Lincoln Cathedral was begun in the twelfth century, and in some parts—as in the chapels which are added to the sides of the choir as a second eastern transept—exhibits forms which appear nearly related to those of Canterbury. Yet the structure, with its three-aisled nave, tran sept with an eastern aisle, and its peculiar west front, is essentially a work of the thirteenth century. The upper part of the interior exhibits many systems, yet all combine to compel the shafts which bear the vault ing to commence on corbels above the arches instead of continuing down ward to the pavement. The square eastern end has in all three aisles a magnificent traceried window, that of the central aisle being the largest. The exterior shows a second traceried window in the gable of the middle aisle, above the one just mentioned. The side-aisles also terminate in gables, which rise high above the roof, forming an Italian arrangement the history of which is given below (p. 229). The western façade'is a large structure of the height of the central aisle of the nave, dominated by two turrets containing staircases, and by the gable of the nave. Three lofty and deep niches make the profile of the three aisles visible externally,' while the whole of the remaining surface is covered with arcaded work. Imme diately behind this lofty wall rise two square western towers with slender round turrets at the angles, without spires, but with a platform such as is found in most English towers, as if the idea of spires had been renounced or as if they had not yet been completed.' Only a few towers have lofty spires.
The great churches of England are usually accompanied by extensive subsidiary structures grouped around a large cloister. The most consider able of these structures are the chapter-houses. Wells Cathedral has an octangular chapter-house, and Salisbury another, both with a column in the centre. That of the Cathedral of Lincoln is a magnificent decagon. The nave and transept of Wells Cathedral were built 1214-1239, the façade with its two towers in 1242, and the beautiful chapter-house was added soon after. The choir of Ely Cathedral was added to a Romanesque nave and transept between 1235 and 1252. In the interior system of this choir the peculiarities of early English Gothic are not only seen at their richest, but are also brought to their fullest harmony, the noble proportions being retained throughout.
In Li chfield Cathedral shafts are continued from the pavement to the springing of the vault. The arcades and the triforinm have noble pro portions, but from want of space, which precluded the construction of clere-storev windows like those of the choir of Ely, the clere-storey has traceried triangular openings.
The system of vaulting in the choirs of Lichfield and of Ely has made a step toward perfection in the increase of the number of the ribs and the diminution of the size of the separate groins, by which the execution of the vaulting is essentially made lighter, while the separate courses of the vaulting-stones, which had so long been entrusted to the binding power of the mortar, are interlocked, become shorter from rib to rib, and on account of this can be closed in more quickly. The summit of the vaulting is per
fectly horizontal throughout the entire length of the middle aisle, and is even traversed by a horizontal rib which, like a continuous keystone, catches all the separate ribs of the groining, while, since it is stouter than the shafts, it bears heavily upon the entire structure beneath (p. 30, fig-. 4). The side-aisles have a straight eastern termination, while the nave is continued beyond them and ends in a polygon. The cathedral has a single transept with an eastern side-aisle, and on the west front are two fine towers with stone spires, which latter occupy more than half the total height of the towers; the entire façade, except these towers, is covered with arcaded work. At the intersection rises a similar but larger tower. The choir belongs to the fourteenth century. The chapter-house is an octagon with one axis lengthened.
Westminster Abbey, at London, was commenced about 1245. In 1269 the choir wits consecrated; it has a polygonal apse with aisle and chevet of chapels, after the French system. The northern transept has three aisles, while the southern, where other structures occupy the angle between the nave and the transept, lacks the western side-aisle. Transept and choir have simple groined arches in the middle aisle. The nave, which was commenced immediately after the choir and was completed before the close of the century, has fan-groining in the middle aisle. The upper part of the interior, with its shafts rising from the ground, not only is noble and harmonious, but has also, like the arrangement of the choir, the greatest resemblance to the beautiful French system. The proportion of the triforium to that of the arcade beneath is a correct one, but it is here widened into a regular gallery, which runs above the entire side aisle. The flying-buttresses, which in English architecture usually play a comparatively insignificant role, are doubled, according to the French mode, one over the other; yet another specifically English peculiarity stands boldly out—namely, the rather flat roofs of both the middle and the side aisles, which recall the antique rather than the northern Gothic. The parapets may be cited as another English peculiarity. It must also be noted as remarkable that the choir has not that considerable longitudinal development which we have found in the other buildings before men tioned, since, measured from the intersection, it has but one-third the length of the nave. At the beginning of the sixteenth century the middle polygonal chapel of the chevet was taken down, and in its place—in such direct connection with the choir that it may, in fact, be considered as only a continuation of it—was built a great chapel with three aisles and with five small chapels around its chancel-end. This is known as Henry VIL's Chapel (pl. 30, fig. 5), and is a fine specimen of the architecture of the time of that monarch, who founded it.