DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6910#0045
KING'S COLLEGE CHAPEL, CAMBRIDGE. 25
spring from the clustered capital, and are locked by the sculptured key stone. (B,
Plate II.) Thus the stone roof is supported by a series of double arches, con-
centric to the buttresses, and one arch passing through the whole ; yet all mutually
dependant on each other, and each contributing to support that weight of stone,
which is laid almost flat from side to side wall. Maiden asserts that the stones
between the groins are only two inches thick in some places: in two or three parts
that we measured, they appeared from four to six inches. Though there appears
an almost magical lightness and deceptive buoyancy in this roof, yet we know, by
existing examples, that the arch, when mathematically constructed, and its component
members minutely adjusted, is capable of much greater extension, and of sustaining
greater lateral pressure. Many instances might be adduced to verify this assertion ;
but a few may suffice. The chord or span of the arch of the roof of this chapel is
only 43 feet; whilst that of the central arch in Blackfriars Bridge is 100 feet.
Over the River Liffey, near Dublin, is a bridge of a single arch, erected by
Alexander Stephens, in 1792, the chord of which is 106 feet, with only a rising of
22 feet. This is six feet wider than the much celebrated Rialto at Venice. But
the most extraordinary and astonishing arch in Europe, is that of Pont-y-Prydd, (in
Glamorganshire) which was designed and constructed by an uneducated architect,
(William Edwards) and extends 140 feet in span, with an altitude of 35 feet. (See
an interesting account of him, in Malkin's South Wales, 4to. 1804.)
Plate II. Plan of the groining, and section of the roof.—" There is a tradition,"
observes Walpole, in his Anecdotes of the Arts, " that Sir Christopher Wren went
once a year to survey the roof of the Chapel of King's College, and said that if any
man would show him where to place the first stone, he would engage to build such
another." As few sophistical absurdities escaped the reprehension of Walpole, I
am much surprised that he gave currency to this. Implicitly following his example,
every subsequent writer has repeated the same tale, thinking, perhaps, like the
local ciceroni, that it must attach greater curiosity and merit to the work. The
remark seems so palpably improbable, that it is scarcely entitled to an argument to
vefute. For can it be reasonably supposed that the architect, who had a genius
that could design, and successfully execute, such a stupendous work as the dome of
St. Paul's Cathedral, could be at a loss to comprehend the mechanism, &c. of the
present roof, or could commit himself in making such a futile observation. Let it
not be inferred that I have a wish to depreciate the justly-acquired fame of the
builder of this roof;—I am ready to grant him my humble tribute of praise, in
E. VOL. I.
spring from the clustered capital, and are locked by the sculptured key stone. (B,
Plate II.) Thus the stone roof is supported by a series of double arches, con-
centric to the buttresses, and one arch passing through the whole ; yet all mutually
dependant on each other, and each contributing to support that weight of stone,
which is laid almost flat from side to side wall. Maiden asserts that the stones
between the groins are only two inches thick in some places: in two or three parts
that we measured, they appeared from four to six inches. Though there appears
an almost magical lightness and deceptive buoyancy in this roof, yet we know, by
existing examples, that the arch, when mathematically constructed, and its component
members minutely adjusted, is capable of much greater extension, and of sustaining
greater lateral pressure. Many instances might be adduced to verify this assertion ;
but a few may suffice. The chord or span of the arch of the roof of this chapel is
only 43 feet; whilst that of the central arch in Blackfriars Bridge is 100 feet.
Over the River Liffey, near Dublin, is a bridge of a single arch, erected by
Alexander Stephens, in 1792, the chord of which is 106 feet, with only a rising of
22 feet. This is six feet wider than the much celebrated Rialto at Venice. But
the most extraordinary and astonishing arch in Europe, is that of Pont-y-Prydd, (in
Glamorganshire) which was designed and constructed by an uneducated architect,
(William Edwards) and extends 140 feet in span, with an altitude of 35 feet. (See
an interesting account of him, in Malkin's South Wales, 4to. 1804.)
Plate II. Plan of the groining, and section of the roof.—" There is a tradition,"
observes Walpole, in his Anecdotes of the Arts, " that Sir Christopher Wren went
once a year to survey the roof of the Chapel of King's College, and said that if any
man would show him where to place the first stone, he would engage to build such
another." As few sophistical absurdities escaped the reprehension of Walpole, I
am much surprised that he gave currency to this. Implicitly following his example,
every subsequent writer has repeated the same tale, thinking, perhaps, like the
local ciceroni, that it must attach greater curiosity and merit to the work. The
remark seems so palpably improbable, that it is scarcely entitled to an argument to
vefute. For can it be reasonably supposed that the architect, who had a genius
that could design, and successfully execute, such a stupendous work as the dome of
St. Paul's Cathedral, could be at a loss to comprehend the mechanism, &c. of the
present roof, or could commit himself in making such a futile observation. Let it
not be inferred that I have a wish to depreciate the justly-acquired fame of the
builder of this roof;—I am ready to grant him my humble tribute of praise, in
E. VOL. I.