A B C of gothic architecture

Introduction

TO THE STUDY OF

(Botbic architecture,

BY THE LATE

JOHN HENRY PARKER, C.B.

Hon. M.A. Oxon, F.S.A. Lond., etc.

URntb tS&ition.

PARKER AND CO.

6 SOUTHAMPTON-STREET, STRAND, LONDON ;

AND BROAD-STREET, OXFORD.

Preface To The First Edition

T^HIS 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 Society, 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 Archaeological 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 impossible 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 iv PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.

France in the summer of 1849, assisted by the remembrance of several previous visits to Normandy.

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 Abbe 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.

PEEFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

HHHE 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. A Glossary is also added for the use of children and beginners in the study. 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 : we always find that the architects who are most successful in practice are those who have studied the history of their art vi

Preface To The Second Edition

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 Eng and and foreign countries adds greatly to the interest of a study which has a singular fascination for many minds.

The Turl, Oxford,

The Third Edition, issued in 1867, having been a reprint with little alteration, no new Preface was given.

PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION rPHIS edition has been thoroughly revised through- ■*“ out, a few corrections have been made where they seemed to be required; considerable additions have also been made, especially in the foreign part, with the object of making that more useful to tourists, who have greatly increased in numbers of late years. In the English part, the chief alteration consists of calling more especial attention to the construction of the walls.

Professor Willis had shewn long since, in his admirable Architectural Histories of Canterbury and Winchester, the importance of attending to this point, on which the whole history of the fabric necessarily turns ; but he did not always apply his own principles himself, still less have others generally done so. The construction of the walls is the real test of the whole history, but it is rarely applied as it should be by archaeologists, it is commonly supposed to belong to the architect, or the clerk of the works only. This is a great mistake, the test is a very crucial one, and easily applied when we can get at the surface of the walls free from plaster. The thickness of the mortar between the joints is the best and most certain distinction between a construction of the eleventh

Vlll

Preface To The Fourth Edition

century and one of the twelfth, more especially the upright or vertical joints. The horizontal joints depend more on the building- materials.

We have so few buildings remaining between the Roman period and the year 1000, that we cannot he sure how far this test generally applies to them ; but by applying it, on another visit, to the very curious little early church at Bradford-on- Avon in Wiltshire, I became convinced that the present structure is not of the tenth or eleventh century, as there are no wide joints, and, as a small early Norman window is inserted in the older wall, it cannot be of the twelfth. It seems, therefore, that it must he the original small church mentioned by William of Malmesbury as existing in the twelfth century, when he wrote his history ; he clearly implies that it was something different from the usual churches of that period. The joints in that building are as fine as they well could be ; this is partly owing to the excellence of the building-material, (Bath-stone) : but in the eleventh century, with the same material, the joints would have been wide. This is at present the only church of that early period for which we have historical evidence agreeing with the existing building, but having ascertained this one, the same test should be applied to all the churches of the Ante-Norman style, of which a list was given by Rickman, enlarged in the “Glossary of Architecture,” and by Mr. M. H, Bloxam, and now amounting to about a hundred.

PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION.

IX

Rickman considered these churches as before the year 1000, but few of them really are so; a large proportion of them are in the Danes’ land, and near the mouths of navigable rivers, where it is probable that the Danes had burnt wooden churches during their wars with the Saxons, and it is recorded that King Canute (or Cnut) ordered churches to be built in all the places where churches had previously been burnt by his father or himself.

Mr. Freeman recently shewed to the members of the Royal Archaeological Institute at Exeter, in 1873, the probability that parts of the old walls of that city are of the time of King Athelstan, who is recorded to have built a wall round it of squared stones , c. a.d. 930. The present wall is of early character, the surface is very much patched from frequent repairs of all periods, after the numerous sieges and battering down the wall, but its earliest parts are faced with squared stones of rough work, with wide joints of mortar, in rude imitation of Roman masonry, which may very well be of that period.

