DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.32037#0031
ALL SOULS’ COLLEGE, OXFORD.
7
John Druell, Archdeacon of Exeter, and Roger Keyes, both fellows of the
college, were employed by the founder to conduct the work, of which the
expenses, for building only, amounted to 4156/. 5s. 3%d* The plan of New
College seems to have been adopted at All Souls’, in regard to the forms and
arrangement of the principal apartments; though the architects judiciously
attended to the circumstances of a different site, and followed the style of
ornament which was fashionable in their own day.
Plate I. Gateway of All Souls’ College.
This entrance-tower deserves our admiration, for its lofty and elegant
proportions, as well as for the neatness and delicacy of its ornaments. It
belongs to the western quadrangle of the ancient buildings, of which the
north side is formed by the hall and chapel. The statues in the two lower
niches of the outward front represent King Henry VI., the reigning sovereign
of that time, and the founder, Archbishop Chichele. In the larger niche,
above these, are sculptures intended to represent angels praying for the relief
of human souls, of which a group is seen beneath, involved in the flames of
purgatory. These sculptures bore an allusion to one object of the founder’s
institute, that of prayer for the faithful departed.
The inward front of the tower is of a plainer character than that which
faces the High Street, but is designed in regular accordance with it. See
No. 2 on the Plate.
Plate II. Groined Ceiling of a Passage leading to the Chapel.
This example of what is frequently termed a fan-groined vault, is a beautiful
specimen of the skill and taste of the masons of the fifteenth century in a
difflcult branch of architecture. Were a ceiling of such an elaborate design
wanted in a modern building, it would be executed in wood and plaster,—
materials which require but little, comparatively, of either labour or science;
but to construct such a roof of stone, an accurate knowledge of geometrical
principles is necessary, and the combination of these scientific requisites with
such aq elaborate pattern of ornament forms no easy task. The various lines
of the arched ribs, the joints of the masonry, and the mouldings, are so fully
delineated in the Plate as to make any verbal explanation seem unnecessary.
* A sum equivalent to 100,000/. of modern money; or perhaps more.
c
7
John Druell, Archdeacon of Exeter, and Roger Keyes, both fellows of the
college, were employed by the founder to conduct the work, of which the
expenses, for building only, amounted to 4156/. 5s. 3%d* The plan of New
College seems to have been adopted at All Souls’, in regard to the forms and
arrangement of the principal apartments; though the architects judiciously
attended to the circumstances of a different site, and followed the style of
ornament which was fashionable in their own day.
Plate I. Gateway of All Souls’ College.
This entrance-tower deserves our admiration, for its lofty and elegant
proportions, as well as for the neatness and delicacy of its ornaments. It
belongs to the western quadrangle of the ancient buildings, of which the
north side is formed by the hall and chapel. The statues in the two lower
niches of the outward front represent King Henry VI., the reigning sovereign
of that time, and the founder, Archbishop Chichele. In the larger niche,
above these, are sculptures intended to represent angels praying for the relief
of human souls, of which a group is seen beneath, involved in the flames of
purgatory. These sculptures bore an allusion to one object of the founder’s
institute, that of prayer for the faithful departed.
The inward front of the tower is of a plainer character than that which
faces the High Street, but is designed in regular accordance with it. See
No. 2 on the Plate.
Plate II. Groined Ceiling of a Passage leading to the Chapel.
This example of what is frequently termed a fan-groined vault, is a beautiful
specimen of the skill and taste of the masons of the fifteenth century in a
difflcult branch of architecture. Were a ceiling of such an elaborate design
wanted in a modern building, it would be executed in wood and plaster,—
materials which require but little, comparatively, of either labour or science;
but to construct such a roof of stone, an accurate knowledge of geometrical
principles is necessary, and the combination of these scientific requisites with
such aq elaborate pattern of ornament forms no easy task. The various lines
of the arched ribs, the joints of the masonry, and the mouldings, are so fully
delineated in the Plate as to make any verbal explanation seem unnecessary.
* A sum equivalent to 100,000/. of modern money; or perhaps more.
c