2/10/07 - Architectural History - English Gothic 1180-1520 AD

The English Gothic period went through three stylistic phases: the Early English, the Decorated and the Perpendicular. It followed from the Anglo-Norman Romanesque style, c. 1070-1150.

With the English Gothic came the first representation of the pointed arch in the country. The now architecture reflected a hierarchy of religious orders, suggesting that people of the time considered architecture to be more than just a shelter. It had a powerful spiritual omnipotence.

New Gothic cathedrals were built in all the major centres of Britain.

English Gothic architecture was at first an imported style from France, but it developed some major differences. The Norman invasion, depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry, brought with it a feudal government, so there was cultural continuity between France and Britain. Cistercian and Augustinian monks came with the Norman invasion and this too had an influence on subsequent architecture. The previous Anglo-Norman Romanesque architecture of the early twelfth century had a bay system, a rhythmical, broken up style, exemplified by Durham, Norwich and Ely Cathedral. Pointed arches and solid piers featured down the length of the aisle.

By looking at Ripon Minster, we may see how the Romanesque developed into the English Gothic style. Here the round arch has been replaced by the pointed arch from France. It is no surprise, considering that France and Britain at the time shared the monarchy, and monks were French or had ties to France in other ways. Additionally, the English upper classes spoke French as well as English.

The architects of Byland Abbey and Wells Cathedral purposely adopted a modern approach in their designs. The walls are very thick; there is rich layering in the architraves; the vaulting shafts do not reach from floor to ceiling, but stop at the head of the triforium arcade. These latter are the three Early English Gothic characteristics. They resulted in a banded effect of the interior, where emphasis is on horizontality rather than the French verticality. The master of Wells Cathedral was perhaps influenced by the new architecture in the south of England, such as Christchurch in Canterbury.

Canterbury Cathedral was built to house the remains of St Thomas a Beckett. Pilgrims brought great wealth to the cathedral, and the funds collected from them went into funding a lavish rebuilding project which aimed to create an elaborate head for the cathedral. The architect, William of Sens, was highly praised for his innovative style. He went on to build Sens Cathedral in France, which is similar in style to Canterbury, particularly in its piers and arches.

St Hugh was a saint invented by Lincoln Cathedral to bring it pilgrimage money. It is another demonstration of the Early English style. By this time, the English resented the French for the murder of Beckett and so they moved away from the French style and developed a more individual style. Vaulting, the tierceron ribbed ceiling, thick walls, low dome-like screens, arcade mouldings, an broken-up shafts, all feature at Lincoln, supremely different from the French model of architecture. There is still, however, some French influence. The variety and richness of detail was a way of beating the French at their own game, for it was much more expensive than anything in France, particularly in the bays. Although English Gothic buildings were smaller, they were more decorative than their French counterparts.

Salisbury Cathedral (c. 1220) is the most coherent example of Early English Gothic architecture, perfectly consistent with all the requisite features of the Early English style. It has elaborately moulded arches, low ceilings and quadripartite vaulting. Glasgow is another good exemplification of these features. Salisbury has a very English conclusion to the east end of the building, which is square, compared with French east ends which were rounded and elaborate. Ely, Peterborough and Lincoln Cathedral all have square east ends. Well's Cathedral and Ripon Cathedral have lancet windows, which are tall and thin with round or pointed ends. These are significantly different to the French rose window, such as that in Laon Cathedral.

Westminster Abbey is an exception. It was paid for by Henry III and has clear similarities to Amiens: a dramatic set of pointed arches, a double unit of triforium arcades, a very high ceiling, two-tiered flying buttresses and rose windows. The Chapter House has a 'glass cage effect', like Ste-Chapelle. It is the first example of the Decorated English style. St Stephen's Chapel in Westminster, designed by Michael of Canterbury, has decorative tracery and 'micro-architecture'. It influenced other buildings after it, such as the choir at Well's Cathedral, which uses lierne vaulting, and the octagon crossing at Ely Cathedral. If we compare the nave to the choir at Well's Cathedral, we can see the visual difference between the Early and Decorated English Gothic style.

Gloucester Cathedral (1307) marked the beginning of the Perpendicular English Gothic. In this, there is an equal division of space between the triforium and the arcades. There is a more vertical thrust, rather than a horizontal emphasis, which betrays the influence of the French style. The shafts run from ceiling to ground, unlike in the Early English style. There is web vaulting connected to a 'spire', which runs the length of the nave on the ceiling. This style of building became popular, for example, in the reconstructed nave of Canterbury Cathedral, where there is more verticality, thinner walls, softened aesthetics, elaborate vault designs and floor-to-ceiling shafts.

Architecture was not beyond criticism at the time of the English Gothic. There was a shift away from the spiritual considerations and a finer focus on constructional technique. Beverly Minster's west front is mostly flat; there is fan vaulting on St George's Chapel, Windsor, with a wide and squat interior and flattened arches (later named the Tudor arch); the Chapel of Henry VII at Westminster Abbey has extraordinary fan vaulting of extreme complexity; and this style of vaulting was imitated by the designer of King's College Chapel in Cambridge.

Gothic architecture came to an end by the sixteenth century as the result of changes in the main order of England. Culture entered into the Renaissance phase instead.