Tewkesbury Abbey choir vault

click photo to enlarge
I visit a lot of churches, both great and small. And, if the truth be known, I prefer the modest buildings to the great abbeys, minsters and cathedrals. However, if it's awe and wonder you are in search of then one of the best man-made spectacles is to be found in the large churches of the medieval and later periods. More specifically, in the elaborate, often beautiful vaulting that supports their great ceilings.

In England there are many examples that take your breath away, and some that offer a variety of examples of the mason's art. Peterborough Cathedral has fine work from the twelfth century and beautiful fan vaults of the 1400s and early 1500s while Gloucester Cathedral cloister can claim the earliest example of this peculiarly English style. Beverley Minster has vaulting to compete with any church, and Ely Cathedral's vaults in and surrounding the famous octagonal lantern are unparalleled anywhere else. Even lesser known buildings, such as Pershore Abbey, can thrill when we stop, look up and reflect on the stonework above our heads.

Today's photograph shows the lierne vaulting of the 1330s above the choir of Tewkesbury Abbey. It is pretty much as built, though in the fifteenth century the Yorkist badges of the "Sun in Splendour" were added. And, of course, the paintwork has been renewed down the centuries. The two features that make this vaulting so different from any other, and so spectacular, are the extent and colours of the paint, as well as the unusual complexity of the ribs and bosses. When I visit this abbey I never fail to stop and look up at this beautiful spider's web that keeps the roof from falling on my head.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Nikon D5300
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 18mm (27mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/30 sec
ISO:1100
Exposure Compensation: 0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

The beauty of church vaulting

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The vaulting that graces many a church and cathedral ceiling, especially inside a tower, is a recurring topic on this blog. I am fascinated by the variations on a theme that medieval masons and carpenters wrought in their desire to beautify the space above the worshippers' heads such that an upward glance really did feel like a glimpse of heaven. Architectural historians have created a whole specialised vocabulary to describe the development of vaulting down the centuries from its beginnings in simple barrel vaulting, to groin vaults, rib vaults, quadripartite and sexpartite vaults, vaults with tiercerons and liernes, culminating in the glories of stellar vaults and fan vaults.

The purpose of vaulting is to take some of the weight of a roof or tower above and distribute it laterally on to arches, walls, piers and columns. In the crossing vault shown above the ribs that form fans stretching from the centre to the four corners are instrumental in achieving this weight transference. However, this vaulting also has a central star pattern made by the addition of short decorative ribs called liernes. Clearly it is a design that seeks to impress with its beauty as well as do an architectural job of work. In fact, all is not what it seems with this vaulting. The tower of Holy Trinity was built during the period 1500-1530 on a raft of oak trees for the lack of any firm bedrock below. These were replaced by concrete in 1906. The vaulting, however, was erected as late as the 1840s, and the beautiful, rich paintwork must surely originate from that time - a mixture of medieval ideas and Victorian interpretation and development of those ideas. When I magnify my photograph I can see that the infill is timber planks so I imagine the ribs must be timber too. This vaulting will have replaced an earlier ceiling. That may have been stone, but is more likely to have been timber too. I've often seen fine Victorian work that replaced an insensitive, flat Georgian ceiling (itself inserted in place of the medieval original) though I've no reason to believe that is the case here. In fact, timber roofs were more widespread in England during the medieval period than in any other North European country and exhibit a unique ingenuity and beauty. Here, at Holy Trinity, the wood mimics painted stone and is none the worse for that.

The organ pipes on north and south sides of the crossing belong to the largest parish church organ in Great Britain. The oldest of the more than 4,000 pipes date from 1756 and are by Johannes Snetzler.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Sony RX100
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 10.4mm (28mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f1.8
Shutter Speed: 1/30
ISO: 800
Exposure Compensation:  0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Tower vaults

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Anyone who has done the full tour of this blog will know that I have a fondness for tower vaulting (see here and here). I suppose it's because there's something fascinating about the way that medieval builders chose to ornament this inaccessible location - often the highest point inside a church. Was it because it was the place in the building nearest to heaven? Did they expend so much care and craft here, knowing that in its remoteness their work would remain pristine, safe from the knocks and bumps of clumsy priests and careless parishioners? Whatever the reason, tower vaults are often elaborate where other vaulting in chancels, naves and aisles is plainer.

The underside of a tower is usually square, though there are a few octagonal examples to be found. In churches (though not always cathedrals), there is frequently a trapdoor to allow the passage of bells to and from the ringing chamber, and this is usually placed in the centre. Consequently, the rib pattern of tower vaulting tends to be symmetrical. However, each decorative boss that often cover the joins of the ribs are usually carved with different designs - shields, foliage, faces and animals are common. Comparing the vaulting designs to be found in different churches, I am frequently delighted by the fertility of the masons' minds. I have never found two exactly the same, and one senses a conscious desire on the builder's part to come up with something different.

Today's photograph shows the tower vault of St John the Baptist, Morton, Lincolnshire, quite a large village church with a tall crossing tower that dates from the 1300s at the bottom and the 1400s above. The vaulting comprises a central circle (with trapdoor), connected directly and indirectly to three ribs that spring from the corners of the tower. These ribs are moulded into four sets of four cusped daggers, one in each corner. Interestingly there are no bosses masking the points where the ribs meet. The great temptation in photographing tower vaults is to point the camera vertically from directly below the centre, then crop the image to make a symmetrical shot that mirrors the four lines of symmetry on display. I usually do this by laying on my back with the camera clamped to my face! Here I decided to place the centre of the vault towards the top of the frame, giving a single line of symmetry that extends down through the nave roof and tall tower arch.

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 11mm (22mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f2.8
Shutter Speed: 1/20
ISO: 800
Exposure Compensation: -1.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: On