The Design in the Context of Anglo-Norman Romanesque: Interior Elevation | Durham Cathedral | Briefing | Professor Stalley

Early Architecture in Irreland & Romanesque Architecture in England

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The Design in the Context of Anglo-Norman Romanesque: Interior Elevation | Durham Cathedral and Anglo-Norman Romanesque
Professor Roger Stalley
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Cylindrical and Compound Piers
Following the Norman conquest of England two types of pier were introduced to English architecture, the compound forms used extensively in Normandy and large piers of cylindrical form. The latter were employed to spectacular effect in the west country, notably at Gloucester, Pershore and Tewkesbury.

England, Durham Cathedral, Nave showing compound piers with engaged vertical shafts

Cathedral Gloucester, Cylindrical pier in nave

Cathedral Gloucester, View of Cylindrical piers from the south aisle of the nave

The advantage of the compound pier was that it allowed for vertical articulation: in other words an engaged shaft starting at ground level as part of the pier could continue up the wall above, thus dividing the elevation into neat vertical sections, a technique much favoured by architects in Normandy (for example, Lessay, St. Etienne at Caen). A cylindrical pier did not allow for this continuity, nor did it provide springing points for ribs in the aisles or for the individual orders of the main arcade.

France, Lessay, Abbey Church of Saint Trinité, Nave showing compound pier with engaged vertical shafts

France, Caen, St. Etienne, Nave showing compound pier with engaged vertical shafts

In England various compromise solutions were devised. These included 'hybrid' piers, in which elements of the curved face of the cylinder were combined with the engaged shafts normally found in compound piers. This solution was favoured in eastern England, notably at Ely, Norwich, and Peterborough. Durham offered an alternative solution whereby cylindrical piers were made to alternate with those of compound form.

Ely, Cathedral, Nave, North elevation of nave, Showing 'hybrid' form of compound piers

Norwich Cathedral, Nave, looking east, Showing 'hybrid' form of compound piers

Peterborough Cathedral, South aisle of nave, Showing 'hybrid' form of compound piers

The Alternating System
The main elevations of Durham were designed with an emphatic alternating system. In the nave, huge compound piers, with twelve engaged shafts, rise to the springing point of the vault, where they support broad transverse arches. In contrast no engaged shafts are associated with the 'minor' cylindrical pier, nor is there a transverse arch at this point. This type of articulation provides a heavy point of emphasis every second bay (hence it is often described as a 'double bay' system).

England, Durham Cathedral, View of nave showing 'double bay' system

France, Jumièges, Abbey Church of Saint-Pierre, View toward the north wall of the nave from the crossing showing the alternating system of compound and cylindrical piers

France, Caen, St. Etienne, Nave looking east

Germany, Gernrode, St. Cyriakus, View of the nave looking east showing simple alternation of cylindrical and square piers

Sens Cathedral, View of nave showing alternating pier design

England, Durham Cathedral, View of the gallery above the nave arcade

Alternating systems were not unique to Durham. A similar arrangement had been used in the Norman abbey of Jumièges (c. 1040–67), though this was in a thin wall building that lacks the monumentality of Durham. The major piers at Jumièges appear to have supported a transverse arch, as at Durham, though there was no stone vault.

Archaeological excavations have shown that Westminster Abbey (c. 1042–65), the one building of monumental proportions erected before the Norman Conquest, also had major and minor piers. Alternation was not necessarily limited to variations between cylindrical and compound piers; at St. Etienne in Caen, for example, there is a subtle alternation between two types of compound pier.

There has been extensive debate over the issue of whether alternation was introduced for aesthetic reasons or whether it was associated with structural matters, in particular with the introduction of stone vaulting. A simple variation of columns and square piers had been employed as early as the tenth century in some unvaulted Ottonian buildings in Germany (Gernrode, founded c. 961), an approach which can been be paralleled in late antique basilicas in Salonika. In these cases the gain was largely one of visual effect, though it is possible that the square pier might have been seen as a way of strengthening a line of relatively thin columns.

Emphatic alternation of the type seen at Durham, was not common in England, though more subtle variations in pier design were to form a major element in early Gothic buildings. In Germany alternation was associated with large groin vaults placed over double bays; in France it was linked with the introduction of sexpartite vaulting, as at Sens Cathedral (begun c. 1140), a building which has often been compared with Durham.

The Gallery
At Durham the gallery consists of a broad space above the aisles, lit by small windows in the outer walls. The gallery became a standard element in church design during the course of the eleventh century and most major churches in England and Normandy were furnished with them. At St. Etienne in Caen each bay opened into the main body of the building through a wide arch, but it was more normal for the arch to be subdivided, as at Toulouse or Winchester, and indeed Durham.

The function of galleries in medieval churches is far from clear. There is some evidence to show that they occasionally housed altars, though this hardly justified their construction around the whole body of the church. There is also a possibility that galleries were used by choirs for antiphonal singing on feast days. In the context of so-called 'pilgrimage' churches, such as Toulouse and Santiago de Compostela, it has been suggested that galleries provided additional accommodation at festivals and other crowded occasions. But it is hard to avoid the impression that they were valued more as a mark of status than for any utilitarian function. Galleries had been included in some of the early Christian basilicas (as in the fourth century building at Jerusalem), though they remained rare in western Europe until the tenth century, when they were introduced into Ottonian buildings in Germany (Gernrode).

The galleries at Durham are relatively low when compared with others found in English Romanesque, forming a contrast with the much taller and more open galleries found in East Anglia (Ely, Norwich and Peterborough).

The Clerestory Passage
The existence of a passageway running through the thickness of the wall is one of the more distinctive features of both Norman and English Romanesque. The technique was examined at length by Jean Bony in a famous article (1939), though the terminology he used is ambiguous. For the type of structure found at Durham 'hollow wall' seems preferable to his term 'thick wall'. Bony contrasted the type of structure found, for example, at Jumièges, with that encountered at St. Etienne Caen or indeed Durham. At Jumièges relatively thin clerestory walls are reinforced by external wall buttresses and (on the major piers) internal engaged shafts, whereas at Durham the immensely thick walls of the clerestory contain a longitudinal passage.

The origins and rationale of the system are still the subject of argument. Early keeps, such as that in the castle at Loches (c. 1012–35), contained mural passages, partly for defensive purposes and partly for convenience. In Norman churches they were first employed in the transepts (as at Jumièges) to provide access to to the crossing tower. In subsequent buildings they were extended throughout the length of the church.

No doubt the passages provided a useful means of access to the upper parts of the building for maintenance purposes, but it is difficult to believe that this was their main function. The effect of an arched screen in front of the windows was attractive feature, particularly when embellished with chevron ornament, as in the nave of Durham.

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