The Exterior of the Building | Durham Cathedral | Briefing | Professor Stalley

Early Architecture in Irreland & Romanesque Architecture in England

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The Exterior of the Building| Durham Cathedral and Anglo-Norman Romanesque
Professor Roger Stalley

The west façade of the cathedral is now dominated by a large Gothic window, inserted into a semi-circular Romanesque recess. At the north-west and south-west corners of the towers are salients marking the existence of staircases. The external surface of the towers is divided into horizontal stages, those above roof level embellished with blind arcading. The latter have arches with pointed profiles.

England, Durham Cathedral, Aerial view		England, Durham Cathedral, View from southwest,		England, Durham Cathedral, North transept and crossing tower
England, Durham Cathedral, Exterior view of the north flank of the nave		England, Durham Cathedral, East end		England, Durham Cathedral, West towers from east

Although the exterior of the cathedral has been extensively restored, the broad outlines of the Romanesque design can be easily observed on the north side of the nave: blind arches, two per bay, are fitted between the wall buttresses; these correspond to the intersecting arches used to decorate the interior dado at this point. The aisle windows are flanked by nook shafts, and a smaller window above lights the gallery.

Alterations and additions: the choir was extended to the east in the thirteenth century with the construction of the Chapel of the Nine Altars (1242–80). This involved the removal of the Romanesque apse; the choir vaults were also reconstructed at this time. The north porch was rebuilt in the Gothic period and the Romanesque crossing tower was replaced by a much taller tower in the years after 1465. Most of the Romanesque windows were fitted with Gothic tracery in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.

Restorations: in the 1780s the north porch was rebuilt to a Romanesque design and much of the external fabric of the building was recut or refaced; other works included the addition of new parapets and pinnacles to the western towers. In the middle years of the nineteenth century Romanesque features were re-introduced under the direction of Salvin, a task which involved the removal of the inserted Gothic tracery.

The reconstruction of lost features: although the Romanesque fabric has survived remarkably well, some key elements of the building are missing. In recent years these have been the subject of specialised discussion:

•	the original ribbed vaults over the choir: these appear to have consisted of quadripartite vaults, separated by one thin rib over the minor piers and a more substantial transverse arch over the major piers.

•	the pair of towers that flanked the main apse; these were located above the small apses that terminated the aisles, but their form remains unknown.

•	the design of the main apse and its entry bay, destroyed in 1242.

•	the original crossing tower, replaced in the late fifteenth century.

•	the form of the roofs over the gallery: the form of the choir roofs remains very unclear, but there is evidence from old prints and drawings, as well as archaeological evidence in the fabric, of a series of gables along the roof of the nave gallery.

•	the original appearance of the western façade (in this case the existence of two mural passages suggests that two rows of windows were placed where the huge Gothic window now stands).