HOLY
ARCHITECTURE
An in depth look at the Cathedrals and Churches of Southwest England
Lisa Green
There are many
places around the world to find Cathedrals and Churches because religion is a
world wide topic. There are also many
places around the world that have Churches and Cathedrals dating back hundreds
of years with an incredibly rich history to them and many of the churches that
fall under those categories are within England.
Researching a world wide area of churches may very well be interesting, however, the final result will also be very
broad. Taking a more in depth look at
the architecture of Churches and Cathedrals of a specific area can allow room
for a much more unique experience. There
are multiple areas that can be focused on in greater detail such as the time
the architecture took place and why, the building materials used and where it
came from, why certain materials were used, and why and how these buildings
came to be the final product that stands today.
Southwest England is a unique area to look at Cathedrals,
Churches, architecture, and the stone that was used to comprise all of these
things into one because there is a history much different than anywhere else in
the world by way of geology and civilization.
With all of the
history that has been accrued in England
it is important to look at the architecture with perspective of time. There are three different architectural
styles that are important in studying the Churches, Cathedrals, and Abbeys that
are of great importance to Southwest England; Roman, Norman, and Gothic.
Although these three architectural styles can be described with distinct
characteristics, it is necessary to know that there are overlapping qualities
between them. Large transitional periods
show us that Master Masons all over the country learned from one style and used
that to improve upon another style. The
early years of England’s
history belongs to the Romans who had brought many of their engineering
abilities with them. Most importantly,
they brought the Roman Arch which they used in such important structures as the
Coliseum and the great Roman Aqueducts.
Time moved forward and the Norman invasion had a dramatic effect on England. Many of the previously standing buildings
were destroyed and a new England needed to be built
up. The Norman era of architecture began
in the year 1066 and is considered to have ended in 1160 while moving into a
transitional period for the next century.
The Normans used many of the
same ideas that the Romans had instilled but also created a unique style that
is very clear in observation. The
transitional period brought new ideas that developed into the Gothic Style
which is present in many of the large Cathedrals and Abbeys that are still
standing today. This style came around the
year 1200. The Norman style was still
being used in the Parish Churches for the next hundred years or so but would
eventually take on a more Gothic oriented style. While looking closely at each individual
building, the distinct characteristic of each style shows itself.
Round Arch http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arch
Norman
architecture has a way of showing a heavy and very grand appearance. The tons of stone used, needed a support
system in the larger cathedral-like buildings.
The intent of the Cathedrals and Abbeys was to build as tall as possible
to reach into the heavens. With this in
mind, there were structural problems presented and the weight of the extensive
buildings was supported by enormous arches and columns throughout the
building. There are two types of arch
that distinguish between the Norman
and the Gothic style. The arch used in
the Norman period is called a Round Arch which is the same idea as the Roman
arch. The arch allows the pressure from
the weight to be distributed into evenly and to prevent cracking and collapse
of the structure. In Norman
Architecture, the Round Arch is seen as the main structure of the building and
is supported by enormous round pillars which extend to the floor. As the pillars reach from the ground to support
the arches above, they are connected by a very important piece of the puzzle,
the capital. This is a large stone shape
that sits atop the pillar and from a narrow base widens at the top in different
directions that will cushion the weight of the arch and the upper
building. These are the three major
components of Norman architecture but there is one more distinguishing feature
that tells the observer that they are looking at the work of the Normans. The carvings in the arches, capitals, and
pillars are unique to the Norman style.
They are carved with an axe which makes them less intricate than that of
other styles but still portrays beautiful carving work. From an exterior perspective, the large rectangular tower is the major
indication that a building has been influenced by Norman architecture. In larger Cathedrals, they help to create a
grand and large masterpiece while in smaller Parish Churches, they have a
practical importance of holding the Church Bells. 
As Norman
architecture had been used for many years and as a period of change took place,
style took a turn toward Gothic. A slow
movement took place but the first thing that made a profound difference was the
architecture of the roofs. The Normans
can claim use of the Round Arch but as Gothic style came into play, so did the
Pointed Arch. This was a great
improvement for the architecture but also gave a different look to the ways in
which Cathedrals were built. The smaller
Parish church used less of this style due to their much smaller size but it is
present in many Cathedrals and Abbeys. Many wooden Norman ceilings were rebuilt
and used these methods. The ceiling of
the building is divided into vaults and is then divided into multiple
trapezoidal shaped stones called the voussoirs.
This vault has cross ribs running from the pillars upwards and across each
section of the ceiling which hold it in place.
The Pillars are also much different than previously seen. Rather than
one large thick pillar, Gothic pillars are much slimmer and are composed of
many smaller shafts. The shafts of these pillars are often made of Purbeck
Marble (Purbeck Sandstone) which can give away the Gothic nature of the
architecture. The vaults and the slim
pillars give a much cleaner and lighter look rather than a heavy and dark look
with thick stone as in the Norman style did.
