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The comprehensive reconstruction of the Saxon Cathedrals of England by the Normans represented the single largest ecclesiastical building programme of Mediæval Europe, and, when built, these were the biggest structures to have been erected in Christian Europe since the end of the Roman Empire.
All the Mediæval Cathedrals of England, with the exception of Salisbury, Lichfield, and Wells, have evidence of Norman architecture. Peterborough, Durham, and Norwich, remain for the greater part Norman buildings, while at many others there are substantial parts of the building in the Norman style, such as the Naves of Ely, Gloucester, and Southwell, and the Transepts at Winchester.
The Norman architecture is distinguished by its Round Arches, and bold tiers of Arcades on Piers, which supported flat wooden roofs, of which two survive, at Peterborough and Ely.
Columns, where used, are massive, as in the Nave at Gloucester, and are alternated with Piers, at Durham. Mouldings were cut with geometric designs and Arcading was a major decorative form, particularly externally.
Little figurative sculpture has survived, notably the “barbaric” ornament around The Great West Doors at Lincoln, the bestial Capitals of the Crypt at Canterbury, and the Tympanum of The Great West Door at Rochester.[4]
Many of the Cathedrals have major parts of their construction in the Late-12th-Century to the Early-13th-Century architectural style known as Lancet Gothic, or, Early-English Gothic, and is defined by its simple, un-Traceried Lancet-like openings.
Salisbury Cathedral is the major example of this style, which is also seen at Wells, and Worcester, at the Eastern arms of Canterbury, Hereford, and Southwark, and the Transepts of York.
Also of this period, is the spectacular façade of Peterborough Cathedral, and the less grand, but harmonious, façade of Ripon Cathedral.[4]
Many Cathedrals have important parts of their construction in the Geometric style of the Mid-13th-Century to the Early-14th-Century, including much of Lincoln, Lichfield, the Choir of Ely, and the Chapter Houses of Salisbury Cathedral, and Southwell Cathedral.
By the Late-13th-Century, the style of Tracery evolved to include a greater number of narrow shapes that adapted easily to Gothic openings, in combination with circular shapes, as can be seen in the Windows of the Chapter House of York, the Octagon of Ely, and The Great West Window of Exeter Cathedral.
PART FIFTEEN FOLLOWS.
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