The English Chapter-House

Home , Chapter house

learning anb Jabot. LIBRARY

Universityof Illinois. CLASS. liQOK. VOLUME.

Accession No.

THE ENGLISH CHAPTER-HOUSE

ALBERT CHARLES PHELPS, B. S., '94

THESIS

FOR THE

DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE

IN THE

GRADUATE SCHOOL

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

190 3 Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2013

http://archive.org/details/englishchapterhoOOphel e

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

June 1, 1903 i9o

THIS IS TO CERTIFY THAT THE THESIS PREPARED UNDER MY SUPERVISION BY

Albert Charles Phelps, B.S., '94

entitled The English Chapter-Hous

IS APPROVED BY ME AS FULFILLING THIS PART OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE

of Master of Architecture

HEAD OF DEPARTMENT OF Architecture

THE ENGLISH CHAPTER-HOUSE

Albert Charles Phelps B.S.

A Thesis

Presented to the Faculty of

THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

for the Degree of

Master of Architecture

1903. I2TOH-*3T9Aiff) F8lJrft3 ' SB?

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The chap ter-houas, although not esclusive-ly an English pro- duction, was most frequent and reached its highest development in

England. Originating in the Continental monastic establishments it was introduced into England by the monastic orders and there became not only an essential part of the monasteries, but was adaed to nearly all the great secular cathedrals.

The early purpose of the chapter-house was to provide a meeting-place- for the chapter of the monastery. It* convenience recommended it to the secular clergy and it became a common feature in the group of cathedral buildings in all parts of the kingdom. In it the meetings of the canons of the cathedral were held and secular deliberative assemblies were not excluded. Its picturesque and of tentimes artistic form added greatly to the architectural effect of the cathedral or abbey church to which it was attached, ana in the development of its vaulting the highest type of Gothic structural art was reached.

The earliest chapter-houses of importance- in England were built during the first half of the twelvth century, among these ~oiq doll #ot am xim * tmi lemm torn a%u*otx* o«."0-

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titar ^aoAOt^iL'ifWf? di*>Io*i •ai lo HUM mWmi% mat sMwb tltmM 2 may be mentioned the chapter- house* at Durham (Fig.l) and Reading with groined vaults about thirty-five feet wide(dating from about

1150) iGloucester (Fig. 2), of about the same width ,sti 11 retaining its pointed barrel vault on transverse ribstthe fine chapter- house of the Cistercian Abbey Ford in Dorset shire (of about 1145),

groin vaulted in two bays twenty by twenty-two feet , with level crown and the transverse and end wall ribs bluntly pointedf

Bristol (Fig. 3) ,simi larly groined, the arches and vaults definitely pointed and the bays twenty-one by twenty-seven feet.

Fig.l. Interior of Durham Gnapter-House.

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Fig. 3. Interior of Bristol Chapter-House. E 4

We see Id these chapter-houses the widest vaulted spans of the first half of the twelvth century in England and a considerable development toward the Gothic vault of the thirteenth century.

Winchester had a chapter-house- of the twelvth century, 90 by 40ft., of which but fragments- remain, and that at Canterbury was rebuilt and greatly modified in the late thirteenth and again in the fifteenth century. The Interior nas recently been restored.

See Fig. 4.

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Fig. 4. Canterbury Cathedral from North -West

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"The ^enedlctine chapter-house as It took form in England was a rectangular room about twice as long as wide. set parallel with the axis of the church and, as dictated by convenience for

the cloister , either north or south of the transept from which it was separated by a narrow passage or chamber called a "slype".

It usually projected in an eastern apse, by the windows of which it

was lighted , wni le the entrance from the cloister was by a great

round archway flanged on either side by round-arched , double- light- ed windows."