Ribbed Vault http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vault
The other
important piece of Gothic art is the intricacies by which the style had been
finely shaped and detailed. There are
three types of detail within the Gothic style; Early English, Perpendicular,
and Decorative. Early English shows a very
basic and plain style that did not include much tracery. Opposite of the Early English, the Decorative
style flaunts carvings within the exterior and interior and elaborate trefoils
and quatrefoils became and elegant design that took over. Lastly, the Perpendicular style shows many
vertical and horizontal lines that are very clean throughout the window which
create a crisp elongated look. While
looking at a Cathedral or Abbey, all three of these styles are often seen and
the viewer can pinpoint the parts of the building that belong to each
architectural time period. These three
styles can also help to pinpoint if a Parish Church
is of a Norman or Gothic style or
even if a church has been rebuilt with one style or another.
The Norman and
Gothic styles of Architecture were developed and molded to fit the materials
that were available to build from. Using
stone was the most durable and effective way to build any sort of large structures. The stones that were used in the raising of
these Cathedrals, Abbeys, and Parish Churches
were of great importance to England
and certain types of stone were much more significant than others in terms of
building. England
is very geologically based and there are many rock beds and types of rocks to
choose and quarry from for building purposes.
The buildings being focused on later on are of Southwest
England and the stones most relevant to those buildings are of the
same area.
The most important
building stone is the Portland Limestone. It has been called Britain’s
finest Limestone. (Maude, T. Guided by a Stone Mason p.97) This stone is sought after for building
because of characteristics that it exhibits. The Portland Stone has been used
in many buildings throughout England
and is most famously known along with Sir Christopher Wren and the rebuilding
of most of London after the Great
Fire of London in 1666. Limestone is a
very hard stone in comparison to others.
It is formed from calcium carbonate which bonds together very easily and
strongly. In more simple terms, Calcium
Carbonate is the bonding of materials such as shellfish which is predominantly
what formed this stone. Looking closely
with a hand lens an observer can easily identify shells and small pieces that
have bonded together. The Portland
Limestone has three specific beds that are quarried and for different
reasons. The Whitebed and Base beds are
much more homogeneous in their consistency and have been made up of much
smaller calcium carbonate materials than that of the third bed. These two beds
are so compact and well bonded that carving and shaping this stone for
architectural purposes is much easier.
The Roach bed is made up of larger matter and fossil fragments that are
easily visible to the eye and much less desired as a building material than the
other two beds. This stone is still
quarried but is used for different purposes such as the Cobb that was built in
the city of Lyme-Regis in Dorset.
Someone who has
not been educated in geology might wonder why certain beds have different
consistencies if they are all a part of the same stone. The Portland Limestone is a very large rock
bed that was laid down during the Jurassic Period (200 million years ago to 146
million years ago) and within that one large bed named Portland,
there are more finely determined layers that have all been set down at
different periods within the Jurassic. Different
environmental conditions cause the beds to be laid down causing unique
compositions of stone. Overall, the Portland
bed was laid down at a point in time where the environment was shallow,
tropical, and marine. Therefore there
were many shelled animals that had died, fallen to the bed of the ocean and
over millions of years, the build up caused the
bonding of those shells into layers of Portland Stone. The Whitebed and Base layers were laid down
at different times during the Jurassic and are made up of much smaller calcium
bits called Oolites. This caused the beds to be bonded more finely creating a
much more pure stone.
Another important
limestone from the Southwest England is the Purbeck
Limestone. The Purbeck rock bed handed
down its name to the Isle of Purbeck, a large area of the county
of Dorset. This layer belongs to the late Jurassic and
early Cretaceous period. The environment
of the earth was a very lagoonal and coastal type that
was very warm, allowing calcium bits from marine life to conglomerate and build
a strong layer of limestone in the same way that the Portland Limestone was set
down. This stone is also very tight and
compact due to the tiny calcium components that bonded to form it. The Oolites making up the mass of the Purbeck Limestone were very
small and created a very dense stone.
Due to this compactness, the Purbeck is another great stone to use as a
building material. Many masons found
that if polished, the Purbeck began to shine into a black marble-like
finish. This proved to be very popular
in the decorative branch of architecture.
In the thirteenth century Purbeck Marble could be found in almost every
church that had been built. It was used
primarily for large decorative slabs, large pillars, and detailed
carvings. Although used for much more of
an aesthetic purpose than the Portland,
it is none the less, very important to how buildings
were shaped.
