Crossing tower

Summary.  The double-walled central tower with its massive pillars has Early English architecture, but rebuilds have obscured its original construction. It was possibly built in the early 13th century with completion around 1320, but there are uncertainties. It is plausible the pillars contain the remnants of columns from the second cathedral.

 

Willis[1] dated the cathedral on architectural style and thought the crossing tower was concurrent with the Early English west end of the choir’s first three bays. It must have been important for the clergy to have an area for worship whilst the cathedral was being built. That is why the timing of the rebuild of the choir three bays has a bearing on the date of construction of the crossing tower. He dated the choir to the Early English period mostly by pier bases, but could not have known the nature of the bases of the large columns supporting the central tower because they had become obscured with subsequent rebuilding in the 1850s.

Plan of the crossing, Willis (1861), with varied shading changed by colour. The four crossing columns are a mixture of four phases of construction, 1200, 1220, 1240 and 1250, and are shown consisting of work from the four phases. The greater part of the eastern side of the columns is Early English, the piers on their north and south sides are shown as late Early English and the nave side is labelled early Decorated. The dates given can only be approximations.

 

It is possible the columns contain within them the remnants of columns from the second cathedral. It is also possible the north and south faces of the crossing had originally nave walls from the second cathedral. 

South-west crossing tower column.

 

Alternative points of view

Dufty^[2] thought the date of the central crossing was called into question by a roof crease on the nave he assigned to the 12th century. This crease appears on the outside of the west wall of the central crossing, in the northwest angle between tower and nave clearstory. He concluded there was a pre-13th century nave which could be from the second cathedral? Furthermore, there is a roll moulding on the wall at the height mentioned which can be seen from inside the north transept on the corner of the crossing tower and nave. It is absent from the corresponding wall in the south transept.

 

Roll moulding seen from the north transept

 

Clifton[3] described a housing roll on the west face of the crossing tower within the nave roof vault which covered the join of a nave roof to the tower to prevent water ingress. He thought this showed a nave roof for a Norman second cathedral, see the post, ‘Why the second cathedral must be Early Medieval.’  Clearly, there are complexities to the west wall of the crossing tower which cannot be explained.

 

                 Roof of the crossing tower

Rodwell[4] in 1987 and subsequent articles reasoned the Early English choir was built in the last quarter of the 11th-century[5] and later a great alteration to the choir and presbytery were the starting points for the current, third cathedral. He dated the reconstruction of the choir as being, c. 1170–1200, and undertaken in three stages.[6]  He then thought the crossing was built c. 1200–1220 followed by the chapel(s) on the south side of the choir. There was no interval in this order. With this sequence the crossing tower followed the choir alteration, but it is unclear why the eastern wing of the cathedral should be substantially altered before the crossing tower was built. There must have been some hiatus to this building programme with King John’s ‘Interdict’, March 1208–July 1213.

 Drawing by Britton 1836 of the central tower showing passageways on three levels giving a double wall and strength.

 

          Maddison,[7] 1993, began with his assertion the remodelling of the east end was designed by the same master as the building of the crossing tower because of a similarity of detail, though little detail was mentioned. Thus, he accepted the choir and crossing tower at Lichfield were contemporaneous. He also found a correspondence of the tower with the spire of Ashbourne church[8]  based on shapes of plinth, arcade and jamb mouldings. This church probably dates around two decades later. He assumed the spire was part of the main tower build and connected much of the work to Bishop Walter De Langton’s episcopate. He envisaged much building around 1315 including the north-west front tower, completion of the crossing tower, final remodelling of the choir and the beginning of the Lady Chapel. The three ‘high steeples’ were on by 1323 as noted in the diary of pilgrims Simon Simeon and Hugh the Illuminator,[9] which means the construction was both extensive and relatively rapid, 1315–1323. This now suggests the crossing-tower took longer to complete, or was done in interrupted phases.

