The further development was the hammer-beam roof, which came into general use in the fifteenth century. The hammer-beam resulted from the lengthening and thickening of the sole-piece and was supported by a curved brace, connecting its under side with a vertical piece, attached to the wall and hence called the wallpiece. The combination of this construction with struts, collars, and curved braces produced the magnificent effects to be seen in the roofs, for example, of Westminster Hall and the Hall of the Middle Temple.
Exteriors.—Unlike the French cathedral, which is apt to be crowded upon by other buildings, the English usually stands amid smooth lawns and shade trees—a secluded spot known as the “close,” around which are the houses and gardens of the dean and canons. Cloisters also frequently add to the spirit of quiet. Durham is superbly set upon a steep bluff above the River Wear. In harmony with the charm of the setting a noble picturesqueness characterises the English cathedral. Flying buttresses, it is true, are little in evidence, owing to the comparative lowness of the structure and to the fact that they are often concealed in the aisles, but the façades, because of length of transepts and additions of Retrochoir, Lady Chapel, Chapter House, Cloisters, Chantries, and so forth, are more irregular than in the French. There is greater variety of points of view; frequent surprise of vistas, while from near and far the great central towers are features of impressiveness and grandeur, and the occasional spires, the most beautiful of which is Salisbury’s, are singularly sublime.
On the other hand, the west fronts have not the special splendour of the French cathedrals. Yet there are a few exceptions. That of York Minster, for example, with its immense window and twin towers, is in respect of size, decorativeness, and proportion a magnificent façade. Those, again, of Lichfield and Wells are grand and beautiful, while the west fronts of Lincoln and Peterborough are strikingly imposing and picturesque.
Both the latter are virtually screens pierced with deeply recessed openings that include windows above doors. The designs are arresting and boldly picturesque, but arbitrary in invention. For the façades, being applied to the building and not growing out of its internal purpose, lack the dignity of logical arrangement and, moreover, are deficient in proportion of parts and harmonious unity.
Interiors.—Grand picturesqueness, also, rather than ordered grandeur, characterises the English interiors. Lower and narrower than the French, and longer, they have not their stately unity and sublime simplicity. But their very length and the closer intercolumniation of the pillars and the ampler size of the transepts present a greater variety of vistas. And the picturesqueness is also increased by the variety and superior elaboration of the vaulting and the profusion of decorative features, the frequent use of black Purbeck marble in the cluster columns, the number of fine mouldings on the arches, the richness and variety of design in the triforium and clerestory, the wealth of carved ornament in the wooden screens and choir-stalls, and the marble enrichments of the numerous tombs. On the other hand, though an English Cathedral is more decorative architecturally, it lacks the warmth and colour that the embellishments of a Roman Catholic ritual impart to the French examples.
Secular Examples.—The interest of English Gothic extends beyond cathedrals to the profusion of edifices—chapels, churches, colleges, hospitals, and almshouses—that stud the country. Oxford presents a mine of study; Cambridge has its splendid examples; there are Royal Chapels of magnificence, such as St. George’s Chapel, Windsor; and town churches of extraordinary beauty, while scarce a village, however tiny and remote, but has an architectural treasure in its little church, sheltering the graves of its quiet “God’s Acre.”
The homes of the nobles, during the Norman Period, had been frankly armed castles, including an outer “bailey” or court, an inner bailey, and a donjon or keep, surrounded by a moat and ramparts. In the fifteenth century the idea of domesticity increased, other buildings for various uses clustered round the main ones and the hall became the centre of the life of the inmates. At first there was a central fireplace, where the logs were piled on dogs, the smoke escaping through a flue or opening in the ceiling. The need of protecting this led gradually to the erection on the roof of a lantern-like turret, technically known as a louver, which became a characteristic feature of the exterior of a hall, even after the central fireplace had been moved to one of the walls and connected with a chimney. By this time the fireplace had grown to be the distinctive feature of the hall, embellished with a massive carved chimney-piece, around which the lord and his lady and guests gathered, while the house-fool laboured at his quips, or some wandering minstrel regaled the family with song or story, while the retainers of the establishment sat in the outer ring on the rush-strewn floor. For the hall was the common dining-room and recreation centre of the whole establishment, and on a dais at one end stood the high table at which the family and guests were served at meals, the retainers occupying the body of the hall. A salt-cellar was conspicuous in front of the lord, symbol of hospitality and also of class distinction, since the persons of “inferior quality” were entertained “below the salt.” In earlier times the hall also served as a sleeping place for the retainers.
By degrees, however, as ideas of comfort and privacy increased, this habit was abandoned. Withdrawing rooms or bowers opened from the dais of the hall for the private use of the lord and lady, and bedroom accommodation was improved. And the progress toward greater domesticity was assisted by the discovery of gunpowder, which rendered the old system of fortification useless for defensive purposes, so that the idea of a castle was gradually superseded by that of a mansion.
