Early English

a title often given to the first pointed or Gothic style of architecture in England. It is also called the Lancet Style, and also (in the nomenclature of the Ecclesiological Society) the First Pointed Style. " It succeeded the Norman towards the end of the 12th century, and gradually merged into the Decorated at the end of the 13th. It first partook of the heaviness of the Norman, but soon manifested its own beautiful and peculiar characteristics. The arches are usually equilateral and lancet-shaped; the doorways are often divided into two by a single shaft or small pier; the windows are long and narrow, and, when gathered into a group, are frequently surmounted by a large arch, which springs from the extreme molding of the window on each side. The space between this arch and the tops of the windows is often pierced with circles, or with trefoils or quatrefoils, which constituted the earliest form of tracery. Each window, however, is generally destitute of any tracery in itself" (Chambers, s.v.) The moldings, says Parker, in general consist of alternate rounds and deeply-cut hollows, with a small admixture of fillets, producing a strong effect of light and shadow. "Circular windows were more used in England during the prevalence of this style than in either the decorated or perpendicular, and fine specimens remain at York and Lincoln cathedrals, and at Beverley Minster. Groined ceilings are very common in this style; in general they have only cross springers and diagonal ribs, with sometimes longitudinal and diagonal ribs at the apex of the vaults, and good bosses of foliage at the intersections. The pillars usually consist of small shafts arranged round a larger circular pier, but others of different kinds are to be found, and a plain octagonal or circular pillar is common in country churches. The capitals consist of plain moldings, or are enriched with foliage and sculpture characteristic of the style. The most prevalent base has a very close resemblance to the Attic base of the ancients, though the proportions are different, and the lower torus is worked with a considerably larger projection. The buttresses are often very bold and prominent, and are frequently carried up to the top of the building with but little diminution, and terminate in acutely-pointed pediments, which, when raised above the parapet, produce in some degree the effect of pinnacles. Flying buttresses were first introduced in this style. Pinnacles are but sparingly used, and only towards the end of the style. The roofs appear always to have been high-pitched. The ornaments used in this style are by no means so various as in either of the others; occasionally small roses or other flowers, and bunches of foliage, are carved at intervals in the hollow moldings, but by far the most common and characteristic is the toothed ornament, which is often introduced in great profusion, and the hollows entirely filled with it. The foliage is very remarkable for boldness of effect, and it is often so much undercut as to be connected with the moldings only by the stalks and edges of the leaves; there is frequently considerable stiffness in the mode in which it is combined, but the effect is almost always good: the prevailing leaf is a trefoil. Towards the latter part of the style crockets were first introduced. The style may be said to begin in the later half of Richard the First's reign, about which time St. Hugh began his cathedral. During the reign of king John the Early English style had obtained the complete mastery; but the reign of Henry III was the great period of the Early English style, which had now obtained perfection. That king himself and his brother Richard were great builders. The most perfect example of the style is perhaps Salisbury Cathedral. Towards the end of the reign we have examples, such as the presbytery of Lincoln and the chapter-house of Salisbury, of what may be almost called the Decorated style, though the moldings and many of the details are pure Early English. This kind of work may best be called Transitional." SEE ARCHITECTURE.