Although the building of meeting rooms and chapels for Nonconformist Christian churches greatly increased from the late-18th to mid-19th centuries, existing buildings of the Established Church had often suffered from neglect in maintenance. Other trends stimulating the ‘Gothic Revival’ were; the Oxford Movement, spearheaded by notable academics who believed that much of the impact of […]

Georgian (18th and early 19th century) churches were radically different from their gothic predecessors if newly built, and often the interior of gothic churches were much altered to conform with the classical fashions beloved of the Renaissance. Typical elements of this style were; plain (often whitewashed) interiors, all features in an open-plan environment, interiors bathed

The picture today shows Gloucester cathedral from the south-west, an image copied from the Gloucester Cathedral website (much of this site is a built-up area today). Gloucester cathedral is an example of a medieval monastic church of the Benedictine order that survived the Reformation of the 1530s because Henry VIII ordered it to become one

The last of Thomas Rickman’s (s.p.b.s) medieval church building styles was Perpendicular, the term referring to the vertical thrust of most window tracery. The Perpendicular style of architecture was to become solely British and was also characterised by very large windows shedding daylight in the interior, by complex vault systems supporting the ceilings, by the

From the 13th to the 16th centuries the history of each English cathedral varies according to if, and when, sections of the building were re-built, repaired or extended. However, there were examples of additions to the groundplan, the most significant of which in terms of the extent of the built complex was the addition of

Today’s illustration, taken from Thomas Rickman’s book (s.p.b.), shows the type of features in church architecture that defined what Rickman named as the ‘Early English’ style. The reason for this name seems obscure but it defines the move from reliance on the round-headed arch (see previous illustration) to the use of the pointed-arch for doors,