Perpendicular Gothic (alsoPerpendicular,Rectilinear, orThird Pointed) architecture was the third and final style ofEnglish Gothic architecture developed in theKingdom of England during theLate Middle Ages, typified by large windows,four-centred arches, straight vertical and horizontal lines in thetracery, and regular arch-topped rectangular panelling.[1][2] Perpendicular was the prevailing style ofLate Gothic architecture inEngland from the 14th century to the 17th century.[1][2] Perpendicular was unique to the country: no equivalent arose incontinental Europe or elsewhere in theBritish-Irish Isles.[1] Of all the Gothicarchitectural styles, Perpendicular was the first to experience a second wave of popularity from the 18th century on inGothic Revival architecture.[1]
Thepointed arches used in Perpendicular were oftenfour-centred arches, allowing them to be rather wider and flatter than in other Gothic styles.[1] Perpendiculartracery is characterized bymullions that rise vertically as far as thesoffit of the window, with horizontaltransoms frequently decorated with miniaturecrenellations.[1] Blind panels covering the walls continued the strong straight lines of verticals and horizontals established by the tracery. Together with flattened arches and roofs, crenellations,hood mouldings,lierne vaulting, andfan vaulting were the typical stylistic features.[1]
The first Perpendicular style building was designed inc. 1332 byWilliam de Ramsey: achapter house forOld St Paul's Cathedral, thecathedral of thebishop of London.[1] Thechancel ofGloucester Cathedral (c. 1337–1357) and its latter 14th-centurycloisters are early examples.[1] Four-centred arches were often used, andlierne vaults seen in early buildings were developed intofan vaults, first at the latter 14th-century chapter house ofHereford Cathedral (demolished 1769) andcloisters atGloucester, and then atReginald Ely'sKing's College Chapel, Cambridge (1446–1461) and the brothersWilliam andRobert Vertue'sHenry VII Chapel (c. 1503–1512) atWestminster Abbey.[1][3][4]
The architect and art historianThomas Rickman'sAttempt to Discriminate the Style of Architecture in England, first published in 1812, divided Gothic architecture in the British Isles into three stylistic periods.[5] The third and final style –Perpendicular – Rickman characterised as mostly belonging to buildings built from the reign ofRichard II (r. 1377–1399) to that ofHenry VIII (r. 1509–1547).[5] From the 15th century, under theHouse of Tudor, the prevailing Perpendicular style is commonly known asTudor architecture, being ultimately succeeded byElizabethan architecture andRenaissance architecture underElizabeth I (r. 1558–1603).[6] Rickman had excluded from his scheme most new buildings after Henry VIII's reign, calling the style of "additions and rebuilding" in the later 16th and earlier 17th centuries "often much debased".[5]
Perpendicular followed theDecorated Gothic (or Second Pointed) style and preceded the arrival ofRenaissance elements in Tudor and Elizabethan architecture.[7] As aLate Gothic style contemporary withFlamboyant inFrance and elsewhere in Europe, the heyday of Perpendicular is traditionally dated from 1377 until 1547, or from the beginning of the reign ofRichard II to the beginning the reign ofEdward VI.[8] Though the style rarely appeared on the European continent, it was dominant in England until the mid-16th century.[9]
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In 1906William Lethaby, Surveyor of the Fabric of Westminster Abbey, proposed that the origin of the Perpendicular style was to be found not in 14th-centuryGloucester, as was traditionally argued, but in London, where the court of theHouse of Plantagenet was based atWestminster Palace besideWestminster Abbey.[10] The cathedral of London, theepiscopal see of the third-most senior bishop in theChurch of England, was thenOld St Paul's Cathedral. According to the architectural historianJohn Harvey, the octagonal chapter house of St Paul's, built about 1332 byWilliam Ramsey for the cathedralcanons, was the earliest example of Perpendicular Gothic.[11][12]Alec Clifton-Taylor agreed that St Paul's chapter house and St Stephen's Chapel at Westminster Palace predate the early Perpendicular work at Gloucester.[13] In the early 21st century the outline of the foundations of the chapter house was made visible in the redeveloped south churchyard of the present 17th-century cathedral.[14]
The chapter house at St Paul's was built under the direction of William de Ramsey, who had worked on earlier phases of the still-unfinished St Stephens's Chapel. Ramsey extended the stone mullions of the windows downwards on the walls. At the top of each window he made a four-centred arch which became a distinctive feature of Perpendicular.[11][9] Along with rest of Old St Paul's, the chapter house was destroyed by theGreat Fire of London in 1666.
