Although
renowned for it stone vaulting, Durham Cathedral is one
of the most richly articulated buildings in the Romanesque
style, furnished with an abundance of engaged shafts,
roll mouldings, and surface ornament. The 'sculptural'
qualities of the building provide a key to an understanding
its structural innovations.
Engaged Shafts
These are employed around the compound piers, where each
shaft is carefully related to the superstructure above—to
individual arch mouldings, ribs etc. This is a more developed
version of the system already used in Normandy (Caen,
Lessay) and England (Winchester transepts). Engaged
shafts are also employed at gallery level to accentuate
and enrich the gallery openings.
Soffit Rolls
The enormous width of the walls of Durham meant that the
underside of the arches would have looked extremely bleak
if they had not been decorated in some manner. Thus the
main arches were furnished with rolls and hollows, creating
deep linear patterns, which can be contrasted with the
plain soffits used some years earlier in the Winchester
transepts. The 'soffit
roll' was destined to play an important part in English
medieval architecture and its origin is therefore a matter
of interest. Rolls were carved on the underside of the
arches in the crypt of the cathedral at Auxerre c. 1030,
and in the nave of Bernay in Normandy (c. 1030–40),
though some historians have claimed that the immediate
background for Durham was Anglo-Saxon, rather than French,
even suggesting that the use of soffit rolls was a deliberate
genuflection to the Anglo-Saxon past. Such arguments,
however, overlook the fact that the immense masses of
the masonry used at Durham meant that some form of decoration
on the underside of the arches was unavoidable.
Incised 'Ornament' on the the Piers
This takes the form of spirals, chevrons, lozenges and
flutes. At one level they can be regarded as purely decorative,
a way of concealing the immense bulk of the cylindrical
piers, but it has been argued (Fernie 1977) that the choice
of patterns was quite deliberate. The cylindrical piers
in the choir are each furnished with spiral patterns,
providing a link with the spiral columns used in front
of the altar at St PeterŐs in Rome. There is considerable
evidence to suggest that medieval builders used spirals
to highlight areas of special sanctity. At Norwich a pair
of spirally decorated columns mark the site of the nave
altar. On these grounds it has been argued that the choice
of spirals for the choir of Durham, where the relics of
St Cuthbert were to be housed, was intended either as
a deliberate reference to St Peter's, or as a way of stressing
the sanctity of this part of the building. It should be
noted, however, that not all scholars accept this 'iconographical'
interpretation of the cylindrical piers.
Chevron Ornament
Durham is regarded as one of the first English buildings
to exploit chevron ornament, where it was introduced in
the nave, perhaps about 1110. However, there is some evidence
to show that chevron was already being used at the end
of the eleventh century, so that Durham is unlikely to
be a pioneer in this regard. It should also be remembered
that sculptured chevron was almost certainly preceded
by painted chevron. Once introduced at Durham, however,
chevron was employed with relish in the remaining parts
of the building, no doubt adding considerably to the costs.
Wall Arcading
The dado along the interior walls of the aisles are lined
with intersecting arches, a form that has parallels both
in the canon tables of illuminated English gospel books
and in Islamic architecture. Externally the arcading takes
the form of individual arches, each formed by two moulded
orders. Although wall arcades became a common feature
of Romanesque building in both England and France, their
use at Durham underlines the way in which the builders
sought to enliven the fabric with a variety of architectural
embellishment. |
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England,
Durham Cathedral, Nave looking toward the east,
Showing
engaged shafts around compound piers
France,
Lessay, Abbey Church of Saint Trinité, View of
the nave showing engaged shafts around compound piers
England,
Durham Cathedral, Nave arcade showing soffit rolls on
the underside of the arches
Italy,
Rome, St. Peter's, View of nave towards Baldacchino
England,
Durham Cathedral, Chevron ornament in the nave
England, Durham Cathedral, Detail of wall arcading
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