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

The Lancet Gothic East End and Tower of Southwark Cathedral. The Cathedral was Founded as a Nun’s Church in the 8th-Century A.D. Secular Canons in 852 A.D. Augustinian Canons 1106-1540. Present structure: East End 1208-1235; Transepts 1273; Tower 1385 and 1520; Present Nave by Sir Arthur Blomfield 1889-1897. Became a Cathedral in 1905.

Photo: 9 May 2005.

Source: Own work.

Author: Amandajm

(Wikimedia Commons)

Text from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia,

unless stated otherwise.

Because the architecture of English Cathedrals is so diverse and inventive, the internal appearances differ a great deal. However, in general, English Cathedral Interiors tend to give an impression of length. 

This is in part because many of the buildings are actually very long, but also because, more than in the Mediæval architecture of any other Country, the horizontal direction is given as much visual emphasis as the vertical. 

This is particularly the case at Wells Cathedral, where, unlike most Gothic buildings, there are no vertical Shafts that continue from the Arcade to the Vault, and there is a very strong emphasis on the Triforium Gallery with its seemingly endless and undifferentiated row of narrow Arches. 

Contest of the Cathedrals.

The Romanesque period.

Available on YouTube

HERE

Salisbury Cathedral has a similar lack of verticals, while the course below the Triforium and the undecorated Capitals of Purbeck Stone create strong visual horizontals.

In the cases of Winchester, Norwich, and Exeter, the horizontal effect is created by the emphasis on the Ridge Rib of the elaborate Vaults.[4]

The complexity of the Vault is another significant feature of English Cathedrals.[5]

Sherborne Abbey.

Available on YouTube

HERE

The Vaults range from:

The simple Quadripartite Vault, in the French manner, at Chichester Cathedral, through increasingly elaborate forms including the Multi-Ribbed (“Tierceron”) Vault at Exeter Cathedral;

The similar Vault with Inter-Connecting (“Lierne”) Ribs at Norwich Cathedral, the still more elaborate variation at Winchester;

The array of unique Lierne Vaults at Bristol, the net-like Stellar Vaulting of the Choirs at Gloucester and York;

Winchester Cathedral.

Available on YouTube

HERE

The Fan Vaulting of the Retro-Choir at Peterborough, and the Pendant Vaulting of the Choir at Oxford, where elaborate Long Stone Bosses are suspended from the Ceiling like Lanterns.[4] 

Many of the more elaborate forms are unique to England, with Stellar Vaulting also occurring in Spain and Germany.[5]

While, in most cases, a Norman Church entirely replaced a Saxon Church, at Ripon, the Cathedral uniquely retains its Early-Saxon Crypt, while a similar Crypt also survives below the former Cathedral of Hexham. 

Wells Cathedral.

Available on YouTube

HERE

At Winchester, the excavated foundations of the 10th-Century Cathedral – when built, the largest Church in Northern Europe – are marked on the grass of the Cathedral Close. 

At Worcester, a new Cathedral was built in the Norman Style from 1084, but the Crypt contains re-used Stonework and Columns from its two Saxon predecessor Churches. 

Elsewhere, the Abbey Church of Sherborne preserves much masonry from the former Saxon Cathedral, in the West Front, Transepts and Crossing, so that the Nave and Crossing of the present Late-Mediæval Abbey retains the proportions of the previous Saxon structure.

PART FOURTEEN FOLLOWS.