A B C of Gothic Architecture

by John Henry Parker

The foliage of this style is frequently very beautifully executed, almost as faithful to nature as in the Decorated style, in which the fidelity to nature is one of the characteristic features. In Devonshire the foliage of the capitals is peculiar, often resembling a wreath of flowers twisted round the top of the pillar; and this may probably have been the idea of the sculptors, as the custom of decorating churches with flowers at certain seasons is a very ancient one; it is probable also that the sculpture was originally coloured after nature. There is comparatively a squareness about the Perpendicular foliage which takes from the freshness and beauty which distinguished that of the Decorated style. Indeed, the use of square and angular forms is one of the characteristics of the style; we have square panels, square foliage, square crockets and finials, square forms in the windows,—caused by the introduction of so many transoms,—and an approach to squareness in the depressed and low pitch of the roofs in late examples.

Doorway, Fotheringhay, Northants, A.D. 1435.

It is frequently said that it is not easy to distinguish the moldings of the Perpendicular style from those of the earlier styles, but this is in general because people do not pay attention to them. The moldings of Fotheringhay are particularly good, and they have a positive date, yet if these are compared with either of the earlier styles the difference is very evident. The hollows are more shallow, the projection not so bold, and these are the usual characteristics.

The Buttresses of this style do not differ materially from those of the Decorated, but the triangular heads to the different stages are less frequently used; the set-offs are more frequently plain slopes only. The projection of buttresses of this style is usually greater than in any of the previous styles, especially in those that have to support towers, when there are commonly three stages, sometimes more, and they are often placed diagonally at the corners, or there are two, one on either side of the corner. Sometimes a buttress of this style is very thin, and has two diagonal faces; there is frequently a niche on the face of the buttress, either for an image, which seldom remains, or for a shield of arms only, and this more often remains. Sometimes there is a half-arch through the lower part of the buttress, as at Gloucester, and this is quite distinct from the flying buttress, the object of which usually is to support the wall of the clere-storey, by carrying the pressure across the roof of the aisle on to the outer wall, and on these pinnacles are placed over each buttress, the direct outward weight of the pinnacle serving to counteract the side pressure, as at Fotheringhay.

Flying Buttresses, Fotheringhay, Northants, A.D. 1435.

In this excellent example it will at once be seen that the upper end of each of the arch-buttresses must catch the lower end of the timbers of the roof, and so conveys the pressure to the outer wall, where again the weight of the vertical pinnacle helps to counteract the side pressure of the arch-buttress. There is also a massive part of the buttress against the lower wall.

Empty niches for images are very abundant in this style, but it is rare to find the figure left in the niches that were made for it; they do occur occasionally, and are sometimes almost as good as those of the preceding style. There is a very good one in the tower of S. Mary Magdalen Church, Oxford, which is believed to have been brought from the ruins of Osney Abbey, as that tower is of the time of Henry VIII.