Norman architecture

It's common for architectural historians to have favourite periods. For some it is the elegance and good sense of the Georgian era. Others prefer the Englishness of Arts and Crafts. And there are even those who have a liking for the watered-down English version of the Modern style of the first half of the twentieth century.

When it comes to medieval Romanesque and Gothic people often have a preference - maybe Early English rather than Decorated, or Perpendicular over Norman. I have no strong feelings for one style over another but I do confess to liking Saxon/Norman more than most people. On a recent tour I admired the grand and somewhat gloomy Norman style at Winchester Cathedral (top photo) and the more modest, but no less interesting arches, columns, capitals and decorative features of St John Baptist at Devizes (bottom photo).

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon D5300

Conservation workers, Salisbury Cathedral

I've always had something of an admiration for those who work at heights. Not only do such people need to master the technicalities of their job, they also have to overcome the difficulties of doing it high above the ground. Consequently, when I see workers engaged in in this way and in this kind of location, I invariably take a shot or two of them. I've photographed wind turbine engineers, big wheel erectors, church spire repairers and conservation workers. I came across the latter again quite recently. They were on the west front of Salisbury Cathedral and seemed to be checking the statues and carved stonework, removing any loose debris.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon D5300

Vaulting, Salisbury Cathedral

One of the finest views in any cathedral is that seen when you stand underneath the crossing tower and look upwards. What grabs the eye are the patterns of rib vaulting that are used to transfer the weight of the roof to the columns and piers of the arcades in the nave, chancel and transepts. The patterns chosen vary with the period in which they were built - fashions changed as architectural skills developed. At Salisbury Cathedral quadripartite rib vaults were used throughout, giving uniformity to the interior. Under the tower, in the 1400s, lierne vaulting replaced the earlier work and here the greater complexity makes the tower a focus for the eye.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon D5300

Salisbury Cathedral

Cathedrals are big. Moreover, the space around them is often limited. Consequently fitting the building into the viewfinder can frequently be a challenge. If you haven't got a very wide lens then you either have to accept massively converging verticals or you have to move back as far as you can. On the evening of our visit to Salisbury Cathedral in Wiltshire, a building with a much larger "close" than is usual, this was the position where I could just about get the verticals to be vertical, with the trees making a dark, detailed "frame". This building was erected relatively quickly compared with many cathedrals. The main body of the church was built between 1220 and 1258. The chapter house was added around 1263 and the tower and spire were completed by 1320. Incidentally, it's the height of that spire, Britain's tallest at 404 feet (123m) that accentuates the photographer's problem described above.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon D5300

Salisbury Cathedral through a sexfoil

If you were a bit concerned reading the title of this post let me set your mind at rest. A sexfoil is a 6-petalled (or 6-leafed) shape. Gothic architecture features a lot of different numbered foils - trefoil, quatrefoil, cinquefoil, septfoil etc. In this instance the sexfoil is one of many that alternate with cinquefoils in the cloisters of Salisbury Cathedral. The reason I photographed the top of the cathedral tower and the bottom of the spire through it is for compositional reasons but also because it's difficult to get sufficiently distant to fit the whole building in the frame.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon D5300