Beer Limestone is
one that is not seen on the Coastline as with the Portland
and the Purbeck. It is found close to
the coastline in quarry caves approximately a mile inland from the town of Beer
and its coast. At the time that it was
set down, it was on a sea bed nearly 120 million years ago. This puts the gives the Beer Stone a birth
during the Cretaceous period. It is
already known that Limestone is primarily built from fossils and calcium
carbonate materials. It is also known
that limestone is in many cases very compact particularly when used for
construction purposes. Besides being
slightly more grainy than the others, what is the major
difference between the Beer Stone and the other limestones that have already
been discussed? The distinctive
characteristic of Beer Stone is the creamy yellowish colors that it
exudes. The stone acquired this color
during the deposition period as calcium carbonates as well as refined clay and
sand came together to create an extraordinary color. This color made the Beer Stone highly sought after
in order to produce buildings that looked very light and clean. The Beer caves have been actively quarried
since the time of the Romans until just a century ago which goes to prove the
popularity of the stone.
Quarrying stone is
just the first step to working with it as a building material. There are many skills and talents required to
use the stone to its highest potential.
Within these skills is a hierarchy of Masons who have been trained at
different levels to use, create, and to work with the stone in a different way
than anyone one other type of mason can.
The head of all other stone masons is called the Master Mason. This one man is often in charge of more than
just managing the other masons around him.
He has many of the most important jobs to carry out which would not be
the case in today’s world of architecture.
“The Master Mason was architect, quantity surveyor, civil engineer, and
artist, all rolled into one.” (Maude, T. Guided by a Stone Mason, p.78) As they traveled and built, their skill grew
stronger as did their reputations which Bishops had kept account of in order to
hire the right individual for the job. Opposite of the
Master Mason were the apprentices who sat at the bottom of the totem pole. They spent seven years learning under another
to become fully certified. Beginning with simple tasks, they were taught such
skills as shaping the stone into perfect pieces that would fit into the larger
puzzle of the building. They slowly
worked their way into laying slabs and eventually were well trained enough to
become decorative carvers. After each apprenticeship was completed, each
man had the option to become a journeyman earning daily wages as a fixer who
continues to lay large stones of the building or a banker mason who carves
artistic pieces with a mallet and chisel.
Despite some of these jobs being held at higher ranks than the others,
all of these jobs are extremely important to the final product.
There are many
different parts to building a Cathedral, Abbey or Church and laying stone and
carving decorative pieces are only one part that determining the aesthetic part
of the building. There are also very
different ways that these three types of buildings are planned and
constructed. Cathedrals and Abbeys are
typically very large buildings where as the Parish
Church is a small version which is
constructed for worship purposes. A
Cathedral is a building which houses a Bishop and an Abbey is one that houses a
monastic community. The two are built
very similarly. There is a blueprint
that typically looks like a cross with the top of the cross always at the
East. Construction always begins with
the most Holy part of the building being built for the Bishop or Monks to live
and to Worship in. The Nave is usually
built for Pilgrims who have come to pay homage to Patron Saints. As a separation barrier between the common
visiting area in the West and the Holy East End, there is an area called the
choir. The West End is always very large as it is
prepared for many visitors and as more and more space was needed, the north and
south transepts were soon built. These
two wings were added onto the sides of the building and seemingly cross over
where the choir is. The height of the
building is also very important because it is intended to reach as high into
the heavens as possible. Many levels of
arches are needed to stabilize the enormous structure. There are two important levels above the
lower part of the building. The Triforium Gallery is like a second story but is only a wall
that consists of another group of arches and windows of a smaller scale. The Highest level is yet another level of
wall and windows called the Clerestory that are even smaller. As the walls grow taller, each of these
sections is built farther inward increasing the stability of the large walls
and supporting the very high ceiling arches.
In the
construction of each individual building, the method of building the walls varies
and must be approached very differently.
There is a great contrast in the way the much smaller Parish
Church is built. As a much smaller building, there is a
different style that is emphasized as it works better for the
architecture. It is built with the same
shape in mind which allows for the traditional Eastern Holy to be separated by
a small choir from the Western end which holds the Parishioners as they
worship. There are not always transepts
that cross the nave because extra space is not always needed. For small Parishes, a single hall is
sufficient. Typically, a large tower is
usually found on each small Church. This
holds the church bells. They are built
very tall so that the bells can be hung higher and therefore be heard from
farther distances. Another major
difference comes with the way that the ceiling is constructed. As most community churches were built with
the Norman influence in mind, there were many round arches which were built to
uphold the wooden ceilings rather than large stone arches. Having no large vaults in the ceiling also
allowed for a different type of roof design in the smaller churches of a much
more practical framework. Looking at
many of the small Church buildings in Devon and Dorset,
nearly every church had a roof with a parapet.
This was on one hand decorative but also eliminated rain from pouring
down the outer walls of the building.
Gargoyles are frequently found as well and they serve the same
decorative purpose which holds a back seat to the more practical spout they
contain for rain water to run off of.
