Early English Period

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Salisbury Cathedral, built c. 1200—1275, is a superb example of Early English Gothic architecture (apart from its 14th-century tower and spire)

In architecture, the Early English Period is a historical division of English Gothic architecture. It lasted throughout most of the 13th century, from about 1190—1250 according to Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, or 1189—1307, according to Thomas Rickman, who coined the term in his Attempt to Discriminate the Style of Architecture in England (1812—1815). Despite the name, the style is to be found in buildings throughout the British Isles.

The Early English Gothic style superseded the Romanesque or Norman style of the 12th century, and during the late 13th century it developed into the Decorated Gothic style, which lasted until the mid 14th century. With all these early architectural styles there is a gradual overlap between the periods: as fashions changed, new elements were often used alongside older ones, especially in large buildings such as churches and cathedrals, which were constructed (and added to) over long periods of time. It is customary, therefore, to recognise a transitional phase between the Romanesque and Early English periods from the middle of the 12th century.

Although usually known as Early English, this new Gothic style had actually originated in the area around Paris before spreading to England, where at first it was known as "the French style". Its earliest appearance was in the choir or "quire" of the abbey church of St Denis; the choir was built in 1144 (other parts of the building are in earlier and later styles). (See Sequence of Gothic Styles: France for more detail.) Even before that, some features had been included in Durham Cathedral including a combination of Romanesque and proto-Gothic styles.

By 1175 the style had been firmly established in England with the completion of the Choir at Canterbury by William of Sens.

[edit] Characteristics of the style

Salisbury Cathedral interior

The most significant and characteristic development of the Early English period was the pointed arch known as the lancet. Pointed arches were used almost universally, not only in arches of wide span such as those of the nave arcade, but also for doorways and lancet windows. The arched windows are usually narrow by comparison to their height and are without tracery. For this reason Early English Gothic is sometimes known as the "Lancet" or "First Pointed" style. Although arches of equilateral proportion are most often employed, lancet arches of very acute proportions are frequently found and are a highly characteristic of the style. A notable example of steeply-pointed lancets being used stucturally is the apsidal arcade of Westminster Abbey. The Lancet openings of windows and decorative arcading are often grouped in twos or threes. This characteristic is seen throughout Salisbury Cathedral. At York Minster there are, in the north transept, a cluster of five lancet windows known as the Five Sisters each fifty feet high and still retaining ancient glass.

Romanesque builders generally used round arches, although they had very occasionally employed slightly pointed ones, notably at Durham Cathedral where they are utilised for structural purposes in the Nave aisles. Compared with the rounded Romanesque style, the pointed arch of the Early English Gothic looks more elegant and, more importantly, is more efficient at distributing the weight of the stonework above it, making it possible to span higher, wider gaps using narrower columns.

Instead of being massive, solid pillars, the columns were often composed of clusters of slender, detached shafts (often made of dark, polished Purbeck "marble") surrounding a central pillar, or pier, to which they are attached by circular moulded shaft-rings. Characteristic of Early Gothic in England is the great depth given to the hollows of the mouldings with alternating fillets and rolls, by the decoration of the hollows with the dog-tooth ornament and by the circular abaci of the capitals.

Through the employment of the pointed arch walls, too, could become less massive, window openings could be larger and grouped more closely together, and architects could achieve a more open, airy and graceful building. The high walls and vaulted stone roofs were often supported by flying buttresses: half arches which transmit the outward thrust of the superstructure to supports or buttresses, often visible on the exterior of the building. The arches of decorative wall arcades and galleries are sometimes cusped. Circles with trefoils, quatrefoils, etc, are introduced into the tracery of galleries and large rose windows in the transept or nave, as at Lincoln Cathedral (1220). The conventional foliage decorating the capitals is of great beauty and variety, and extends to spandrels, roof bosses, etc. In the spandrels of the arches of the nave, transept or choir arcades, diaper work is occasionally found, as in the transept of Westminster Abbey, which is one of the best examples of the period.

At its purest the style was simple and austere, emphasising the height of the building, as if aspiring heavenward.

[edit] Other notable examples

Early English architecture is typical of many Cistercian abbeys (both in Britain and France), such as Whitby Abbey and Rievaulx Abbey in Yorkshire. Salisbury Cathedral is a superb example of the style; because it was built over a relatively short period (between c. 1200—1275), it is relatively unpolluted by other styles (except for its facade and famous tower and spire, which date from the 14th century). Other good examples are the Galilee porch at Ely Cathedral; the nave and transept of Wells Cathedral (1225—1240); the west front of Peterborough Cathedral; and Beverley Minster and the south transept at York.