Page:A history of architecture on the comparative method for the student, craftsman, and amateur.djvu/367

 ENGLISH GOTHIC. 309 a portico of three gigantic arches, the full height of the Cathedral. A gable crowns each arch, and the end abutments are carried up as small towers crowned with spires. Other towers rise from behind over the end bays of the aisles, though some uncertainty exists as to the intended grouping. A two-storied porch of the Perp. period has been built in the central archway. 20. Ripon(Nos. 1 16 k, 120 G, 136 c). — Central and two western towers. Rich choir stalls and tabernacle work. Perfect western fa9ade in E. E. style (restored by Scott). 21. *Rochester (Nos. 114 e, 119 h). — Norman nave. E. E. walled-in choir and transepts. The clerestory to nave and wooden roof are Perp. Fine western Norman doorways. 22. *S. Albans (No. 119 f). — Much destroyed and altered in recent years. Norman nave, the longest in England (284 feet), transepts and choir. Western portion of nave is E.E. Dec. marble shrine of S. Alban, recovered and re- erected by Sir Gilbert Scott. 23. S. Asaph (No. 119 a). — Rebuilt in the Dec. style. Roof and choir stalls are Perp. Restored by Sir G. Scott. 24. S. Davids (No. 120 e). — Situated in a valley, beside the river Alan, and close by the sea. Central tower. Two-storied south porch. The nave arches support a carved oak roof of late (1508) design. Dec. rood-screen at entrance to choir. 25. Salisbury (Nos. 116 A, 117 E, 121, 122 E, F, G, 123 and 140 d). — Erected on a level site, surrounded by the green sward of a wide close, broken only by a few elm trees. Constructed almost entirely a.d. 1220-1258 in the E.E. style, forming the type of English, as Amiens is of French Gothic. See Nos. 154 a, 159 B, 160. The plan has double transepts, central tower, and splendid Dec. spire, 404 feet high, being the loftiest in England. The west fagade is weak, but there is a fine north porch, boldly projecting and vaulted internally. The cloister is Dec. 26. Southwell (No. 119 k). — Norman nave, transepts and towers. E. E. choir. Dec. octagonal chapter house, the chief glory of ihe Cathedral, has no central pillar, and is believed to have been the model for that at York. Carving very rich and well preserved. No cloisters. 27. Wells (Nos. 115 G, 119 j) (1214-1465). — The nave, transepts and western bays of choir are E.E. The E.E. west front, iSo feet wide, including buttresses, is arcaded and enriched with sculpture — the highest development of a type of facade found in English Gothic. Double transepts, eastern lady chapel, and tiiree towers. The triforium, of close set openings with capitals, is unique. As illustrating the comparative height to width of the naves of English and French Cathedrals it has been shown that whereas Wells is 32 feet wide and 67 feet high (two to one). Amiens is 46 feet wide and 140 feet high (three to one). 28. 'Westminster (Nos. 127, 128, 129). — A Benedictine monastery founded by Dunstan ; betrays P^rench influence in its polygonal chevet and chapels, internal loftiness (having the highest nave in England), and strongly marked flying buttresses. The plan consists of a nave and aisles, transepts with aisles, and eastern chevet, surrounded originally by five apsidal chapels, the only complete example of this feature in England. Of the present structure the eastern portion was erected by Henry III. in a.d. 1220-1260. During 1260-1269 the four bays west of the transept were constructed. The nave was completed in the fifteenth century in imitation of the older work, but with Perp. mouldings. The western towers were completed in A.D. 1722-1740, by Wren and Hawksmoor, and Henry VH.'s Chapel was added by Henry VH. in place of the former lady chapel, and is remarkable for its elaborate fan vault. The shrines, chantry chapels, tombs, and monuments are exceptionally fine. The cloisters, in the usual position to the south of nave, have open tracery and elaborate vaulting of the V.. E., Dec and Perp. periods. 29. *Winchester (Nos. 115 e, 117 c, 124 d, E, F, 137 g).- — It has the greatest total length (560 feet) of any mediaeval Cathedral in Europe. Norman transepts and tower, 1070-1 107. The Norman nave and choir (1079-1093) were transformed