Elements of early Perpendicular are also known fromSt Stephen's Chapel at Westminster Palace, a palatine chapel built by KingEdward I following the model ofSainte-Chapelle at thePalais de la Cité inmedieval Paris.[11] It was built in phases over a long period, from 1292 until 1348, though today only the crypt exists. The architect of the early building wasMichael of Canterbury, followed in 1323 by his son Thomas. One of the original decorative features was a kind of blind tracery; blank vertical panels with cusped, or angular tops in the interior; and, on the exterior, thin stonemullions or ribs extending downward below the windows creating perpendicular spaces. These became the most characteristic feature of the style.[9]
The earliest Perpendicular in a major church is the choir of Gloucester Cathedral (1337–1350) constructed when the south transept and choir of the thenBenedictine abbey church (Gloucester was not a bishopric until after theDissolution of the Monasteries) were rebuilt in 1331–1350. It was likely the work of one of the royal architects, either William de Ramsey, who had worked on the London cathedral chapter house, or Thomas of Canterbury, who was architect to the king when the transept of Gloucester Cathedral was begun. The architect preserved the original 11th-century walls, covering them with Flamboyant mullions and panels. The east window of Gloucester choir has a Tudor arch, filling the wall with glass. The window tracery matches the tracery on the walls.[15]
During the reign ofEdward III the style began to dominate at the Court, especially at the redevelopment of Windsor Castle, whereJohn Sponlee designed the buildings to house Edward's neo-Arthurian fancies. Of these the Dean's Cloister and Aerary Porch survive and exhibit early Perpendicular blind tracery and lierne vaults.[16]
The style attained maturity underHenry Yevele andWilliam Wynford in the later 14th century. Yevele designed works for the King and Court, such asWestminster Hall,Portchester Castle and the naves ofWestminster Abbey andCanterbury Cathedral, while Wynford predominantly worked forBishop Wykeham of Winchester on the nave of thecathedral itself as well as his educational foundations ofNew College, Oxford andWinchester College.[17] By c.1400 the style was widespread across the country, from Melrose in Scotland to Wells in Somerset.
Under the piousHenry VI the official style of the Court became relatively austere, as seen at the chapels ofKing's College, Cambridge andEton College.[18] However, the original intentions at both buildings are now obscured as the building work continued long after the King was overthrown, with design changes resulting in increasing ornamentation. The same process occurred at theDivinity School, Oxford.
In the later 15th century, the pendulum swung back towards elaboration, especially under the Tudors. John Harvey considered this change to be significant enough to meritTudor Gothic being considered as a separate style,[19] with greater continental influence, but this position is not widely held. At this period many of the most dazzling vaults were constructed, such as those byJohn Wastell atPeterborough Abbey (now a cathedral) and King's College chapel. These were both straightforwardfan vaults, butpendant vaulting also reached its apogee with those over St Frideswide's Priory (nowOxford Cathedral) and theHenry VII Chapel at Westminster Abbey, a major example of the late Perpendicular style. Another important example isSt George's Chapel atWindsor Castle, begun in 1475. The vault of the chapel was contracted to the master-mason John Aylmer in 1506.[20]
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English idiom from about 1330 to 1640, characterised by large windows, regularity of ornate detailing, and grids of panelling that extend over walls, windows and vaults.
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