Previously Undetected Wooden Ribbed Vaults in Medieval Britain

Hearn, M. F.; Thurlby, Malcolm

doi:10.1179/006812897790430448

Journal of the British Archaeological Association

1997

DOI: 10.1179/006812897790430448

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Previously Undetected Wooden Ribbed Vaults in Medieval Britain

M. F. Hearn¹,

Malcolm Thurlby²

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Cited by 2 publications

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“… 48. The most famous documentary reference to timber vaults occurs in a letter written by Henry iii in 1243 instructing the archbishop of York as regent to ensure that the wooden roof over the chapel of St Edward at Windsor be made in the same manner as the new work that Henry had seen at Lichfield Cathedral, so as to appear like a masonry vault: Cal Close 1916, 39. For a general discussion of medieval timber vaulting, see Hearn and Thurlby 1997. …”

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The Presbytery Vault at St Albans

Harrison¹,

McNeill²,

Plummer³

et al. 2012

Antiq. J.

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The presbytery vault at St Albans is one of only two thirteenth-century wooden vaults over a main span to survive in England. A programme of cleaning and conservation carried out between 1997 and 2002, coupled with an analysis of the source and date of the timber used in its construction, significantly advanced our understanding of both the late thirteenth-century presbytery campaign at St Albans and thirteenth-century timber vault construction generally. As the inevitable density and restricted circulation of the final report on that work has hindered its wider reception, the following paper offers a summary, drawing attention to two features that may have wider implications for an appreciation of vaulting in timber. The first is that, although the general form adopted at St Albans is one associated with masonry vaulting, the wooden boards used for the vault webbing required a junction between the wall and the ridge rib, meaning that shallow liernes were originally deployed to run parallel to the central ridge. It is difficult to see this as imitative of vaulting in stone; rather it is likely to be the result of carpenters developing their own solutions to the constraints imposed by timber. Secondly, the late medieval remodelling of the vault replaced these liernes with false tiercerons, and rather nicely illustrates the ease with which timber vaulting could be modified. The dendrochronology gives a date range of 1273–93, and a date of around 1285 is suggested for the primary build. The major late medieval alterations are here associated with the second abbacy of John of Wheathampstead (1452–65).

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confidence: 99%

The Presbytery Vault at St Albans

Harrison¹,

McNeill²,

Plummer³

et al. 2012

Antiq. J.

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“…4 The present author earlier opted for the reconstruction of a wooden high vault over the nave. 5 Only Jean Bony has been bold enough to state that 'a sexpartite vault was planned and probably built'. 6 Re-examination of what I believe to be key evidence suggests that Bony was right and that a stone high vault was indeed erected.…”

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Did the Late Twelfth-Century Nave of St Davids Cathedral Have Stone Vaults?

Thurlby

2003

Antiq. J.

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It has been suggested that the nave of St Davids Cathedral was planned for aisle and high vaults but that the vaults were not built. Evidence is here presented that the vaults were indeed constructed. The high vault would have been of tufa, according to a well-established tradition in the West Country. The narrow springers of the aisle vaults are allied to near-contemporary vaults at Dore Abbey and Llanthony Priory.

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Previously Undetected Wooden Ribbed Vaults in Medieval Britain

Cited by 2 publications

References 0 publications

The Presbytery Vault at St Albans

The Presbytery Vault at St Albans

Did the Late Twelfth-Century Nave of St Davids Cathedral Have Stone Vaults?

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