The walls of a city are generally built long before any stone building within it, the original city to be enclosed having been built of wood. The same test of wide and fine jointing may be usefully applied to numbers of our country village churches, where the walls are Norman, although at first sight they appear to be of much later character. The windows are often all inserted, the original windows having been

b

X PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION.

found too small, and the pier-arches are often rebuilt without rebuilding the outer walls.

At Exeter it has been found, on careful examination, that the walls of the Cathedral are Norman, although the windows and details are Early Decorated ; the patterns of the window- tracery are identical with those of Merton College Chapel, Oxford, and they are dated 1280 — 1300 by the fabric rolls, which are preserved, and have been carefully examined by Archdeacon Freeman, one of the Canons of the Cathedral, to whom we are indebted for this information. At Winchester it has long been seen by archaeologists that the walls are still Norman, although the windows and details are Perpendicular. Yet few have thought of applying these observations to the parish churches, which almost always followed the cathedrals.

On the Continent there are numerous examples of this alteration of the character without rebuilding. It is only in modern times that the builders, when ordered to restore an old structure, have begun by demolishing it, and then rebuild it to the old pattern. In the greater part of the medieval buildings all over Europe some portions of the original walls may be found, if carefully searched for, though often much concealed. The guide-books generally give the date of the original foundation accurately, and this only; although the present appearance of the building may be centuries later, no notice is taken of the frequent alterations and additions. Tourists and hasty tra-

PEEFACE TO THE FOUETH EDITION.

XI vellers are often very much misled in this manner, they naturally suppose that the date given in these guide-books is that of the building as they see it, and never imagine that they must often hunt in every hole or corner to find any construction of that period visible.

In Italy especially these changes are often very marked ; for instance, the cathedral of Pisa has been lengthened in all parts, the nave is twice its original length, and the walls raised to double the original height. The clerestory and the vaults have been added or rebuilt. The present west front is at least a century later than the original foundation, old inscriptions are built in, but are clearly brought from an older wall and built into the newer one ; one of them is upside down. No one can walk round the outside of the church without seeing this by the construction, after his attention has once been called to it ; and the interior has been almost entirely modernized in the sixteenth or seventeenth century, as is shewn by several inscriptions that remain in their original places, and by the arms of the Medici on the arches of the central tower

In the present edition more attention has also been called to the Pisan style, the glory of the Pisan Republic, of which the best examples are now in Lucca, which belonged to that Republic, and where the buildings have been less altered than they have been in Pisa itself. This style is distinguished by the number of rich exterior wall-arcades, with their light elegant

Xll

PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION.

detached colonettes or shafts. It was adopted in the Rhine churches, and is commonly miscalled the Lorn - bardic style , and supposed to belong to the old Lombards of the eighth or ninth century, but this is altogether a delusion : buildings of that period are as scarce in Lombardy as elsewhere ; they were only debased Roman, and clumsy work. The so-called seven churches at Bologna, attributed to the tenth century, are made out of an old Roman temple, and the medieval work is not of the tenth century, but of the eleventh and twelfth.

Ashmolean Museum, Oxford,

November , 1873.

PEEFACE TO THE FIFTH EDITION.

TN this edition the only alteration that has been made relates to the churches of Benedict Biscop of the eighth century, at Jarrow and Monk-Wearmouth. A new woodcut of the latter church has been substituted for the old one, and the porch under the tower is now shewn, which was not visible when Mr. Blore made the sketch from which the old woodcut was taken. This porch is built up against the west wall of the old church, which now makes the lower part of the east wall of the tower. The gable here represented as over the porch in the west wall is of doubtful authority; it is taken from the best drawing that could be obtained, and Mr. Johnson the architect, who made the drawing, is a very high authority ; but there is some reason to believe that he was deceived by a mark in the plaster (since removed), and that the porch had been rebuilt when the tower was built upon it. There is a straight vertical joint between the porch and the west wall of the church with its early doorway, that remarkable doorway in which, instead of an arch, we have one long narrow block of rude sandstone. This feature is found also in some other churches in the valley of the Tyne, supposed to be early imitations of this, but the whole seems to depend on the quarries they come from, and where such enormous masses were found they might be used at any time.

