Talking Gothic! What do we mean by Gothic architecture and how can we identify it?
‘Gothic’ is the name we give to a style of architecture from the Middle Ages. It is usually thought to have begun near Paris in the middle of the 1100s and, from there, it spread throughout Europe and continued into the 16th century. There are many marvellous examples of Gothic buildings throughout Scotland: from Elgin Cathedral in Moray, through amazing buildings like Glasgow Cathedral, Paisley Abbey and Edinburgh St Giles, down to Melrose Abbey in the Scottish Borders. All of these, and more, are well worth a visit!
Gothic architecture developed from an earlier style we call Romanesque. Buildings made in the Romanesque style often have rounded arches on their (usually comparatively small) windows and doors, thick columns and walls, lots of ornamental patterns, and shorter structures than the buildings which came later.
Dunfermline Abbey is a great example of a Romanesque building in Scotland. The people who paid for the earliest Gothic buildings expressed a wish to transport worshippers to a kind of Heaven on Earth by building higher and brighter churches. What emerged is what we now describe as Gothic. Fashions changed throughout the time that Gothic was the predominant style, and it also varied from place to place. However, the Classical revival made popular as part of the Italian Renaissance largely replaced the Gothic style, and it wasn’t fashionable again until the 19th century. During the Romantic Movement Medieval literature, arts and crafts enjoyed renewed popularity. As a result, Glasgow Cathedral was begun in the Gothic elements can be seen today in the churches, public buildings, and late 12th century and was at the hub of the Medieval city. private houses which were built during a revival in Victorian times!
Elgin Cathedral dates back to 1224. Paisley Abbey stands on the site of a St Giles Cathedral is 'the High Kirk of Edinburgh'; Celtic monastery, dating from 1163. the earliest part of the building which we recognise today dates to about 1120.
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There are several defining characteristics of Gothic architecture of all periods. Once you know these characteristics, you will be able to identify a Gothic building immediately, just by looking at it. So what are they?
Height Gothic buildings are typically built to look tall and slender. They seem to ‘soar’ because the masons included many vertical lines and pointed arches to make you look up. Pointed stone vaults and other clever masonry tricks were used to support tall and almost weightless-looking buildings.
Flying buttresses Tall buildings with open spaces inside are liable to fall outwards and apart, so buttresses and flying buttresses became necessary to divert the forces pushing outwards to push downwards instead, making the building more stable. This allowed for taller and more elaborate buildings with thinner walls and larger windows. The flying buttresses were originally just practical bits of masonry, but later they became more decorative and were even used on buildings like Rosslyn which technically don’t need them!
Pointed Arches In order to better support heavy ceilings and walls without adding too much bulky masonry, master masons employed pointed arches. This kind of arch is very strong and it provides a lot of support enabling the structure to be tall, light, and open. This is because pointed arches channel outward forces downwards, rooting tall buildings in the ground.
Rib Vaults This way of constructing a ceiling cleverly distributes the weight from all the stone above it and allows you to build open and light spaces. Stone vaults made buildings feel much taller and more magnificent. They were also much safer from fire than wooden ceilings. Their patterns became increasingly decorative throughout the Gothic period – just look at how intricate the ones at the very east end of Rosslyn Chapel are!
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Order Gothic buildings often have very clear lines, shapes, and structures, where everything fits neatly into its own place. As time wore on in the Middle Ages, patrons and master masons chose more fancy and complicated shapes, and so buildings like Rosslyn Chapel aren’t quite as logical as many earlier Gothic buildings. Even so, most Gothic buildings seem quite symmetrical and harmonious.
Decoration In addition to being functional, Gothic buildings were full of beautiful, awe-inspiring, scary, and even funny images. A high level of decoration is a key feature of Gothic buildings, and Rosslyn Chapel is one of the most decorative Gothic buildings in the world! Everywhere you look there are intricate sculptures, foliage, and abstract patterns.
One of the most noticeable are the gargoyles (which act as rain spouts) and grotesques – the class clowns of medieval images. There are lots of these in the Chapel: exotic animals, demons, dancers, and ‘green men’. We still don’t know if people were meant to find these images scary, educational, exciting, or if they simply made them laugh! Most likely a combination.
Rosslyn Chapel was built around 1450 (towards the end Further Reading of what we think of as the Medieval period), and it is a wonderful example of the Gothic style. Researchers are still A good introduction for school pupils: working on where the inspiration came from for some of What is Gothic Architecture? A Scotland Spotters Guide. the more unusual elements of Rosslyn Chapel. Some people The Engine shed – web blog believe that it is because Sir William Sinclair apparently https://blog.engineshed.scot/2019/07/17/1090/ employed a range of international craftspeople to build it. Others associate its unique character with Sir William’s own Publications: unusual personal vision, or the influence of William’s friend Sir Gilbert Hay. All sorts of strange theories and stories have Discovering Church Architecture by Mark Child, Shire classics 2012 been proposed to explain it. Sadly, almost all the original Medieval Churches of Scotland by Mike Salter, Folly Publications records have been lost, so we may never know for sure. 2011 The Architecture of the Scottish Medieval Church by Richard But if you take a walk around the Chapel (particularly if it’s Fawcett, Yale University Press 2011 a sunny day) you will see all the key features of a Gothic building, now that you know what to look for! www.rosslynchapel.com
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