DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.26747#0954
890
ENGL18H GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE.
Book YIII.
at wRich they were commenced. That period too was their greatest
epoch, the glorious 13th centuiy. Tlie erection of our English cathedrals,
on the other hand, generally dragged on through two or three centuries.
Many have their naves and transepts of various architecture, and exhihit
examples of almost every style, from the introduction of the pointed
arch till its decline under the Tudors. This gives them a certain degree
of historical interest, and also in some instances a picturesqueness of
effect, the value of which cannot be denied, but it destroys their value
as architectural compositions, and prevents their competing on any-
thing like fair terms with the great Continental examples. The excep-
tion to this rule is Salisbury, but unfortunately it was erected just after
the pointed style had been introduced into this country, and when its
principles or details had not been fully mastered, nor worked into the
system of Englisli art so as to enable it to take its place as an inde-
pendent style. The consequence is that Salisbury is one of the leanest
and poorest of our cathedrals, and notwithstanding an undeniable ele-
gance of form, perhaps the one least capable of bearing a comparison
with Continental rivals.
Among the differences between the French and English architects
there is none more remarkable than the feeling for the picturesque that
always guided the latter, while it can hardly be traced in the works of
our Continental neighbours. The variety of plan and outline just
pointed out is the most obvious manifestation of this good taste, as far
as the building itself is concerned, but it is even more remarkable in the
choice of the site and the arrangement of the accessories. Nothing, for
instance, can be more commandingly placed than Durham and Lincoln,
nothing more beautiful than even the lowly situations of Wells and
Salisbury ; and even in spite of all that modern vulgarity and bad taste
have done to spoil the works of our forefathers, almost all our cathedrals
still retain spots of green and alleys of tall trees, which, grouping so
pleasingly with the towers and spires, give such value and beauty to
the architecture. As a general rule they stand on the very outskirts of
the town, either overlooking it from a height or nestled down on the
banks of some little streamlet of pure water.
French cathedrals, on the other hand, always stand in the market-
place in the very centre of the town, with no grass-plot in front, and
no rooni for a park-like scene on any side. They are often too sur-
rounded by shops and hovels, built up even against their walls, and
tliis not in modern times, but frequently these abominations are coeval
with the cathedral itself, and seem never to have been objected to;
nor do I know in all Erance or Germany of one single instance of tliat
religio loci, that hallowed temenos, wliich is so marked a feature ofthe
precincts of our English cathedrals. The fact is, the English were
always lovers of the picturesque, and English arcliitects always more
or less landscape gardeners. The French, on tlie contrary, are almost
totally deficient in this taste. With them the town is everything, the
country and all belonging to it being altogether secondary. This is a
distinction which it is necessary to bear in mind in judging of their
architecture, for our outlines and our forms would lose half their value
ENGL18H GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE.
Book YIII.
at wRich they were commenced. That period too was their greatest
epoch, the glorious 13th centuiy. Tlie erection of our English cathedrals,
on the other hand, generally dragged on through two or three centuries.
Many have their naves and transepts of various architecture, and exhihit
examples of almost every style, from the introduction of the pointed
arch till its decline under the Tudors. This gives them a certain degree
of historical interest, and also in some instances a picturesqueness of
effect, the value of which cannot be denied, but it destroys their value
as architectural compositions, and prevents their competing on any-
thing like fair terms with the great Continental examples. The excep-
tion to this rule is Salisbury, but unfortunately it was erected just after
the pointed style had been introduced into this country, and when its
principles or details had not been fully mastered, nor worked into the
system of Englisli art so as to enable it to take its place as an inde-
pendent style. The consequence is that Salisbury is one of the leanest
and poorest of our cathedrals, and notwithstanding an undeniable ele-
gance of form, perhaps the one least capable of bearing a comparison
with Continental rivals.
Among the differences between the French and English architects
there is none more remarkable than the feeling for the picturesque that
always guided the latter, while it can hardly be traced in the works of
our Continental neighbours. The variety of plan and outline just
pointed out is the most obvious manifestation of this good taste, as far
as the building itself is concerned, but it is even more remarkable in the
choice of the site and the arrangement of the accessories. Nothing, for
instance, can be more commandingly placed than Durham and Lincoln,
nothing more beautiful than even the lowly situations of Wells and
Salisbury ; and even in spite of all that modern vulgarity and bad taste
have done to spoil the works of our forefathers, almost all our cathedrals
still retain spots of green and alleys of tall trees, which, grouping so
pleasingly with the towers and spires, give such value and beauty to
the architecture. As a general rule they stand on the very outskirts of
the town, either overlooking it from a height or nestled down on the
banks of some little streamlet of pure water.
French cathedrals, on the other hand, always stand in the market-
place in the very centre of the town, with no grass-plot in front, and
no rooni for a park-like scene on any side. They are often too sur-
rounded by shops and hovels, built up even against their walls, and
tliis not in modern times, but frequently these abominations are coeval
with the cathedral itself, and seem never to have been objected to;
nor do I know in all Erance or Germany of one single instance of tliat
religio loci, that hallowed temenos, wliich is so marked a feature ofthe
precincts of our English cathedrals. The fact is, the English were
always lovers of the picturesque, and English arcliitects always more
or less landscape gardeners. The French, on tlie contrary, are almost
totally deficient in this taste. With them the town is everything, the
country and all belonging to it being altogether secondary. This is a
distinction which it is necessary to bear in mind in judging of their
architecture, for our outlines and our forms would lose half their value