          Rodwell in 1990[10] conducted a close examination of the stone in the tower, from above the roof ridges to below the parapets, and concluded the upper part of the tower and the spire belong to the same phase of construction. He was surprised how much of the original medieval belfry stage of the tower remained intact. The east face was best preserved, with about 90% survival, the north face was the next best, at about 70%, whereas the south and west faces were poorly preserved, with only 25-30% survival. There was much rebuild in the 17th-century after the Civil War. The amount of visible Civil War damage (grapeshot and cannon balls) seems to have been similar on the north, south and east faces, but surprisingly there was virtually none on the west.[11]

Drawing of the central tower by S. Shaw (1798) and by Britton (1820). The spire is 77 m (252 feet) high.

 

 In the 19th-century the south-west turret and pinnacle were completely rebuilt, large parts of the south and west sides were refaced and the parapets were renewed. There were at least two Victorian restorations of the tower.

Conclusions

            Dating the crossing tower is imprecise and equivocal. Start of construction was either late 12th-century or more likely early 13th-century and was contiguous, or slightly later, than the squaring of the choir and presbytery. Published dates for rebuilding the eastern arm vary between c. 1195 and 1210.[12] The four supporting pillars and vaulted roof must have been in place before the transepts were completed, 1240 for the north side. A small square room above the vaulted roof of the crossing was added at the time of the nave being constructed and the choir roof was being finished in order to attach all roofs to the crossing. Holes in the wall suggest there were corbels to hold a wooden roof above this room. Early in the 14th-century, (Langton 1315?) two more storeys were added to the tower and then an octagonal spire built. There are indications some changes had to be made soon afterwards. Perhaps, the central tower was a belfry before the south-west tower was completed internally.

          There are similarities between the central tower and the equivalent at Hereford Cathedral, including buttresses and parapets. Both upper parts could have been built around 1320.

---

[1] R. Willis, R. On foundations of early buildings recently discovered in Lichfield Cathedral. The Archaeological Journal, XVIII, (1861), 1--24.

[2] A. R. Dufty, ' Lichfield Cathedral.' The Archaeological Journal, 120 (Report of the Summer Meeting of the Royal Archaeological Institute at Keele in 1963), (1963),  293--295.

[3] A. B. Clifton, The Cathedral church of Lichfield. (London: 1900), 36.

[4] W. Rodwell, The Norman Quire of Lichfield Cathedral. Its plan and liturgical arrangement. Lichfield: 50th Annual Report of Friends of Lichfield Cathedral. (1987)

[5] Ibid, from the scanty historical records Rodwell placed the building date of the choir as soon after 1085.

[6] W. Rodwell, ' The development of the choir of Lichfield Cathedral: Romanesque and Early English'. In: J. Maddison, ed. XIII Medieval archaeology and architecture at Lichfield. Leeds: The British Archaeological Association, (1993), 22–29.

[7] J. Maddison, ‘Building at Lichfield Cathedral during the episcopate of Walter Langton, 1296–1321.’ In Medieval archaeology and architecture at Lichfield, XIII, The British Archaeological Association, (1993), 76.

[8] St Oswald’s church, Ashbourne, began to be constructed in the 1220s and the tower and spire were completed by c. 1330. That makes it around 20 years later than the dates given by Willis. The Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield dedicated the church in 1241 which suggests a link with the cathedral.

[9] M. Esposito, ‘The Pilgrimage of Symon Semeonis: A Contribution to the History of Medieval Travel’ The Geographical Journal (1917), 51, 77–96.

[10] W. Rodwell, ‘Central Tower Recording: A Progress Note,’ letter to the Dean and Chapter held in the Cathedral Library, (1990).

[11] Could this mean the Parliamentarian bombardment from the west concentrated on the west front?

[12] See Willis 1861, 10; Anon. Illustrations: Lichfield Cathedral, in (ed.) H. H. Statham, The Builder, February 7, (1891), 60, 108‑9 and W. Rodwell, (1993) 17, see note 4.  The author prefers a later date of c. 1208, to fit in better with the history of bishops and the machinations of King John.