The Twenty-Six Mediæval Cathedrals Of England (Part Sixteen).

Worcester Cathdral.

Photo: 3 June 2011.

Source: Own work.

Author: Sonofden62

(Wikimedia Commons)

Text from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia,

unless stated otherwise.

During the 15th-Century, many of England’s finest  Cathedral Towers were either built or extended in the Perpendicular style, including those of the Cathedrals of Gloucester, Worcester, Wells, York, Durham, and Canterbury, and the Spires of Chichester, and Norwich.

The design of Church Interiors went through a final stage that lasted into the 16th-Century. This was the development of Fan Vaulting, first used in about 1370 in the Cloisters at Gloucester Cathedral, then in the Retro-Choir at Peterborough in the Early-15th-Century. 

In a still more elaborate form, with Stone Pendants, it was used to roof the Norman Choir at Oxford and in the great Funerary Chapel of King Henry VII at Westminster Abbey, at a time when Italy had embraced the Renaissance.[2][4][5]

The Great West Window, 

“The Heart of Yorkshire” Stained-Glass Window, 

York Minster.

Photo: 17 May 2012.

Source: Own work.

Author: Nessy-Pic

(Wikimedia Commons)

A History Of Norwich Cathedral.

A Guided Tour.

Available on YouTube

HERE

The Plan of Salisbury Cathedral is that most often reproduced in architectural histories for the purpose of comparing English Gothic architecture with that of France, Italy and other Countries.[6] 

It has many features that, on paper at least, are typical. The plan of Worcester Cathedral, for example, closely resembles that of Salisbury. Both have two Transepts, a large Central Tower, a large Porch to the North Side of the Nave, a Cloister to the South, off which opens a Polygonal Chapter House.[2] 

Internally, there are also strong visual similarities in the simple Lancet Windows of the East End and the contrasting profusion of Purbeck Marble Shafts. But the histories of the two buildings are very different. Salisbury Cathedral took 160 years to complete, from its foundations in 1220 to the top of its massive Spire in 1380. Worcester took 420 years, from its Norman Crypt of 1084 to its Chapel in memory of Prince Arthur in 1504.[2] 

English: The Cloisters, Gloucester Cathedral.

Deutsch: Der Kreuzgang der Kathedrale von Gloucester.

Esperanto: Klostro de Katedralo Gloucester.

Français : Les cloîtres de la Cathédrale de Gloucester.

Українська: Крита галерея Глостерського собору, Глостер, Англія.

Photo: 17 January 2018.

Source: Own work.

Author: Christopher JT Cherrington

(Wikimedia Commons)

The history of Worcester Cathedral is much more representative of the history of most of England’s Mediæval Cathedrals than is that of Salisbury Cathedral.

Cantus Firmus Monks.

Gregorian Chant used in the 

Norwich Cathedral video (see, above).

Available on YouTube

HERE

An earlier Cathedral was located, between 1075 and 1228, on the hill top near the ancient fort at Old Sarum. In the Early 13th-Century, it was decided to move the location of the Cathedral to its present position. 

The new building was designed in the Lancet Gothic style (otherwise known as Early-English Gothic) by Elias of Dereham and Nicholas of Ely and begun in 1220, starting at the Eastern End, and rising Westward until, by 1258, it was complete, except for the façade and Central Tower. 

The façade, huge Cloister and Polygonal Chapter House were then constructed by Richard Mason and were completed by 1280, the later work employing Geometric Decorated Tracery in the openings of Windows and Arcades. 

English: Perpendicular Gothic Choir of York Minster.

Norsk bokmål: Katedralen i York. Hvelvet har en midtribbe i bygningens lengderetning som er typisk for engelsk gotikk.

Photo: 10 August 2005.

Source: Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons.

Author: Bala Amavasai at en.wikipedia.

(Wikimedia Commons)

It was about fifty years before the major undertaking of the Tower and Spire was commenced, the architect being Richard Farleigh and the details being rather more intricate and elaborate than the earlier work. 

The entire Cathedral was complete by 1380, and the only subsequent inclusion of note was the re-inforcement of the Arches of the Tower when one of the Piers developed a bend. 

This three-part building programme, spanning 160 years with a fifty-year gap in the middle, is the shortest and least diverse and makes Salisbury, by far, the most homogenous of all the Cathedrals.[2][4][10]

PART SEVENTEEN FOLLOWS.