XIV

Preface To The Fifth Edition

Mr. E. A. Freeman has also pointed out a slight inaccuracy in the quotation from the Saxon Chronicle, respecting “the churches ordered to be rebuilt by Canute ( or Cnut), in all the places where churches had previously been burnt by his father or himself.” He says there is no such general order to be found in the Chronicle, it is confined to the single instance of Essendune (or Ashington in Essex). This is no doubt literally true, but it may fairly be considered as implied in many other instances. "When the Danes first became Christians in the time of Cnut , they were very zealous Christians, and as building in stone was just then coming into fashion, after a long interval, nothing could be more natural than that they would build stone churches, to replace the wooden ones that they had burnt in their wars.

Ashmolean Museum, Oxford,

September, 1877.

In the Sixth Edition no alteration has been made in the text , but twelve Elates of fresh examples have been added.

Oxford , March, 1881.

In the Seventh Edition no alteration whatever has been made , but the last Edition published during the Author’s lifetime has been strictly follbwed. Mr. J. H. Parker died Jan . 31, 1884 •

Oxford, July, 1884-

Contents

From the Roman Period to 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.

The Millennium being passed, a new building era commenced.— Division of Styles and Nomenclature. — Canute builds many Churches. — Early Towers. — Stone Carpentry. — Long-and-Short work. — Belfry Windows. — Balusters. — Rubble. — Saxon or Danish ?

Chapter I

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

THE history of ecclesiastical architecture cannot be clearly understood without going back to the beginning. The original type of all Christian churches is universally acknowledged to have been the Roman Basilica, or hall. 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, the merchants’ exchange, and market halls, no place being entitled to municipal privileges which did not possess one. The principal room in a palace or large house, Jbomus , was also called a basilica, and was on the same plan : and in these the early Christians assembled for worship, in the houses of the more wealthy Christians. 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 modem writers. It is, however, clear that they served as models for the churches. Many of them

B

THE ROMAN BASILICAS .

are said to have been consecrated by Pope Sylvester in the time of the Emperor Constantine a, and they became one 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 the church ; the aisles usually had galleries over them : 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 priests behind 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. Eor 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 brickwork, 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 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, a See Anastasius, in the life of Silvester ; this passage is, however, probably an insertion.

THE ROMAN PERIOD.

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 sometimes cased with slabs of marble. Circular churches were occasionally used from an early period, as St. Vitale at Ravenna, and St. Stefano Rotondo at Rome.

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.

TTIE ROMAN PERIOD.

In Britain 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 in Britain : 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, or faced with, large stones, without any layers of tiles, and sometimes without mortar, as in the Roman gateway at Lincoln,

1. Roman Gate at Lincoln.

THE ROMAN PERIOD ,

2. Porchester Castle, Hampshire.

Roman Masonry and Arch formed of Roman bricks or tiles.

3. Mint Wall, Lincoln.

Roman Masonry.

THE BARBARIAN PERIOD.

part of which is cased with small ashlar-work ; and in the Piets’ Wall in Northumberland, a great part of which still remains. The actual construction of the mass of the wall is usually concrete, or rubble faced with cut stone, with layers of bricks or tiles. 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. The Roman ashlar-work generally used for the facing of the wall in England is of small stones almost cubical, laid in regular courses, with rather wide joints.

The walls of Burgh Castle, Suffolk, and Richborough, Kent, are among the most perfect Roman walls in England. Portions remain, but generally less perfect, in the Roman towns of Colchester, York, Lincoln (1 and 3), Porchester (2), Silchester, Pevensey, and Caister, and others at Leicester, Worcester, Dorchester, Reculvers, &c. There are vestiges of Roman towns and villas throughout the country, but these consist usually of foundations only. Roman building material is often used again in other buildings near the site of the Roman stations, — as Colchester

THE TIME OF AUGUSTINE. 7

Castle ; St. Martin’s, Canterbury ; Darent Church, Kent, &c.

