NORMAN, 1066-1189

THE Norman period dates from A.D. 1066, though the Norman manner of building had been adopted after the year 1000, when church building was revived after suspension in anticipation of the Millennium, which was expected to bring the end of the world. That dreaded year having safely passed, church building was vigorously revived. Timber construction had led to frequent disaster by fire, and as larger buildings were now required, better construction became imperative. Masonry must supersede carpentry in wall construction, and the necessary skilled labour came from Normandy.

The influx of superior talent following the Norman Conquest resulted in great improvement in every department of building. Stately cathedrals were founded, each for the reception of the cathedra or throne of the bishop. Abbeys and monasteries and parish churches for the clergy were built throughout the land, as proved by the existence of Norman work in most parts of the country.

Every period of English Gothic architecture has certain forms appearing in the general composition and details which help to fix the period to which they belong. In the Norman the square and the circle, the right angle and the semicircle, are the prevailing figures suggestive of strength and severity so evident in the impressive naves of Ely, Peterborough, Norwich, Gloucester, Tewkesbury, and the fortress-like cathedral of Durham.

Plate III. gives a few details of work of the Norman period. The term pier (Plate III., Fig. 1) defines the pillars or masses of masonry supporting the arches between the nave and aisles of a church. This example (Plate III., Fig. 1), from St. John’s Chapel in the White Tower of London, William the Conqueror’s residence, is circular with a square capital chamfered down to the circular pier, and has a slightly moulded abacus (the crowning moulding of a capital).

Plate III., Fig. 2, the cushion capital, is the simplest kind of Norman capital. It is cubical, with its square faces rounded down to the shaft.

[Note.—The shafts of all English Gothic columns are cylindrical—i.e., without any diminution towards the top, in contrast with Greek and Roman shafts, which are always diminished.]

Plate III., Fig. 3, is the capital of a respond—a half-column attached to a wall and carrying an arch or part of a roof.

Plate III., Fig. 4, the corbel-table, or cornice underneath the eaves of a roof (corbel—a bracket).

Plate III., Fig. 5, the base of a pier with spur ornaments.

Plate III., Fig. 6, fragment of a Norman arch of four orders, each order being a separate arch, three of which are enriched with the Norman chevron. The dripstone or hood-moulding (d.s.) encloses the arch as in Plate III., Fig. 8, though its original function—to protect the moulding under it from weather—is not needed here, but it is generally introduced to give effective finish to the arch. The capitals in this group are scallop capitals. A small portion of a similar capital is shown at the right hand of Plate III., Fig. 3.

Plate III., Fig. 7, is a Norman font of the simple bowl form enriched with carved Norman heads connected by Byzantine ornament and surrounded with a Norman arcade of intersecting arches—a feature often introduced in the walls of churches and cathedrals.

Plate III., Fig. 8, is a double-recessed window with an arch of three orders. The columns in the positions shown are called jamb-shafts or nook-shafts; those on the right are detached and may be removed, leaving the bases and capitals remaining. On the left the shafts are engaged—i.e., form part of the masonry of the wall. These two varieties are never found together as here, but are thus shown for convenience. The capitals are a variety of the cushion capital.

Plate III., Fig. 9, is a cushion capital with the triquetra symbol of the Trinity (Plate I., Fig. 8).

Byzantine influence is evident in the ornament of the capitals (Plate III., Figs. 1, 3, and 9), in the chevron (Plate III., Fig. 6), and the decoration of the font (Plate III., Fig. 7).

Norman walls depended for their strength upon their thickness, with the slight addition at intervals, where lateral pressure occurred, of thin pilaster-like buttresses projecting only a few inches equally from bottom to top.