FRONTS. The sides and east ends were, in most cases, more successful than the west fronts. In these the English displayed a singular indifference or lack of creative power. They produced nothing to rival the majestic façades of Notre Dame, Amiens, or Reims, and their portals are almost ridiculously small. The front of York Cathedral is the most notable in the list for its size and elaborate decoration. Those of Lincoln and Peterborough are, however, more interesting in the picturesqueness and singularity of their composition. The first-named forms a vast arcaded screen, masking the bases of the two western towers, and pierced by three huge Norman arches, retained from the original façade. The west front of Peterborough is likewise a mask or screen, mainly composed of three colossal recessed arches, whose vast scale completely dwarfs the little porches which give admittance to the church. Salisbury has a curiously illogical and ineffective façade. Those of Lichfield and Wells are, on the other hand, imposing and beautiful designs, the first with its twin spires and rich arcading (Fig. 134), the second with its unusual wealth of figure-sculpture, and massive square towers.
CENTRAL TOWERS. These are the most successful features of English exterior design. Most of them form lanterns internally over the crossing, giving to that point a considerable increase of dignity. Externally they are usually massive and lofty square towers, and having been for the most part completed during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries they are marked by great richness and elegance of detail. Durham, York, Ely, Canterbury, Lincoln, and Gloucester maybe mentioned as notable examples of such square towers; that of Canterbury is the finest. Two or three have lofty spires over the lantern. Among these, that of Salisbury is chief, rising 424 feet from the ground, admirably designed in every detail. It was not completed till the middle of the fourteenth century, but most fortunately carries out with great felicity the spirit of the earlier style in which it was begun. Lichfield and Chichester have somewhat similar central spires, but less happy in proportion and detail than the beautiful Salisbury example.
FIG. 135.—ONE BAY OF CHOIR, LICHFIELD CATHEDRAL.
INTERIOR DESIGN. In the Norman churches the pier-arches, triforium, and clearstory were practically equal. In the Gothic churches the pier-arches generally occupy the lower half of the height, the upper half being divided nearly equally between the triforium and clearstory, as in Lincoln, Lichfield (nave), Ely (choir). In some cases, however (as at Salisbury, Westminster, Winchester, choir of Lichfield), the clearstory is magnified at the expense of the triforium (Fig. 135). Three peculiarities of design sharply distinguish the English treatment of these features from the French. The first is the multiplicity of fine mouldings in the pier-arches; the second is the decorative elaboration of design in the triforium; the third, the variety in the treatment of the clearstory.
In general the English interiors are much more ornate than the French. Black Purbeck marble is frequently used for the shafts clustered around the central core of the pier, giving a striking and somewhat singular effect of contrasted color. The rich vaulting, the highly decorated triforium, the moulded pier-arches, and at the end of the vista the great east window, produce an impression very different from the more simple and lofty stateliness of the French cathedrals. The great length and lowness of the English interiors combine with this decorative richness to give the impression of repose and grace, rather than of majesty and power. This tendency reached its highest expression in the Perpendicular churches and chapels, in which every surface was covered with minute panelling.
CARVING. In the Early English Period the details were carved with a combined delicacy and vigor deserving of the highest praise. In the capitals and corbels, crockets and finials, the foliage was crisp and fine, curling into convex masses and seeming to spring from the surface which it decorated. Mouldings were frequently ornamented with foliage of this character in the hollows, and another ornament, the dog-tooth or pyramid, often served the same purpose, introducing repeated points of light into the shadows of the mouldings. These were fine and complex, deep hollows alternating with round mouldings (bowtels) sometimes made pear-shaped in section by a fillet on one side. Cusping—the decoration of an arch or circle by triangular projections on its inner edge—was introduced during this period, and became an important decorative resource, especially in tracery design. In the Decorated Period the foliage was less crisp; sea-weed and oak-leaves, closely and confusedly bunched, were used in the capitals, while crockets were larger, double-curved, with leaves swelling into convexities like oak-galls. Geometrical and flowing tracery were developed, and the mouldings of the tracery-bars, as of other features, lost somewhat in vigor and sharpness. The ball-flower or button replaced the dog’s-tooth, and the hollows were less frequently adorned with foliage.
In the Perpendicular Period nearly all flat surfaces were panelled in designs resembling the tracery of the windows. The capitals were less important than those of the preceding periods, and the mouldings weaker and less effective. The Tudor rose appears as an ornament in square panels and on flat surfaces; and moulded battlements, which first appeared in Decorated work, now become a frequent crowning motive in place of a cornice. There is less originality and variety in the ornament, but a great increase in its amount (Fig. 136).