, the plan generally adopted was the Greek cross, the four arms being of equal length.

It is natural to suppose, also, that in different parts of the Roman empire the character and style of building, the more or less perfect masonry or brick-work, would vary according to the civilization of the different provinces and the nature of the building materials, and this we find to have been the case.

In Italy itself the plan of the Basilica was in general closely adhered to: the original Basilicas which served as models were numerous in that country, and the ruins of the pagan temples, the palaces and public baths of the ancient Romans, which were destroyed, furnished in many instances the materials of the new churches, the original columns, capitals, entablatures, and other finished parts being employed again, while the main structure was wholly of brick, carefully concealed within by plaster and ornament. In the earlier examples the columns carried horizontal entablatures only, afterwards small brick arches were introduced from column to column ; these were at first concealed behind the entablature, but by degrees the entablature was abandoned and the arches were shewn. On the exterior the brick walls were cased with slabs of marble.

THE ROMAN PERIOD. 3

In Greece, on the other hand, the models before the eyes of the people were superior to those of Rome itself, and as Byzantium became the centre of civilization, the art of building also was in higher perfection there than in the other provinces: the ground-plan was accommodated to the opinions of the people, the Greek cross of four arms of equal length being invariably adopted. Advantage was taken of the facilities afforded by this ground-plan, and of the skill of the workmen, to erect those beautiful cupolas which are still the admiration of the world for their scientific and skilful construction. The Byzantine style thus formed was introduced in the course of time into several other provinces. In Italy it is rare, but a few specimens are found: in the south of France it is more frequent ; in the province of Perigord, churches of a thoroughly Byzantine type are numerous.

In Lombardy a distinct style was formed, which partakes in some degree of the Byzantine character, but is readily distinguished from it by the absence of the cupola. In the republic of Pisa another peculiar style was introduced in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, distinguished chiefly by the great number of small columns used on the exterior. The best examples of this style are at Pisa and Lucca: the well-known falling tower of Pisa is one. In the countries bordering on the Rhine a similar style prevailed, and it continued in use down to the thirteenth century. Many Romanesque churches in Italy and on the Rhine are contemporary with our cathedrals at Lincoln, Wells, and Salisbury.

In England the buildings of the Romans appear to have been generally of an inferior description; it was a remote and half-civilized province, and little attention seems to have been paid to the ornamental character of the buildings. It may be useful to mention the usual characteristics of Roman walls: they may generally be distinguished by layers of large flat tiles laid horizontally at regular intervals, to strengthen and bind together the rubble walling. In some instances, however, Roman walls are built of large stones, without any layers of tiles, and sometimes without mortar, as the Picts’ wall in Northumberland, a great part of which

4 THE ROMAN PERIOD.

still remains; and the Roman gateway at Lincoln, part of which is, however, cased with small ashlar-work. Roman mortar may usually be distinguished by being mixed with pounded brick, and in general by its extreme hardness, being often more difficult to break than the tile or the stone itself. This hardness arises in part from the lime having always been burnt on the spot, and used hot and fresh, on which the strength of lime greatly depends. Occasional instances, however, do occur in which this has been neglected, and Roman mortar is reduced to powder as easily as any other. On the other hand, instances also occur of medieval mortar being as hard as Roman, and also in some few cases mixed with pounded brick. Such occasional and rare exceptions do not interfere with the general rule. Roman ashlar-work is usually built of small stones almost cubical, laid in regular coursés, with rather wide joints.

It would appear that whatever stone buildings were erected between the time of the departure of the Romans and the end of the tenth century were usually of rubble stone only, carefully selected and ranged, but without mortar, as in the very interesting remains of an ancient fortified town on Worle Hill, in Somersetshire, on the banks of the Bristol Channel, near Weston-super-Mare. Many of the ancient buildings in Ireland are also constructed in this manner, The remains of the small church, or oratory, at Peranzabuloe, in Cornwall, appear to belong to an early period; they are very rude, and were for several centuries buried in the shifting sand, It seems probable that they are the actual remains of the oratory said by

THE ROMAN PERIOD.

ANIA, He iP Roman Masonry and Arch formed of Roman bricks or tiles ; from Porchester Castle, Hampshire, ae Roman Masonry, Mint Wall, Lincoln.

6 THE BARBARIAN PERIOD.

tradition to have been built by St. Piran, an Irish missionary, at the end of the fifth century.

The Roman buildings were ruthlessly destroyed by the barbarians who succeeded them, and who appear to have nearly exterminated every trace of civilization. Of the innumerable Roman villas and towns of which the foundations have been discovered in all parts of England, every one bears marks of having been destroyed by violence, and not by time: fire seems to have been the agent of destruction in almost every instance.

There is no reason to doubt that many of the Romanized Britons were Christians, and had churches; but it is not probable that the pagan barbarians who destroyed every house would leave the churches standing, and instances are very rare of the foundations even of a Roman Basilica having been found in England.

