DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.25500#0207
ENGLISH ARCHITECTURE. 139
the level of the ridge of the stone vault of the nave, which
is covered in by a high pitched wooden roof.
The east ends or choirs, usually square-ended, are
generally richer than the remainder of the church, and the
floor is raised above the nave level by steps.
The east ends of Norwich, Peterborough, Lichfield and
Canterbury, of Norman origin, are circular, while Westminster
Abbey has a ring of chapels or chevet.
. The lady-chapel is placed beyond the choir at the extreme
east end, as at Norwich, Peterborough (No. 71), and Salis-
bury, or on one side, as at Ely (No. 70).
The cloisters are generally placed on the south and west
of the transept, the warmest and most sheltered position.
Besides being used for the studies, reading and writing of
the monks, they were also the centre of the secular activities
of the community.
Such is the general distribution of the parts of a cathedral
or large church, from which, naturally, some deviations will
be noticed. For instance, the position and number of tran-
septs vary, as will be seen on reference to Nos. 69, 70, 71,
and 94.
Great length, and central towers, are features of English
work; western towers also occur in many examples, as at
Lichfield (with spires), Worcester, Durham, and Canterbury.
Compared with such long, low, and highly grouped
examples, continental cathedrals seem short, high, and
often shapeless, owing to the intricacy and profusion of
their buttressing. In churches, a single western tower is
characteristic of English work.
The interior of a Gothic cathedral has been thus described :
“ The tall shafts that mount in massy pride,
Their mingling branches shoot from side to side;
Where elfin sculptors with fantastic clue
O’er the long roof their wild embroidery drew ;
When superstition, with capricious hand,
In many a maze, the wreathed window planned,
With hues romantic tinged the gorgeous pane,
To fill with holy light the wondrous fane,
To aid the builder’s model, richly rude,
By no Vitruvian symmetry subdued.”
the level of the ridge of the stone vault of the nave, which
is covered in by a high pitched wooden roof.
The east ends or choirs, usually square-ended, are
generally richer than the remainder of the church, and the
floor is raised above the nave level by steps.
The east ends of Norwich, Peterborough, Lichfield and
Canterbury, of Norman origin, are circular, while Westminster
Abbey has a ring of chapels or chevet.
. The lady-chapel is placed beyond the choir at the extreme
east end, as at Norwich, Peterborough (No. 71), and Salis-
bury, or on one side, as at Ely (No. 70).
The cloisters are generally placed on the south and west
of the transept, the warmest and most sheltered position.
Besides being used for the studies, reading and writing of
the monks, they were also the centre of the secular activities
of the community.
Such is the general distribution of the parts of a cathedral
or large church, from which, naturally, some deviations will
be noticed. For instance, the position and number of tran-
septs vary, as will be seen on reference to Nos. 69, 70, 71,
and 94.
Great length, and central towers, are features of English
work; western towers also occur in many examples, as at
Lichfield (with spires), Worcester, Durham, and Canterbury.
Compared with such long, low, and highly grouped
examples, continental cathedrals seem short, high, and
often shapeless, owing to the intricacy and profusion of
their buttressing. In churches, a single western tower is
characteristic of English work.
The interior of a Gothic cathedral has been thus described :
“ The tall shafts that mount in massy pride,
Their mingling branches shoot from side to side;
Where elfin sculptors with fantastic clue
O’er the long roof their wild embroidery drew ;
When superstition, with capricious hand,
In many a maze, the wreathed window planned,
With hues romantic tinged the gorgeous pane,
To fill with holy light the wondrous fane,
To aid the builder’s model, richly rude,
By no Vitruvian symmetry subdued.”