The Benedictine dormitory usually lay beyond or outside the

Immediate neighborhood of the transept, so that the chapter-house could rise to full height with no story above to suppress its

ceiling. But the Augustinians and Cistercians , with their stricter habit of night service, had for convenience the dormitory immediate-

ly abutting on the transept , into which it descended by the night

stair. Thus their chapter-house , though following the traditional

Benedictine position, had their western porticoes lower, so that the passageway from the dormitory might pass over them. The Bene- dictines of Chester adopted this arrangement in rebuilding their chapter-house in the thirteenth century, and it remains excellently preserved internal ly. (Pigs. 5-8 e

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Fi^.8. Entrance to Vestibule of Chester

Chapter-House.

Fig. 7, Vestibule of Chester Chapter-House.

Pig. 8. Interior of Chester Chapter-House .• a tro H-«iwt *a*aad3 )o icM«jcI .8. if? 8

The vestibule opens directly from the north transept , without any slype, and its three aisles, each of three bays, are vaulted to

four central piers , the ribs rising from the ground, with no capi- tals. The triple openings into the cloister show the Norman tradition, refined and pointed, and to the east, entered from the vestibule by a similar screen, the chapter-room rises 30ft, high. It is 50ft. long and 28ft. wide, vaulted in three rectangular bays, the vaulting sharply pointed and the ribs supported upon clustered columns

against tne walls. The windows , triple lancets , between the piers completely fill the spandrels and five lancet windows occupy the end wall.

"But", says Prior in his History of Gothic Art in England,

"it was in the hands of the Cistercians that the chapter-house had its most English development. All their convents being abceys, with a system of visitation from the mother-house to the daughters,

considerable accommodation was needed for their assemblages . In the north of England especially were noble rooms built with triple aisles of three or four bays. Few of these chapter-houses remain

except in scanty ruins. Usually built after the churches , when the austerities of the first Cistercian style had been tempered by

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slender piers t octagonal or c lustered ,aad with their delicate carv- ing and elaborate mouldings represent some of the earliest advances of the rich North -England Sothic.The detail of the door-ways with their flanging two- lighted openings is especially refined. (See

Fig. 9, a typical plan). But all are of similar composition, and fol- low the Roiuanesque disposition as it had been at Bristol. Later

In the thirteenth century this aisled planning of the chapter-

house was tajsen south to Net ley, but general ly , except in the York- shire district, the earliest Cistercian houses seem to have followed the Benedictine arrangement of a plain rectangular vaulted room

square-ended , however , instead of apsed.

Fig. 9. Furness Chapter-House. I

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But in the west there arose another very distinctive form,

seemingly in Cistercian hands, though the earliest example known

is at WorcesterCabout 1130). Here the chapter-house is circular,

nearly 60ft. in diameter , vaulted with ten ribs to a central pier

(Figs. 10-11).

Fig. 10. Plan of Worcester Cathedral showing

Chapter-House. CI

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Fig. 11. Worcester Chapter-House , Interior

Almost contemporary would seem the circular chapter-house

, of MargamCabout 1147) vaulted with twelve ri bs(Fig. 12 ) ,and quicisly following this, that of Dore,43ft. in diameter with twelve sides and clustered shaft. iSBSSBSSSS&k

Fig .12. Margam Chapter-House, Plan. II

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In the thirteenth century the Idea passed to the secular

canons at Lincoln, where the ten-sided chapter-house (Figs. 13-15 ) about 60ft. across, may possibly have been laid out by St. Hugh before 1200, though vaulted about thirty years later, when the deep

projecting flying buttresses , which give it so distinctive an ex- terior were probably added.

Fig. 13. Lincoln Chapter-House, Plan. SI

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Fig. 14. Lincoln Cathedral from the East

showing Chapter -House.

Fig. 15. Lincoln Chapter-House, Interior. la«I milt moil laibmdim^ nloonU 14

At Beverly and then at Lichf ield(Figs. 16*17 ^eight-sided

plans were adopted ,and , after the middle of the thirteenth century, in the building of these great rooms were developed those char- acteristic excellencies of the English style shown at Salisbury,

Westminster and elsewhere.

Fig. 18. Lichf ield Cathedral showing Chapter-House.

