Lincoln Cathedral - The Exterior Part II

 

Lincoln Cathedral viewed from the Bishop's Palace

Returning to Minster Yard, having had a short diversion to take a quick look at the Bishop’s Palace and various other stone built historic buildings nearby, I continued with my walk along the south elevation of Lincoln Cathedral.

 

The cathedral floorplan

At the east end, where the Angel Choir had been dedicated in 1280, I had seen examples of the Decorated Gothic style and also the Perpendicular Gothic style in the extensions to the Judgement Porch, which were built in 1432.

 

The south-east transept and the Angel Choir

The cathedral website states that its length is 147 metres, with the height of the nave being 24 metres, and this presents a vast area of masonry on the exterior. With little time to examine it in any detail, combined with the limited viewpoints obtained along the south side of Minster Yard, I stopped only to photograph the main architectural elements.

 

The south-east transept

The south-east transept sees a change to the Early English Gothic style, with this phase of construction being undertaken by Hugh of Avalon following the destruction of most of the Norman building by the earthquake in 1185. It is characterised by tall lancet windows, with the surrounding headstops, shafts and capitals being the only decoration.

 

The upper level of the south transept

 

The south transept was completed some years after the death of Hugh of Avalon, c.1235, in a later Early English style, with the Bishop’s Eye rose window set within it; however, the window was rebuilt c.1330 with a fine example of Decorated Gothic curvilinear tracery.

 

A detail of the Bishop's Eye

The present appearance of the crossing tower postdates the collapse of its lead encased wooden spire during a raging storm in 1548, which at a height of 160 metres had made the cathedral the tallest building in the world.

The crossing tower

The original tower had also collapsed in 1237, thought to be due to the use of experimental rather than tried and trusted methods, with it being rebuilt c.1240 by the master mason Alexander, the belfry raised by Richard of Stow in 1307and finally completed in 1311.

 

A view east towards the south transept

 

Continuing further down the south elevation and stopping to look back at the south transept, the differences between the relatively simple Early English Gothic and the more elaborate Decorated Gothic phases can be clearly seen. In particular, the high level displays tall pinnacles with large projecting figurative sculptures and crockets.

 

The west end of the south elevation

On the south elevation of the nave the later Early English buttresses are very massive and appear to be very disproportionate in size to the structural loads and thrusts that they actually bear. Looking at a higher level, above the south aisle, flying buttresses with massive pinnacles connect the nave to further examples of these sturdy structures.

 

Various buttresses on the south elevation