At Uriconium the foundations of the Basilica have been found ; at Brixworth, the present church appears to have been a Roman Basilica: the walls are Roman, with the arches filled up with rubble-work ; the arches are formed of Roman tiles, and are double, one over the other, for additional strength: it has been much altered at different times, and has a tower of the eleventh century at the west end, built upon the Roman walls either ofa porch or a western tribune, and a newel staircase to give access to the belfry story, and built at the same time with it.

The church in the castle at Dover is also partly of Roman work, altered in the eleventh century, and again almost rebuilt in the thirteenth. The tower at the west end, called the Roman Pharos, has an original Roman arch opening towards the church, but seems to have been always half detached from it, connected by a porch only.

The church of St. Martin at Canterbury was also Roman, but has been so frequently altered, and partly rebuilt, that small portions only of the Roman walls remain. Roman bricks are used as old materials in the parts rebuilt.

THE TIME OF AUGUSTINE. 74

The celebrated direction of Pope Gregory the Great to his missionary St. Augustine of Canterbury ?, that “Tf the temples of the idols are well built, it is requisite that they be converted from the worship of devils to the service of the true God,” appears to be intended rather as a general instruction on abstract principles, than to be dictated by local knowledge that such was the case.

It appears, however, from Bede’, that Augustine, by the assistance of the king, recovered the Roman church at Canterbury, and reconsecrated it, and this became the foundation of the cathedral. Archbishop Cuthbert added a baptistery about a.p. 750. Archbishop Odo raised the walls and rebuilt the roof about a.p. 950. This fabric was entirely destroyed by fire in a.p. 1067, and Archbishop Lanfranc removed the ruins and laid the foundations of an entirely new church. But Professor Willis considers that we have sufficient data to shew what the plan of the ancient church was. (See woodcut, No. 3.)

When the Saxons were converted to Christianity they were not masons; they dwelt in wooden houses, and there can be no doubt that their churches were also usually of wood. This is confirmed by numerous passages in contemporary historians, and the frequent mention of the destruction of churches by fire.

The language bears testimony to the general habit of the people: the Anglo-Saxon word for a building of any kind is tymbre, and to build is getymberen ; also bylian, ‘ to build,’ from bytla, a ‘hammer,’ and bytel, a ‘ beetle,’ ‘ mallet,’ or ‘ hammer.’¢ a §. Gregorii Magni Opera, ed. Bened., vol. ii. col. 1176. b Hist., lib. i. c. 33. © For this information I am indebted to Professor Bosworth.

8 THE FARLY CHURCH OF CANTERBURY,

D. Entrance to the Crypt.

E. Tomb of St. Dunstan.

E, F. Choir of the Singers.

G. Altar of Lady-chapel.

K & L. Towers.

CLOISTER.

WEST.

8. Plan of Roman and Saxon Cathedral of Canterbury, according to Prof. Willis,

A. The first altar, enclosing the relics of St. Wilfrid: this was the original high altar, and was built of rough stones and cement, according to Edmer 4, which marks its antiquity ; it was afterwards considered too sacred for ordinary use, and

B. The second altar was constructed in front of it for daily use.

CC. Steps descending from the Presbytery to the Choir.

4 Edm. Vit. 8. Wilfridi; Mabillon, t. iii. p. 227; MS. C.C.C., p. 77; ap. Willis’s Cant., p. 4,

The charter granted by King Edgar to Malmesbury Abbey, late in the tenth century, (974,) mentions that the churches ‘‘ were visibly ruinated with mouldering shingles and worm-eaten boards, even to the rafterse;” and King Canute’s charter to Glastonbury Abbey, in 1032, is dated from the wooden church there ; yet Glastonbury was one of the most wealthy abbeys, even at that time, The walls were covered inside with plates of gold and silver, and outside ‘with lead, but the material of construction was wood‘. There is, however, no doubt that the Saxons had some stone churches ; but the building of a stone church was an event of importance, recorded with much pomp by the historians of the period ; they were therefore not common, and it is not until the eleventh century that we can expect to find many remains of stone buildings s.

Ordinary dwelling-houses continued to be usually of wood throughout the Middle Ages, and in some parts of the country wooden houses are to this day more common than any others, Wooden palisades were also much used in fortification at all periods.

