CHAPTER XXVI.
ARCHITECTURE OF THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY.
Transition from Norman to Gothic Architecture—The Period of Change—The Early English Style—Examples and Characteristics of the Style—Towers—Windows—Doorways—Porches—Buttresses—Pillars—Arches—Mouldings and Ornaments—Fronts.
The history of architecture is the history of change, sometimes gradual, sometimes sudden, but always change. People and nations change; new ideas spring up among them; new wants are created, and Architecture has to minister to these wants. A necessity arises and has to be met; this suggests a new idea, which, carried out, leads to still further changes. The direction being once given, new forms of beauty are elicited, which are eagerly followed out, until at length scarcely a trace remains of the form from which they sprang. This was pre-eminently the case with Gothic Architecture. The necessity arose from the vaulting of spaces of unequal sides; the Norman semicircular arch could not meet this difficulty; and it could be met only by using a semicircular arch for the longer side, and a pointed one for the shorter. The pointed arch was thus introduced, and it was soon seen that it offered great facilities for construction, and also for beauty of form. A change was thus commenced which ended only with the entire disuse of the semicircular arch, and the establishment of what we now call Gothic Architecture. This has been divided into three distinct styles, answering to certain periods of time, as below:—
Early English, or Thirteenth Century, extending from the commencement of the reign of John to the close of that of Henry III.
Decorated, or Fourteenth Century, from the commencement of the reign of Edward I. to the end of that of Edward III.
Perpendicular, or Fifteenth Century, from the commencement of the reign of Richard II. to the end of that of Henry VII.
The latter part of each of these periods was one of transition, and therefore the terms Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Century must be taken only in a general sense.
In the last chapter on architecture (see p. [214]), we slightly traced the transitions from the heavy masses of the pure Norman buildings, to the comparatively light ones which succeeded; but it will be necessary here to enlarge a little more on the subject. The change commenced in the latter part of the reign of Henry II., continued to increase partly through that of Richard I. when, towards the end of his reign, it emerged into the succeeding style; the heavy Norman architecture gradually gave way, greater lightness and loftiness were introduced in the piers, the capitals were richly covered with foliage more closely resembling the Corinthian form, the angles of the abacus were frequently cut off, the mouldings lost much of their Norman character, and the tooth ornament, which is so characteristic of the next style, began to be introduced. The pointed arch was used along with the round one, both in pier arches and in windows and doors, and throughout this period we find a mixture of the two styles, the new growing, as it were, from the ruins of the old, until, in the beginning of the thirteenth century, it rose in all its purity, and the cumbrous Norman disappeared. Of the buildings of the Transition period, the following may be mentioned. Canterbury Cathedral (1175 to 1184) was alluded to before as the most valuable, in showing the gradual change from one style to the other. The round portico of the Temple Church, London (1185), displays many of the characteristics of both styles, the pointed arch being used for the piers, but the round arch for the clerestory windows and arcades. The hall of the castle of Oakham, now used as the County Hall, shows in its capitals and corbels some of the finest sculpture we possess of this period. Oxford Cathedral is of this date, and exhibits a curious example of the alternate use of the pointed and round-headed arch in the windows, and for the support of the central tower. Rothwell Church, Northamptonshire, is also of this date, the west door being a good example of a pointed arch with Norman ornaments, while the capitals of the shafts display more of the character of the Early English.
In the buildings of this transition there is frequently much picturesque beauty, the sculptures are executed with great freedom and variety of design, and the details of the two styles harmonise well together. The abandonment of Norman forms and the adoption of the new style were so gradual, that we can scarcely determine when the latter begins, for we see in the earlier examples of Early English some Norman feature or other occasionally remaining, but about the beginning of the thirteenth century these seem to have disappeared.
The style which succeeded the transition was named by Beckman the Early English, and by that name it is commonly known. Many of the finest buildings we have are in this style; most of our cathedrals have portions of it, and one at least—Salisbury—is built entirely in it.
The earliest building of pure Early English is the choir of Lincoln Cathedral, and it is curious to find that at this early date, 1195, the Norman ideas had been entirely laid aside. This building exhibits the style not only in its utmost purity, but in its greatest beauty; all its details are conceived and executed with the greatest delicacy and freedom, and all who wish to see this style in perfection should view the choir of Lincoln. The nave is in the same style, but is about fifty years later, and is much plainer.