Fig. 17. Lichfield Chapter-House , Interior. lutamo £Ua»9tiltit •lit 'to •It^ia etfl n»Jl±, dqm, a* J jpu* nit MMlf

ism • sod* b#qo(»?«~ ftoooi »a«dl lo -taitoliud «4t mi .

"In the polygonal chapter-house the English feeling for

breadth of surface In vault and window ,and for its contrast In

mass of abutment , combine for a perfect Gothic achievement , which

is as completely constructive and as logically satisfying as in any French building. The lnterpenetration of the two arts, and yet

the distinct genius of each, is well illustrated in these chapter- houses, which at once come nearest in their completely Gothic sug- gestion to the polygonal endings of the French chevet,and yet in

their origin and treatment are so characteristically English.

They are at the summit of English building art at once in their

Gothic as in their national quality." (Prior)

The list below gives details of the most important. They were added to nearly all the secular cathedrals during the thir-

teenth century , Chi Chester and ExeterCFig. 18)alone remaining con-

tent with the oblong room of Benedictine tradition.

Fig. 18. Exeter Chapter-House , Interior ai i8««iiaoc ctl iol bns,%oixxiw uoji tlum-j at sobItur lo dJ hand

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A list of polygonal chapter-houses , based upon the table In

Prior's History of Gx>thic Art in England .p. 31 9.

- - Date Fo rm&C on struct! on -Internal - - 1 . o f -Position. Diameter Bay orcester Cath.B. cl 140 ci rcular 10-bayed 59ft. 17ft. ordinary monasti

w i th central pier with cloister. argam Abbey C* cll60 ci r cu la r 12- bayed 49? t 13ft. ordinary monasti wi th central pier with cloister. or e Abbey C cl 1 80 1 2 - s id ed 4bayed 45ft. 12ft. ordinary mona s t i

w i th central pier with cloister. incoln Oath. Sec. 1 1 ©0- 1 -aid ed & bayed 83ft. 19ft. off N . E . Transept 1230 wi th central pier with small clcis everlyMins.Sec* cl250 8- sidedibayed 31ft. 15ft. N . of Ch oi r w i th central pier with crypt. ichfield Sec. cl240 8- sid edilO- bayed 40by28f t 1141/2 E.of N.TranseRt w i th central pier no cloister. e s t mi n s t e r A b . B. cl250 8- sided<&8-bayed 82ft. 24f t . ordinary monasti wi th central pier with cloister. ilisburyCath.Sec. cl2S0 8- sid ed £8- bayed 62ft. 23 f t . ordinary monasti w i th central pier with cloister. ells Cath.Seo. 1 260- 8- si d ed&8- bayed 56 f t . 21ft. N.side of Choir 1290 wi th central pier with crypt. 3 ou t hw e 1 1 Sec. cl280 8- sided with no pier 55ft. 13ft. N.side of Choir without cloister fork Cath. Sec. 1 290- 8- sided with no pier 59ft. 25ft. N.side of Choir x 1510 without cloister JerefordCath.Sec. cl 5 00 1 -sid ed & - bayed 4 2ft. 15ft. ordinary mona s t i

w i th central pier with cloister. jondon Cath* 8- sided&bayed ord i na ry monas t i w i th central pier with cloister.

* Destroyed. • I

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Flg.20.Salisoury Cath. Chapter-House, Interior VI 18 61

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.^allium . •*u©fi-™tq«Jl- IX «£.SS.**I 19 61 Pig. 23. Walls Chapter-House, Sect! on. M 21

Fig . 28 . we 1 Is Chapt er-House , Vau 1 1 ing IS

. < tieial,mm§ m$qma^ vs. all .

. Fig .29 South we 1 1 Chapter-House t Entrance

Pig. 30. Southwell Chapter-House,Detai Is

Fig.32.Yor* Cath. showing Chapter-House

Pig. 34. Ripon Chapter-House , Interior. ^Mtlum> ,—uoB- tmt ..10 Y. 25

With its accompanying arcaded passage this secular chapter- house is to be regarded as a great chamber of state, a palatial appendage designed to enhance collegiate dignity and ma«e it vie with monastic consequence. As such Lincoln may have led the way with its decagonal hall, whose foundation was possibly St. Hugh's, though its vaulting came later. At Beverly perhaps was built the first octagon, which thereafter was the accepted plan. Here it was

in two stories, and though now entirely destroyed , its office of state and distinction is to be seen in the elegant staircase that led from the north sida of the canons' cnoir.