As
stated earlier, nearly every church seen in Devon and Dorset
had this type of architecture. St. Michael the Archangel
in Lyme Regis was built with a blueprint that included the parapet roof, the
layout of a cross, and a wooden ceiling, just as was mentioned previously. Aside from these common traits, it has its
own unique characteristics. There is a
large front tower which stands directly above the porch and entrance way. This is very characteristic of the Norman
style. The windows also tell the
observer that there is some Gothic influence because there are perpendicular
lines within as well as decorative trefoil-like pieces that line the top of the
windows. Evidence inside shows more Norman
influence with pillars lining the porch as well as round arches that line the
length of the nave. The Gothic style is still
not so far out of reach as there are many windows that resemble Gothic design
as well as multi-shaft pillars that are bracing parts of the ceiling. The key to understanding this church and many
more is that there were frequent periods of destruction and while some parts of
the church remained intact, other parts needed to be rebuilt completely. This church in particular needed much
restoration because it was made of a local, Blue Lias
Stone, which is not as durable as other such limestones. Due to the clay forms around this bed, it is
a much weaker form of the limestone. To give an example as to the durability of
this stone, the cliffs in and around Lyme-Regis and neighboring Charmouth have been eroding and falling into the sea at
very rapid rates. It is documented that
St Michael’s Church once sat nearly a mile away from the sea and the land in
between the two has quickly shrunk to approximately a quarter of a mile.
Another
church in Dorset County
also sits atop cliffs but the ground their remains firm. Studland
Bay, home of Old Harry Rocks and
the White Chalk of the Cretaceous period is also home to St Nicholas’
Church. Although this church is also of
Norman style, this is one of the few churches that do not contain the parapet
that was mentioned before. It is however
marked by the same layout with a cross shape on a much smaller scale. This is a very small church but a large bell
tower still graces the building and from each end extends the Nave and the East
Altar. Norman styles are still very much
present and easy to pick out in other details aside from the tower. All around the church there are very small
windows that do not allow much light. (These windows were made small because
masons did not yet have to know how to support large openings in the wall
without major damage occurring.) Upon
entering the church, the walls, doorways, and ceiling are held together by the
typical round arch. This church has also
made use of the local stone and although it has not been thoroughly documented,
there is mention of a stone called the Purbeck Burr which can only be quarried
at low tide, thirty yards out, in the city of Swanage just a few miles
away.
Local
Cathedrals are also very important examples of past architecture and the local
stone that was used in the building processes.
Exeter Cathedral is one of the largest Cathedrals in England
and possibly the most interesting on the Southern Coast of the country as
well. The stone used was that of the Beer
Caves that have been quarried since
the time of the Romans. This gives the
building a very light creamy color which many other Cathedrals and stones cannot
compare to. The main construction of
this building began in the 12th century which was a transition
period between Norman and Gothic styles.
The structure has two massive Norman towers at the North and South wings
but fades into Gothic with the Decorative Gothic style overtaking the front of
the Cathedral and within its windows. Inside
the building, shafts of Purbeck Marble extend upwards to support the capitals
which further extend to support the Gothic vaulted ceilings that are stretch
across the Nave.
St
Paul’s Cathedral in London
is also of great importance to the Portland Limestone. As mentioned before, during the London Fire
on 1666, many of the cities buildings were demolished. The city was redesigned and buildings were reconstructed
by Sir Christopher Wren. His stone of
choice was the Portland Limestone.
Included in the buildings that Wren had rebuilt was St
Paul’s Cathedral.
As it was rebuilt toward the end of the Gothic period, it shows less
resemblance toward what many other Cathedrals exhibit, however, there is still
a distinct sense of the Perpendicular Gothic Style to be seen while observing
its sleek lines.
Looking
at all of the architecture, history, geology, and buildings individually can
seem like a large topic with many angles and branches to learn about. However, each topic relates to another and
helps to make the puzzle fit. Within the
framework of this topic, each component is equally important to the whole. It might be easy to say that without
religion, there would be no purpose for the stone or the architecture but you
can change the order of those words quite easily and still make a valid
argument. Without the architecture there
would be no use for the stone, the masons, or the church at all or without the
stone, this architecture would not be needed because churches would not be
built in the same way. Every part of
this story needs the other part to develop into the beautiful attractions that
have been standing for hundreds of years and Southwest England
has each necessary piece unique to its geography to make these buildings
happen.
Maude, T. Guided by a
Stone-Mason. IB
Taurus Publishers, London. 1997
Scammel, Rev F. The Church of St Nicholas. Self Published, Studland, Dorset.
Murray, J. St Michael
the Archangel. Self Published, Lyme-Regis,
Dorset. 1996
Henderson, I. The
Winchester Diver. Henderson and Stirk Publications. 1996
Scott, J, Gray, G. Out
of the Darkness. Self Published, Beer
Watson, P. Building the Medieval Cathedrals. Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge.
1976
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Round Arch http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arch
Ribbed Vault http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vault