PERPENDICULAR, 1377-1547

RECTILINEAR, 1360-1550

THE term “perpendicular” was applied to the work of this period, the last of English Gothic, on account of the predominance of vertical lines in the whole architectural design, and especially in window tracery.

A comparison of Plate VII., Fig. 5, net tracery, with Plate IX., Fig. 5, rectilinear, will explain how the latter was developed from the former by extending the sides of the meshes of the net by straight lines into the summit of the window. But as the term perpendicular is only a relative one, not necessarily meaning vertical, the term rectilinear was substituted, being descriptive of the general character of the whole design in mass and detail. In this work, however, the term “perpendicular” is preferred as the one most generally known. Windows became so large, chiefly for the display of stained glass, as to reduce the wall spaces between them to little more than piers, and transoms (horizontal mullions) had to be introduced to strengthen the vertical mullions. [See Plate IX., Figs, 1 and 2 (a.b.), belfry windows in these examples.]

Loftiness is a special trait of the Perpendicular period. Walls were carried to a greater height than previously. The external roof was frequently covered with lead, and inclined at an angle easy to walk upon. The roof-timbers were supported by ornamental principals exposed to view from the interior, or there was a stone-vaulted internal roof of rich design, the increased thrusts upon the walls being counteracted by larger buttresses.

Tall towers were built, such as those of York Minster, Gloucester, Worcester, and the churches of Boston (Lincolnshire), Wrexham, Taunton, and many others of magnificence. Plate IX., Figs. 1 and 3, give varieties of smaller parish church towers. In these the Tudor arch and square-headed window are shown. Spires are not so common as in the preceding periods. Buttresses were placed diagonally at all corners, scientifically the best position (Plate IX., Figs, 1 and 2).

In large churches external wall surfaces were enriched with panelling, covering in some cases the whole from ground to summit, and combined with open tracery in the battlements. In the interior the same kind of decoration prevailed, and in some cases the window tracery was carried below the glass down to the floor as panelling.

Plate IX., Figs. 4A and 4B, gives the comparative shape of battlements.

Arch-mouldings (Plate VIII., Fig. 12) generally included the large hollow also common in the window jambs. The plane of the arch-mouldings was inclined to the vertical 45° (Plate VIII., Fig. 12). The usual dripstone (d.s.) and some of their corbels are shown in Plate VIII., Figs. 1 and 3. Piers (Plate VIII., Fig. 11) were of the simple form shown with columns at the angles, single, or in groups, as Plate VIII., Fig. 13, the general contour of the pier being a rhombus or lozenge in plan.

The ogee arch with crockets and finial was continued from the Decorated period.

The Tudor or four-centred arch (Plate IX., Figs. 1 and 6) belongs to the late Perpendicular period.

Plate VIII., Fig. 4, shows a common form of Tudor door-head with the label or square dripstone and carved spandril (a triangular space). Columns were circular, with octagonal bases and capitals, the latter moulded or carved with oak-leaf foliage or conventional ornament, resembling that in Plate VIII., Fig. 9. Corbels with shields (Plate VIII., Fig. 9), armorial bearings, and the Tudor rose (Plate VIII., Fig. 2), frequently occur.

Many Perpendicular churches are rich in ornamental woodwork: choir stalls with lifting seats (misereres), under which are grotesque carvings; poppy-heads (Fr. poupÉe, a doll), the bench-end ornaments which sometimes carried a small carved figure among foliage; panelled screens crowned with brattishing (Plate VIII., Fig. 5), and other ornaments. The term brattishing is also applied to the open tracery of some battlements of the Perpendicular period.

The Perpendicular is the longest of the English Gothic periods. In it Gothic construction attained its climax; ornamentation declined from a refined realism to coarse conventionalism, coinciding with the decline of spiritual life in the Church. Cathedrals and churches increased in all dimensions, and everything showed the tendency towards the renaissance of classic art which was flourishing on the Continent. Classic mouldings were imitated, and carved ornament of pure Italian design was applied to decorate Gothic forms—notable instances being the tomb of Henry VII. in Westminster Abbey, and the Salisbury Chantry in Christchurch Priory near Bournemouth. Both were the work of Torregiano, a contemporary of Michael Angelo.

The English people clung to their Gothic style for a century after the same had almost disappeared from the Continent, and in the Elizabethan period, 1558-1603, classic details, including the five orders, were completely incorporated into Gothic design. The pointed arch disappeared; the Roman semicircle took its place. Brickwork superseded masonry, roof construction was concealed, and all kinds of shams were introduced. Then came a period of close imitation of Greek and Roman temples, until the Gothic revival under its pioneer, A. W. Pugin (b. 1812, d. 1852), whose literary works are very instructive and interesting reading. The present-day (1922) tendency is towards a revival of Byzantine architecture.