The building at Westminster was in the form of a state apart- ment .superceding the original Benedictine hall,and one side of the old pent house cloister, the £lng designing It magnificently as an adjunct for his palace as well as for the uses of the monastery.

And so, too, Salisbury received the idea, making stately garth as

well as chapter-hall , in the latter being followed by We lis, York and Southwell. These last two dispensed with the central pier, but the groining of York was only in wood, and the Southwell hall

is but half the size of the greater pillared chapter-houses. 5S

ie* s «Ao mtmm aid* t^uiq bsb^is eUt\a*Hmooom all d*l*

rsllsiaq s.ststa lo Tadasdr) fsai* * mm bama^sn ad oi al wol

•It 11 a«ja boa i*lc«,lfe alaisaHoo aooaalaa a* batfeiaab i.ihwmi

,«'4SffH.18 ^ioisaoq asw co*>sj*iw>1 aaod>. Had Isod^soso ail dliw

adl lili;d iiv aqstrxsu tiis /ad 14 •%mSml mmrnc %atilumv all a^uous

zmw ft mtmh .ami q bsjqaoos adt asv isllas^sdi tioidw t oo>*l:>o In 11

to aolllo ali f faaYciisefa ^i»illij» voa dsuodl bae, ze Jtiola owl al

Jsdl as sot isle tas&mlm mat al oeee ad oi al aoiloailalb baa •tot*

.lloua 'auoas© ad* St2 8 dlnoa adl loll sal

-Jisqs mtmtm m so

sdl lo sola mac tarn, lima malto tbmamv imal+tio adl *al bmoim^Lm , Ism

as as *I Jopottla^acr It ^ala%ias£ sal* aal.iaialoio e&trod Jae^ bio

.^•liMM adl lo aaau sol to* as I [mm mm momlmq aid tot tvaulam

, mm dlis* \lmtmtm ^nl. ml, aabl adl bavbaos* \rtr *tlmd..oo} f om bnA

. •\.o\,mlLmm \a bswoiiOi ;nisd lalisl sdl ai, I Isa-isiqaao as liaw

. tsIc I s*r Jos o adl dllw bmmamqmtb owl laaU aaad'l . UswdJuoS bam

llmd timwatuoZ mat bos, boov at xlao asv i«ioY lo golaloT* aai lua

.a»ai/cd-ialqsdo bmtmlitu islssn . sal 10 aria adl II sd *i/d al At this time or later f many of the mon^s or canons adopted

toe secular polygon , out few of these chapter-houses have come down to us unless attached to the cathedrals. Of the great chapter- houses of the thirteenth century that remain, that at Lincoln has been recently restored .and that at Westminster 1b externally nothing but the work of Sir Gilbert Scott. But though their ancient charm has gone, and we see them now only as good specimens of imitative

Gothic, there is still in the character of their broad English designing evidence of the native vigor of the middle thirteenth century ideal. "Very widely and finely do they plan! the bases of their expression—those weathered and sloping flying buttresses which contrast with the scaffold- Use erections of the contemporary French construction. " (Prior)

Salisbury chapter-house has less of thts English power, but internally the charm is fully that of Westminster. In their window design and in their vaults both Salisbury and Westminster are less indicative of the English feeling than the northern and western examples. At Yota. and Wei Is, as at Lincoln, the chapter-houses are

of two periods , beiag completed about thirty years after they were laid out. Neither has been greatly changed by time or restoration, It

beJqob* zaoamo 10 a..nom mat 10 i08u,i9*ai 10 8*xl a 16J J A

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_ab fteliiaS fca*>id ix8dl to i9lo«i8dQ adl ax I ilia ax 9i8dJ,oidloi,

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m lo 8«s so ad* trial q ^9^1) oc \cXaaxl Jmm ^I«i»xw ^iev .imbt yi«J

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- loqans aoo *dl lo anoxxoaiv •< il ololiics 9uJ ulxv laeilaoo doXirw

(iox*r?) .aollpi/ilaaoo JoaaiS gM

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ne«»d .1x8) fexaX , aoi*aio*89i 10 mm It r~ fiajprrn ^Heais 888 T881 X8« 27 and we can still see much of the genuine Gnathic inspiration.

