Our Homeland Churches and How to Study Them

by Sidney Heath

THE EARLY ENGLISH STYLE.

The origin of what is loosely called Gothic architecture—which is generally considered to include the styles, with their transitions, from Early English to late Perpendicular, or Tudor-Gothic—is not free from obscurity, but it is certain that it began to be employed in ecclesiastical edifices about the time that the Goths settled in Italy, although all the available evidence goes to prove that the style originated and underwent its earliest developments in the north-west of Europe, and penetrated by slow degrees to the south and east.

England was somewhat later than France in introducing this style of architecture, our earliest purely Gothic building being Salisbury Cathedral, begun in 1220, although the choirs of Rievaulx and Fountains Abbey were commenced a few years earlier. The Early English style in its earliest developments is nowhere seen to better advantage than in Salisbury Cathedral, and in its very latest forms at Westminster Abbey, the period of time being chronologically measured by the reigns of Richard I., John and Henry III.

An Early English Arch.
Rochester Cathedral.
Photograph Eastmead.

Most of our Gothic buildings were carried out under the supervision of a master-mason, but the most subordinate workman was left plenty of scope within reasonable limits for whatever artistic individuality he possessed, and the enrichments and ornaments of the Gothic era point out the noble aim, the delicate and graceful thought, the refined and exquisite taste expended upon every portion of their buildings by these Gothic masons.

One of the chief differences between pure Gothic and Norman architecture is in the use of the pointed form of arch, yet in the study of the early buildings of this date it is curious to notice how evenly the balance is held between the pointed and the round arch, and how at one time it was quite an open question whether the Gothic style would be distinguished by a round or a pointed arch. The Pointed Arch.In Germany and Italy the round arch held its own and continued to be used right through the Middle Ages. In England, however, the pointed arch soon gained a decided victory over its rival. Many theories have been put forward concerning the introduction of the pointed arch, one amongst them being that it was the result of the intersection of two circular arches such as is very commonly found in late Norman work; another theory is the poetical idea that it was copied from an avenue of trees. Whether or not either of these theories holds good, it is quite certain that this form of arch was known in the East for centuries before it reached Europe, being found in cisterns and tombs in Egypt and Arabia dating from long before the Christian era.

It has also been suggested that it was introduced from the East by the Crusaders, in which case we should have found it making its first appearance in Hungary, Poland, Bohemia and Russia, but it so happens that these were the very last countries in Europe to adopt the pointed arch.

The Transitional Period.The first form of the pointed arch, known as the Early English, was used from about 1180 to 1300, including part of the reigns of Henry II., Richard I., John, Henry III. and Edward I. "Nothing," says the Rev. J. M. Hutchinson, "could be more striking than the change from Norman to Early English. The two styles were the complete opposites of each other; the round arch was replaced by the pointed, often by the acute, lancet; the massive piers by graceful clustered shafts; the grotesque and rudely-sculptured capitals by foliage of the most exquisite character; and the heavy cylindrical mouldings by bands of deeply undercut members."

Arcading showing the junction of the Norman
and Early English Masonry.
Dunstable Priory Church
Photograph H. A. Strange.

Gothic architecture differs from all previous forms in the economical use of material, and the small size of the stones used. Whereas in both Roman and Norman buildings the arrangement of the materials depended upon their strength in masses, the Gothic masons employed stones of small size in the construction of edifices of equal strength and of far greater magnificence; while in constructive properties the Gothic style was a great advance on anything that had gone before, as the buildings in this style did not depend for their stability on the vertical pressure of columns, but on the correct adjustment of the bearings and thrusts of different arches operating in various directions. Owing to the fact, then, that each portion of a Gothic Church helps to support something besides itself, it is obvious that such buildings could be erected with a far smaller quantity of material than was previously necessary.

The various little shafts or columns are so disposed as to distribute the weight of the superstructure and thus relieve the greater columns or piers of some portion of the superincumbent weight; the aisles help to support the nave; the walls of the side chapels act as abutments against the walls of the aisles, while the towers are generally placed so as to resist the accumulated thrust of all the arches along the sides of the nave.

An Early English Doorway.
Huntingdon.

The enrichments and little ornaments attached to mouldings, and particularly those placed in the hollows, are most characteristic of the various styles of Gothic architecture. The zig-zag is peculiar to the Norman, the nail head to the Transitional or semi-Norman, and the dog tooth to the Early English.

