Wells Cathedral (Part Thirteen).

The Great West Front,

Wells Cathedral.

Photo: 30 April 2014.

Source: Own work.

Attribution:

Photo by DAVID ILIFF.

Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.

Author: Diliff

(Wikimedia Commons)

Text from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia,

unless stated otherwise.

The Great West Front of Wells Cathedral has the Paired-Tower form, unusual in that the Towers do not indicate the location of the Aisles, but extend well beyond them, screening the dimensions and profile of the building.[6]

The Great West Front rises in three distinct stages, each clearly defined by a horizontal course. This horizontal emphasis is counteracted by six strongly-projecting Buttresses defining the cross-sectional divisions of Nave, Aisles, and Towers, and are highly decorated, each having Canopied Niches containing the largest Statues on the façade.[95]

At the lowest level of the façade is a plain base, contrasting with and stabilising the ornate Arcades that rise above it.[95] The base is penetrated by three doors, which are in stark contrast to the often imposing Portals of French Gothic Cathedrals. 

The outer two doors are of domestic proportion and the central door is ornamented only by a central Post, Quatrefoil, and the fine Mouldings of the Arch.[6]

Wells Cathedral.

Many Statues on The Great West Front are lost, but

this group of Saints remains at the back of the North Tower.

Photo: 9 December 2008.

Source: Own work.

Author: Mattana

(Wikimedia Commons)

Above the Basement, rise two Storeys, ornamented with Quatrefoils and Niches originally holding about four hundred Statues, with three hundred surviving until the Mid-20th-Century.[6] Since then, some have been restored or replaced, including the ruined figure of Christ in the Gable.[96]

The third stages of the Flanking Towers were both built in the Perpendicular Style of the Late-14th-Century, to the design of William Wynford; that on the North-West was not begun until about 1425.[34] The design maintains the general proportions, and continues the strong projection of the Buttresses.

The finished product has been criticised for its lack of Pinnacles, and it is probable that the Towers were intended to carry Spires, which were never built.[88] 

Despite its lack of Spires or Pinnacles, the architectural historian Banister Fletcher describes it as “the highest development in English Gothic of this type of façade.”[97]

The strongly-projecting Buttresses of Wells Cathedral’s 

Great West Front have Niches for Statues.

Photo: 27 October 2010.

Source: Own work.

Author: Ad Meskens

(Wikimedia Commons)

PART FOURTEEN FOLLOWS.