Architecture
Although all periods of medieval church architecture are represented at Gloucester Cathedral, its two main building phases – Romanesque and Perpendicular, are of outstanding interest and importance.
The Romanesque Abbey
The Romanesque east end is not just the earliest surviving of any great English church, but also has the oldest extant ambulatoried chancel in either Normandy or England
Alan Brooks
Click on the links in the content or on this image to view examples of the architecture at Gloucester.
Built by Abbot Serlo, the foundation stone was laid in 1089. The eastern arm was ready for dedication in 1100, and the nave was probably completed by about 1130. A very great deal of this Romanesque church survives including the entire crypt, much of the east end above it, the great nave piers and most of the north aisle. The Norman chapter house also mostly survives.
The Early English style is represented by the nave vault of 1242 and the screen at the north end of the north transept. Window tracery in the south aisle is typical of the Decorated style as are the thousands of carved ball-flowers and the elaborate stonework of the tomb of Edward II.
The birth of Perpendicular
The remodelling of the east end at Gloucester was carried out between 1331 and about 1355 and arose from the burial in the abbey of King Edward II. The courtiers who surrounded the young Edward III and the pilgrims who came to the shrine-like tomb provided the funds to make it possible.
Click on the links in the content or on this image to view examples of the architecture at Gloucester.
The French “Rayonnant” style had graduations of tracery which followed a vertical line through window and gallery openings. It seems likely that this came to London through Kentish masons and was tried at St Stephen’s Chapel, Westminster, and in the Chapter House of Old St Paul’s (neither building still surviving).
These design experiments developed into “full-blown Perpendicular” at Gloucester, where the south window of the south transept can be seen as the oldest surviving Perpendicular window anywhere. The first four-centred arch (which later became so popular as the “Tudor Arch”) is also found here. The magnificent Quire and Presbytery were then remodelled in what became the standard English style of architecture for more than 200 years.
Gloucester’s other great contribution to English architecture is fan-vaulting which is now believed to have been invented here in the 1350s. The fan-vaulted cloisters, built for the monks to live and study in are now open every day for all to enjoy.
Guide Book
A 46-page book “Gloucester Cathedral – an Architectural Guide” by David Verey and Alan Brooks is available from the Gift Shop.