The external shapeliness of York(Figs.31 -33 ) ,its pillarless

spaciousness , matte a remarkable impression ,and its walls and wooden ceiling are richly detailed with the romantic profusion

of the fourteenth century. And yet , exquisite as is their handling, such arcades and vaults appear to have overstepped the paint in art when its display is unconscious and natural.

Wells chapter-house (Figs. 23 -28) was by some twenty years earlier ,and we can turn to it with the surer impression that we have here an ideal building in the center of the English style, exhibiting its essence and quality. Passing into it from the

picturesque stairway , which its under story made necessary, we can note how ita canopied arcades, wide windows with the lancet tracer- ies of central England, and richly branched vaults, sum up the ten- dencies of the central phase of English Gotlic. "Midway between the lava-liite out -pouring of the earliest Gothic eruption and that slow crystalization of form wnich slowly yielded up its heat to the last Gothic phase, there can be traced here neither the first crudeness nor the latest manner! smsi and midd le,t oo,in point of place and style among the works of ita time, it is Just half way .qq Itmrtqzat oiatm% 9atua»% mat lc doom mmm llttm amo mm ba+

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at Satm H Bdl bBqqBl8«ro

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ad* NO 11 olai enJKaa* •flliavp bam >o—« Bli gallic liUn

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-n»l adl qv aire, sll t/av barfon^rid ^Idoli baa ,maalym% LmiSamo la aai

fi9»wi»c' y«vbiM" .oiaMoC dsil^aS lo •cBd^ itfilafto adl lo aaloiaas

JbaI tarn noUq^a ciuJoC Izaii *ibb eat lo sal 1 i»oq- iuo 8.aH-*v*i Bill

o? tasd all qi/ bmbkmlx TlIwoIb doiu* «*iol lo ao i3msilmtw\io wolm

IbtII sdl tmdSfa aiaa* bmomn t ad amo a«iadl.BB*dq oldloC la*i mat

lo laleq nt ,ool, albbl* bam%mmmttmmmmm 1bb1»I Bill aoa BBBOBbtno

yaw lI*o Jbx; el li ,**il all lo i.iow ad* sacats #1*18 baa aoalq 28

between the superb state liness of the Yorkshire manner and the

sunny , romantic grace of the southern. And in this sense we may

read its position at tne summit of English Gothic inspiration:

that as an architectonic whole, its effect is to make the earlier

efforts of Gothic interior seem somewhat empty, and the later

somewhat tawdry. Yet it is to be observed that in the building,

exceedingly beautiful and unsurpassed as it is, figure sculpture

has no part, and that, too, in the house of the greatest school

of English sculpture , Wells itself".

In these chapter-houses we can trace the systematic and log-

ical development of vaulting , from the simple semicircular groined vaulting of Durham to the elaborate and artificial construction at York. The tendency in the polygonal buildings seems to have

been toward the development of a true Gothic dome, which was approx- imated most closely in form, but not in material, in the vaults of

the Yot& chapter-house and the octagon at Ely. The Ideas incorpor- ated were novel and vigorous, and it is greatly to be regretted that the logical result was not attained.

In the treatment of the polygonal vault with the central pier two distinct lines of reasoning were followed! in the one the vault was assumed to span from the sides of the polygon to the cen- 88

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?aoi t**ix

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• ex. o* — a^alc! ix/d fano^vrlog^ m&3 at ^oaoLaal odT «*ioY tm

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.bmatmtJB loa u« JiifKBi i 00x40 1 *****

-n»o oxf* ot ao^Ioq ad* lo wbt* •US mmrt\ amqm oi bmmunzm mmw tlumv )

29 tral pleriin the other, from the angles to the pier. (Fig. 35

Pig. 35.