The Koman buildings in England were ruthlessly destroyed by the barbarians who succeeded them, and who appear to have nearly exterminated every trace of civilization. Of the innumerable Koman 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. The upper story was usually of wood, and this greatly facilitated their demolition by fire.

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 Koman basilica having been found in England.

The celebrated direction of Pope Gregory the Great to his missionary St. Augustine of Canterbury5, that 41 If 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 Bedec, that Augustine, by the assistance of the king, recovered the Koman church at Canterbury, and reconsecrated it, and this became b S. Gregorii Magni Opera, ed. Bened., vol. ii. col. 1176. c Bed® Hist., lib. i. c. 33.

THE EARLY CHURCH OF CANTERBURY.

D. Entrance to the Crypt.

E. Tomb of St. Dunstan.

E, F. Choir of the Singers.

G. Altar of Lady-chapel.

H. Episcopal Throne.

I. Baptistery.

K & L. Towers.

EAST

WEfT.

4. Plan of Roman an d 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 d, 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 daiiy use.

CC. Steps descending from the Presbytery to the Choir.

d Edm. Vit. S. Wilfridi: Mabilloii, t. iii.p. 227; MS. C.C.C.,p. 77; apv Willis's Cant., p. 4.

THE ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD.

the foundation of the cathedral. Archbishop Cuthbert added a baptistery about a.d. 750. Archbishop Odo raised the walls and rebuilt the roof about a.d. 950. This fabric was entirely destroyed by fire in a.d. 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. 4.)

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 Roman remains in Britain may be said to be dated by history, and by the principle of comparison with the buildings that are dated in Rome itself, or in the Roman provinces. The Romans left Britain early in the fifth century, and the great wall across, from Carlisle to Newcastle, to keep out the Piets, was one of their last works in Britain (c. a.d. 416)*, and the character of the existing remains agrees with this; but in some parts there is evidently construction of two periods. The substructure of at least one fort, or castle, is of the time of Hadrian, with later work built upon it. The other remains of Roman walls in Britain seem, from the construction, to be almost entirely of the third century.

At TJriconium, and at Silchester, 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 e Bed® Hist., lib. i. c. 12.

IO times, and has a tower of the eleventh century at the west end, built upon the Roman walls either of a porch or a western tribune, with a newel staircase to give access to the belfry story, which was built at the same time with it.

A church is recorded to have been founded in Dover Castle, in a.d. 526, with twenty-two secular canons attached to it, who were appointed and ordained by Adelbald. The establishment was removed into the town in 686, but the old church that remains in the castle seems to be the one then founded.

The existing church in the castle is partly of Roman work, altered in the eleventh century, and again almost rebuilt in the thirteenth. The tower at the west end, which has been a 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 tower of the church in the port at Ravenna is connected with the church in a similar manner, forming what may be called a semi-detached tower, and this was also probably used as a Pharos, or lighthouse. It is of the sixth century, rather later than the one at Dover.

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.

In Rome itself the upper stories of the palaces of the Caesars were of wood, and in the Roman villas in England the upper stories were also of wood. “ Half-timber houses,” as they are called, that is, houses of which the foundations and the groundfloors only are of stone, and the upper part of wood, have been found convenient, and therefore have been common in all ages ; but wood was more used in early times than afterwards. The frequent fires shewed the evil of so much wooden building, and after the revival in the eleventh century, churches were generally built of stone, but these were exceptions at all early periods. In districts where stone could not be obtained without great difficulty and expense, wood was still used, as in Cheshire. In some districts brick was used largely, as in some parts of the low countries in the east of England ; but on the banks of rivers where stone could be brought by water-carriage, as in Lincolnshire, it was freely used, and some of our finest churches are in those districts. The building materials had