Soon after the conversion of the Saxons to Christianity, Bede records the building of stone churches at Wearmouth and Jarrow, in the county of Durham, about 680, As this has been considered the starting-point of the history of architecture in England, it will be better to give the substance of his words:—“ A year after the monastery of Wearmouth had been built, Benedict crossed the sea into Gaul, and no sooner asked than he obtained and carried back with him masons to build him a@ stone church in the Roman manner, which he had always admired .” It is possible that portions of the two churches still standing on these sites may be of this early period. The tower of Monk’s Wearmouth is very rude both in e “ When St. Aidan was sick, they set up a tent for him close to the wall at the west end of the church, by which means it happened that he gave up the ghost leaning against a post that was on the outside to strengthen the

_ wall,” The church was twice destroyed by fire, but ‘‘it would not touch that post, although in a most miraculous manner the fire broke through the very holes in it, wherewith it was fixed to the building, and destroyed the church.”—Bede, Hist. Eccles., lib. iii. ¢. 17.

f See Companion to the Glossary of Architecture, p. 10, and Chron. Petriburg., p. 3.

& In s.p. 652 St. Finan built a church in the island of Lindisfarne ; “Nevertheless, after the manner of the Scots, he made it not of stone, but of hewn oak, and covered it with reeds.” Eadbert afterwards took off the thatch, and covered it, both roof and walls, with lead. Bede, lib. iii. c. 25.

» Bede, Vita Abb. Wiremuth et Gerv., ed. Giles, p. 364.

design and workmanship. The present church at Jarrow is of early Norman character, but there appear to be parts of an earlier structure builtin. Dr. Raine has demonstrated that these two churches were rebuilt about 1075:

4. Fragments of Roman Mouldings built in at Hexham.

Before the end of the seventh century stone churches were built by St. Wilfrid at York, Ripon, and Hexham. At York there are no remains of this period, the church having been several times rebuilt, and the earliest portions now remaining are the foundations of the early Norman one. But at Ripon and Hexham are crypts closely resembling each other in plan, dimensions, and character : they are evidently very early ; and at Hexham bits of Roman ornamented mouldings are built into the walls, which is generally an indication of early work, The plan of these erypts is a small oblong cell, with very massive walls, and a passage in the thickness of the walls round three sides of the cell: these passages are not level, but ascending and descending, and there are small openings at intervals, as if for persons to look into the cell, or possibly for confession, They are popularly called confessionals, but this name is so comi See his Account Rolls of Jarrow and Wearmouth. 8yo., Durham, 1854,

5. Plan of the Crypt at Hexham.

A. Present entrance, a square pit 7 ft. long by 2 ft. 7in. broad, and about 18 ft. deep to the bottom level of the crypt.

B. An arched chamber, 9ft. 2in. by 5 ft. 7in., height to top of roof, 9 ft. ; recess in the wall, cavity at the bottom,

C. The cell, an arched chamber, 13 ft. 4in. by 8 ft., same height as B, three square recesses in side walls, with a cavity in the bottom stone, (perhaps for holy water, or for a lamp,) and a funnel-shaped hollow above; a stone bracket at the east end, as shewn in plan.

D. A small chamber, (pointed triangular roof, formed with large flat stones,) 5ft. 4in. by 3ft. 6in.; height to apex of roof, 8 ft.

E. A passage, 2 ft. 6in. broad, length to angle 8 ft. 6in., elbow 4 ft., flat roof covered with large stones.

F. A small chamber, 6 ft. by 3ft.6in., with a pointed triangular roof, " same as D.

G. A passage, 2 ft. 6in. broad, 6 ft. 6 in. high, length to angle, 15 ft. 6in., elbow to north, 4 ft., walled up with dry stones.

H. A Roman inscribed slab forms the cover to this angle of the passage.

The dotted half-circles at the openings from one chamber to another, are arched doorways about 6 ft. 3 in. in height.

The crypt at Ripon is similar as to the general plan of passages round three sides of a central cell, but the entrances are not arranged quite in the same manner.

monly given to any part of a church of which the use is not obvious, that no importance can be attached to it. The ascending and descending passages, however, coincide exactly with the description given by Eddius, in his Life of Wilfrid *, and the coincidence is too remarkable to be considered as accidental. They seem to indicate that these crypts were used on certain occasions for the exhibition of the relics of the saint, according to an ancient custom still in common use on the Continent: the faithful descend by one staircase, pass along the narrow passage, look through the opening in the wall at the relics, and then pass on, ascending by the other staircase ; or sometimes are allowed to pass through one corner of the inner chamber, or cell, and touch the coffin of the saint.

In the year 710 Bede records that Naitan, king of the Picts, sent messengers to Ceolfrid, abbot of Jarrow, and prayed to have architects sent him to build a church in his nation after the Roman manner, promising to dedicate the same in honour of St. Peter, ‘and Ceolfrid sent the architects as he desired.” This probably records the first introduction of stone churches into Scotland.

In the ninth century many churches were destroyed in the incursions of the Danes, and although Alfred exerted himself greatly after the restoration of peace, and employed a sixth part of his income “in the erection of new edifices in a manner admirable and hitherto unknown to the English,” no buildings of his age are known to exist.

