Looking at Buildings

Styles & Traditions

Trail:

Detail: Norman to Gothic

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Llandaff cathedral, Glamorgan

Ornament plays an important part in defining the character of work of different periods. Sculptors were sensitive to changing fashion, and as a result decorative detail can provide useful evidence toward dating different parts of a building. C12 English RomanesqueGlossary Term (or NormanGlossary Term) architecture made use of distinctive mouldings to decorate the recessed ordersGlossary Term around the round-headedGlossary Term archGlossary Term. BilletGlossary Term mouldingGlossary Term, a series of little rolls like a dotted line, and chevronGlossary Term, or zigzagGlossary Term mouldingGlossary Term were widely used.

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Stiffleaf carving

In the early C13 the often angular forms of RomanesqueGlossary Term ornament gave way to more fluid and lively carving.

For a brief period around 1300, English sculptors, imitating French precedent, became interested in depicting naturalistic plant forms.

'BallflowerGlossary Term' was a fashion of the earlier C14, expecially in the western counties.

Openwork filigree decoration and delicate carved detail, is found in some of the most lavish PerpendicularGlossary Term work of the early C16.

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Southwell Minster, Notts. Chapter house.
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St Lawrence, Ludlow, Shropshire
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London, Westminster Abbey, Henry VII Chapel

Glossary

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Arch
Type of termDefinition (tool-tip)
TermArch
Alternative Terms-
Replaced with-
Short Description-
Long DescriptionTypes include: Basket arch or Anse de Panier (French, lit. basket handle): three-centred and depressed, or with a flat centre. Chancel: dividing chancel from nave or crossing in a church. Crossing: spanning piers at a crossing in a church. Depressed or three-centred: with a rounded top, but curving inward more at the sides. Four-centred: with four arcs, the lower two curving inward more than the upper, with a blunt central point; typical of late medieval English architecture. Jack arch: shallow segmental vault springing from beams, used for fireproof floors, bridge decks, etc. Ogee (adjective ogival): a pointed arch with a double reverse curve, especially popular in the 14th century; a nodding ogee curves forward from the wall face at the top. Parabolic: shaped like a chain suspended from two level points, but inverted. Relieving or discharging: incorporated in a wall to relieve superimposed weight. Shouldered: with arcs in each corner and a flat centre or lintel. Skew: spanning responds not diametrically opposed. Stilted: with a vertical section above the impost i.e. the horizontal moulding at the springing. Strainer: inserted in an opening to resist inward pressure. Three-centred: see Depressed, above. Transverse: spanning a main axis (e.g. of a vaulted space). Triumphal arch: influential type of Imperial Roman monument, free-standing, with a square attic or top section and broad sections to either side of the main opening, often with lesser openings or columns. Tudor: with arcs in each corner joining straight lines to the central point. Two-centred: the simplest kind of pointed arch.
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See also
See also:Basket arch
Term Language-
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