Early English Ornament.

This last ornament represents a flower, looking like four sweet almonds arranged pyramidically, and there is no other ornament so distinctive of this period. Early English foliage is known by reason of the stalks always being shown as growing upwards from the lower ring of the capital, called the astrigal. These stalks are generally grouped together and curve forward in a very graceful manner. The plants mostly represented are the wild parsley, seakale and celery, and this foliage, called stiff-leaved foliage, is found at no other period than the end of the 12th century.

Early English Mouldings.

Early English mouldings are very complicated and yet very beautiful, and consist of beads, keel and scroll patterns, separated by deep hollows giving a rich effect of light and shade round the arch. These deeply-cut hollows are also a distinctive mark of the style.

Early English Windows.

The earliest windows of this period are long and narrow, with acutely pointed heads, the exterior angle being merely chamfered and the interior widely splayed. Somewhat later the introduction of tracery gave a highly beautiful appearance to the windows and from the character of this feature the date of the window can be fairly accurately determined. Where the tracery is formed by ornamental apertures pierced through a plate of stone, it is called plate tracery, and is certain to be of not later date than the earlier part of the 13th century. If it is bar tracery, with the bars forming plain circles, the work is also Early English, but if, on the other hand, the bars form other shapes filled in with patterns, or consisting of a single trefoil or quatrefoil, they are of later date.

The Church of St. Margaret, Lynn. West Front showing the Early English work in the base of the Tower. Photograph Dexter & Son Click to [ENLARGE]

The traceried window originated from the placing of a two-light narrow lancet window under one dripstone having a plain head, the introduction of tracery between the heads of the lancets and the dripstone becoming necessary for beauty and lightness of the form (see page [47].

Example of Group of Thirteenth Century Lancet Windows. Ockham, Surrey. Homeland Copyright. Click to [ENLARGE]

Early English Porches.

Early English porches project much further from the main walls than do the Norman doorways, and in large and important buildings they frequently have a room above. The gables are usually bold and high pitched, and the interiors quite as rich in design as are the exteriors.

Early English Doorways.

The doorways of this period are usually pointed, though occasionally they have a semi-circular head. The mouldings are boldly cut and often enriched with dog tooth ornament. The jambs frequently contain a shaft or shafts with plain or foliated capitals (see page [51]).

Early English Capitals and Piers.

Early English capitals are usually bell-shaped, and are, in the smaller examples, quite devoid of ornament, with the exception of a necking and one or two mouldings round the abacus. The bell is generally deeply undercut, which, as in the mouldings, is a strong characteristic of the style. The nail head and dog tooth ornaments sometimes appear in the hollows between the mouldings. In the large examples the bell is covered with foliage, which, springing direct from the necking, curls over most gracefully beneath the abacus. In clustered piers the capitals follow the form of the pier, and they also adopt the same form in the single shaft, with the exception that multiangular shafts have often circular capitals. The base consists of a series of mouldings and frequently stands upon a double or single plinth, which in the earlier examples is square, but in later examples assumes the form of the base, and is either circular or polygonal. At Stone church, Kent, is a good example of an Early English capital, decorated with stiff-leaved foliage, and the dog tooth ornament, which in this case is seen between the mouldings of the arch, and is of a perforated character.

Early English Buttresses.

The buttresses (see page [17]) of this period are, as a rule, simple in form, and in small churches consist of two or more stages, each set-off or division being sloped at the top to carry off the rain. In larger buildings the buttress generally finishes with a triangular head or gable, and is frequently carried above the parapet, except where stone vaulting is used, in which case it is covered with a pinnacle either plain or ornamented.

Salisbury Cathedral. Begun in 1220. The spire was added, 1350. Drawn by Sidney Heath. Click to [ENLARGE]

The edges are often chamfered or the angles ornamented with slender shafts. A niche to contain a statue is occasionally sunk in the face of the buttress, but this feature is more common in the next or Decorated period, although the change from one period to another was so gradual that the exact date of a niched buttress would be difficult to determine were there no other features to guide us.

Examples of Early English Capitals and Ornament Click to [ENLARGE]

Flying buttresses were first introduced at this period, and are common in all large buildings with vaulted roofs. They are generally of simple design, with a plain capping and archivolt, and they spring from the wall buttress to the clerestory (see page [17]).

---

CHAPTER V.