In the tenth century we are told by William of Malmesbury, that ** King Athelstan and Archbishop Odo built and repaired many monasteries :” the word monasterium at this period, and long afterwards, frequently means only a church, with three or four priests attached to it. In Osborn’s Life of St. Dunstan mention is made of the building, or re-building, of many churches and monasteries by King Edred and King Edgar. The Saxon Chronicle and the Peterborough Chronicle both record the building or restoring of many churches and monasteries by St. Athelwold, and Ordericus Vitalis mentions that St. Dunstan, St. Oswald, and St. Athelwold built twenty-six abbeys or nunneries. The large number of them, and the rapidity with which they were built, shew that they were of wood,

A curious poetical description of the rebuilding of Winchester k See Observations on the Crypt of Hexham Church, Northumberland, by T, Hudson Turner, Esq., in the Archeological Journal, vol. ii. p. 239.

Cathedral by St. Athelwold has been preserved, which is very magniloquent, but leaves no doubt that the material was stone, that it had a crypt, and was considered one of the most magnificent works of that age in England ; yet within a century afterwards this church was so much out of repair, or then considered so small, that Bishop Walkelyn found it necessary to build an entirely new one on another site. At the end of this century many churches were again destroyed by the Danes, who overran sixteen counties, and besieged London. It is most probable also that at this period the Christians in England partook of the general belief of Christendom, that the world was to come to an end in the year 1000, and of the lethargy which accompanied that belief.

6, Tower-arch of the supposed Saxon character, Barnack, Northamptonshire.

CHAPTER II. The Hleventh Century

HE architecture of the Middle Ages, from the eleventh to the sixteenth century, is usually divided into certain periods, or styles, for the convenience of classification and to assist the memory. These styles are by no means arbitrary, they are strictly historical periods, during which certain characters prevailed, succeeding each other in a regular, natural, and well-ascertained order. The change from one style to another was not immediate, it generally took about a quarter of a century to effect the transition; and the last quarter of each of the five centuries, from the eleventh to the fifteenth, was such a period of change or transition. Buildings of the last ten years of a century often belong in style rather to that which follows.

1. To the eleventh century belong the greater part of the buildings supposed to be Saxon. In the last quarter of the century the Norman style was introduced.

2. In the twelfth century the buildings belong chiefly to the Norman style. In the last quarter, the transition from the Romanesque, or Norman, to the Early English, or first Gothic style, took place.

3. In the thirteenth century the buildings belong to the style which is usually called Early English; the last quarter is the period of transition to the Decorated style.

4, In the fourteenth century the general character is Decorated; the last quarter is the period of transition from the Decorated to the Perpendicular style.

DIVISION OF STYLES. 15

5. In the fifteenth century the Perpendicular style prevailed, and this continued during the first quarter of the sixteenth ‘century, though not without symptoms of a change even before the close of the fifteenth.

6. In the sixteenth century the Roman style was revived, and the period was called the Renaissance. In Italy it was called Cinque Cento, from the Italian mode of reckoning: Cinque Cento in Italian signifies what we eall the sixteenth century. In England this style assumed a character of its own, and is usually called the _ Elizabethan style.

This nomenclature and this classification of the styles are alike confined to England and English work. The names of First Pointed, Middle Pointed, and Third Pointed are general, and were intended by their authors to be applied to all Europe. But the progress of the art was not entirely simultaneous, and it would be entering on too wide a field to attempt to point out the character in each country at each period. It will therefore be more convenient to confine our attention to England, and to make use of the received terms, which are most generally understood, and most applicable to the peculiar features of our own buildings.

The name of Pointed applied to the Gothic styles is further objectionable as being calculated to mislead beginners in the study, who are thereby led to attach far too much importance to the form of the arch, which is not a safe guide at any period. Many very good Gothic buildings, especially castles and houses, have scarcely any pointed arches in them, even as late as the Edwardian castles ; and, on the other hand, the pointed arch is found in buildings of early Norman character, of the time of Henry I., and becomes more common than the round arch before the end of the twelfth century, in the time of Henry II. The First Pointed style in England is therefore the style of the twelfth century, and in the south of France of the eleventh. The inventors of this nomenclature applied it to the buildings of the thirteenth century, the earliest period at which the use of Gothic mouldings and details was fully established ; but the introduction of these was not simultaneous with that of the pointed arch,

Immediately after the year 1000, when the long dreaded millennium had passed, the Christian world seems to have taken a new start, and was seized with a furore for erecting stone buildings. The Chronicles of the period everywhere bear testimony to the same facts. Radulphus Glaber, who died in 1045, and appears to relate what he had seen, says that so early as the year 1003 the number of churches and monasteries which were building in almost all countries, more especially in Italy and in France, was so great, that the world appeared to be putting off its old dingy attire and putting on a new white robe. ‘‘Then nearly all the bishops’ seats, the churches, the monasteries, and even the oratories in the villages, were changed for better ones*.”’