Medieval English Gothic Architecture — Backgrounds to the Gothic Revival

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The development of mediæval architecture in England from the departure of the Romans till the sixteenth century, has a more complete sequence of style than in other countries. It is usually divided into periods having special characteristics and known as Anglo-Saxon, Norman, Early English, Decorated, Perpendicular, and Tudor. — Banister Fletcher, p. 283

The most distinctive feature of gothic cathedrals is their additive nature: a unity of stylistic idiom goes hand in hand with a formal incoherence, in which bits just keep being stuck on to each other and repurposed. You can never say when they are finished. — Hall Jensen, TLS (19 February 2021)

General The Constructive Principle of the Medieval Church Typical English Parish Church: St. Andrews Heckington, c. 1307 Gothic buildings in France Ruskin discusses Stages of English Gothic and other Medieval Styles Norman Early English Style The Decorated Style The Perpendicular Style The Evolution of Gothic Vaulting Introduction and survey Waggon Vaults, Groined and Narrow Arch The Development of Norman Barrel Vaulting Sexpartite VaultingEarly English Groined Vaulting Diagonal segmental ribs Early English groined vaulting Early English groined vaulting with intermediate ribs Lierne Vault Lierne Stellar Vault Fan Vaulting Open Timber Roofs of the Middle Ages Tie-Beam Roof Trussed Rafter Roof Hammer-Beam Roof Collar-braced Roofs Aisle Roofs The Gothic Buttress The Evolution of the Gothic Buttress, 1170-1220, with English Examples

The Evolution of Gothic Spires in England Broach Spire (St. Peter Raunds, Northamptonshire) Broach Spire (St. John Keystone, Huntingdonshire) Parapet Angle Turrets & Crockets (St. Wulfram Grantham, Linconshire) Parapet Angle Turrets & Crockets (Salisbury Cathedral, Wiltshire) Spire on Octagonal Tower; Diagonal Buttresses (St. St. Mary Bloxam, Oxfordshire Castellated Angle Turrets & Parapet (St. Peter Kettering, Northamptonshire Angle Turrets & Flying Butresses (St. James, Louth, Linconshire) Angle Turrets & Flying Butresses (St. Michael, Coventry, Warwickshire) Gothic Doorways and Windows Comparison of three styles Early English Gothic Doorway Decorated GothicDoorway Perpendicular Gothic Doorway Windows Carved foliage and other Ornamentation Norman foliage Early English foliage Perpendicular foliage Gable Crosses Finials Bosses Brackets and Poppy Heads Old Testament scenes, Chapter House, Salisbury Cathedral Miscellaneous Fonts in Four Styles Piscinas in Four Styles Tabernacle, Sedilia Sedilias in Three Styles Westminster Abbey and the Victorians — Gothic and “Restored” Gothic

References

Fletcher, Banister, and Banister F. Fletcher. A History of Architecture on the Comparative Method for the Student, Craftsman, and Amateur. 5th ed. London: B. T. Batsford, 1905.

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Last modified 2 September 2016

Epigraph added 3 March 2022