The former appears at first to be the more natural, but has the disadvantages of breaking the principal side of the vaulting compartment that rises from the corners into a re salient angle, and also making the main ribs from these angles across to the central pier, in half their length diagonal ribs, and in the other transversef and of making one half represent a projecting and the other a receding angle, while the angle ribs of the outer half meet the transverse ribs of the inner half of the vault.

These objections are entirely obviated by supposing the main vaults to run directly from the angle to the pier. In either •Atf trci, lafutaa e«ioa mat «d oJ iaill ** mimv+qm iftsiol »riT

yi^Iuiv «tfi 10 •btm Imqtoatiy mat ^atjtjmrtQ id mm^Mtam-rbmukb mat

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T»ff*i» al .i»Iq »£U oi 9i r ui aroil xttvmilb aut of ztlum* aim 30 case the ridge that surrounds that half of the vault that springs from the central pier ta*es the form of an inner octagon. In the first case the sides of this are parallel to the walls, while in

the second they ta*e an intermediate direct! on i the angles of the inner octagon being opposite the centers of the outer one.

The vaulting compartments that rise from the angles of the great octagon are exactly li^e those that rise from the central pier»and the ribs that rise from the angles to the pier are throughout transverse ribs, while the angle ribs from each side regularly meet one another.

This latter method of vaulting was the one adopted in nearly

all the finer structures , as Westminster, Salisbury , Lincoln and

Wells,wnile at Yori the inner octagon is parallel with the outer one, but the difficulties are avoided by dispensing with the central pier.

As Sir Gilbert Scott has said in his Lectures on Mediaeval

Architecture* "Few forms, in fact, in any style of architecture present such beauties as an octagon vaulted in this manner." oe

Sato?* Smdf fi umv adi tt» \lmaimdS mtauoTtuE trn&s a«fcll mat mmmo

mas al .ao&mtoo font am- lo anol mat .mm*m* iaifaao tdi aoyI

•at lo mml^am mat too itoei mSmltmaimtaJ. am mxmA yeu: taoow »at

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baa aiooalJ. ;iutfalIa8,Te?aaia?aaW aa v a«ii;Join*a Wall odl Il«

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~af»o adl dllw ^alauaqaiu y.o baiilovA ni aallluollllL ba! Sud f mao

.IBlvJ I**J

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siL-foslldoiB Id ml\fm \am ii,*o*l al.aaiol vmV ••luloalldoiA

Although built as adjuncts of greater structures t and in a measure overshadowed by the greater glories of the churches to

which they are joined , there is a unity and directness of purpose about them rarely to be found in the larger buildings.

England has produced greater structural works and more

imposing architectural monuments , but nothing more unique and spon- taneous than her chapter-houses. IE

m at baa.mmiutoirtte tmtmiz lo mtoaul bm mm tlku6 a&umttlA

ot mmdotvdo mat to sotiol^ %mtmmi± mat \d btwobfid»i«/o nvwtmm

•ao^n/q lo nnmatom^ib bn*\ttdu a mt mtmat , bmakm i *i« goidv.

*** »*io* bn« t/.ioir I jtfl'J'JiVxjb imtm+tg bmoubet^ mmd btiBl ^a& oqa fcoc •x/pinv mm saldloa tin . 8ia»*trabM Lmiutomt tfoim jalmompl . ,

Bi Mi o^raphy

A History of Gothic Art in Eng land ,Pri or

Cathedral Antiquities of Great Britain, Brit ton,

Lectures on Mediaeval Architect ire, Scott

Bell's Cathedral Guide Books,

" Murray's ,

English Cathedrals , Van Rensselaer,

History of Architecture, Fergusson,

Gothic Architecture, Moore, various wor^s on English Gothic by Rickman,Willis,Sharpe,

Parser , Freeman and others.