An 1820 account described the nave as both beautiful and interesting.[1] It has no statues on the external wall, the pillars are solid, large and fluted, the triforium is decorated and the clerestory windows innovative. The roof is a superb example of intricate carpentry and plasterwork. The nave epitomises Gothic Decorated architecture.
Original head sculpture at the end of the north nave aisle. Eleanor of Provence, young wife of King Henry III, (she was 12 and he 28 when they married) introduced a new type of wimple to England. This veil, usually of linen or lace, covered a pillbox cap which meant the face was now central. Is this Eleanor?
Nave on a perch gridding of 16.5 feet. |
Plan of nave |
Nave wall
showing general ratio of elements. The original lengths were likely to be a rod
or perch, but that is difficult to prove with changes to the floor level and
roof.
Side of nave
and roof vaulting showing 6 ribs in each bay. Choir has 7. The current vaulting
in wood closely followed the previous roof in stone. The main feature is the
prominent longitudinal ridge rib with conspicuous bosses. Unusually, there are
no transverse ribs meaning the vaulting is like a “spreading cluster of arcs”
Comparison of the nave vaulting with the choir vaulting |
Clerestory window.
South side
of the nave c. 1720 showing the aisle and nave roof before alterations.
The nave roof was reduced in height and the aisle roof was raised.
Cinquefoil
decoration – what is it?
Above
all the columns and below the triforium on the inside wall of the nave is a 5-fold wall
decoration. Five has meant speculation it represents the five wounds of Christ or the five saints who received stigmata,
but to repeat this along the nave is incongruous.
Cinquefoils on southwest tower and above southwest door |
Cinquefoil decoration nave. |
Rosa gallica, a five petalled rose with a strong scent. |
An early
drawing of Rosa gallica. Notice the petals are surrounded with an
outline like the wall decoration.
Here is another explanation. The nave was built in the time of King Henry III and he introduced architectural features borrowed from his other cathedrals. His wife was Eleanor from Provence where a particular kind of rose, Rosa gallica, was grown. The red rose was grown for the production of rose flavoured jam and for use as a medicine; said to cure many ailments. It became known as the ‘Apothecary’s Rose’. Eleanor is thought to have brought it to England and her second son adopted it as his badge. The rose was then widely used by following kings and eventually became the ‘Rose of England’. Edward I turned it into the golden rose. Is the decoration an outline of the badge of Eleanor and Henry?
Quatrefoil and trefoil in the Chapter House at Southwell Cathedral. |
Similarities
Architects have found similarities with the nave structure and those at other cathedrals, but it does not immediately follow the masons were copying. For example, Lincoln also has small capitals with foliate decoration, trefoil decoration in the spandrels (Angel Choir), double arched openings in the triforium, similar sculptures in the nave arcades (only in the east end of the south aisle at Lichfield) and the same vaulting arrangement in the roof. Westminster has small, spherical-triangular windows and the same vaulting in the aisles. Wells has the same column shafts.
Base of nave
columns in Wells cathedral
Southwell has similar blind arcading and decoration in their chapter house. It is unclear whether masons had detailed drawings to transfer, but it is more likely they knew of these innovative arrangements and wanted to improve on them. These buildings have a similar date of construction and there could have been discussion in the guilds. The kings, especially Henry III, would have wanted to disseminate the best ideas. Despite these correspondences it would be likely those constructing Lichfield would want to emulate elsewhere; assuming they had the finance to achieve innovation.
[1] J. Britton, The history and antiquities of the See and cathedral church of Lichfield. (London: 1820), 40.
[2]
M. W. Greenslade and R. B. Pugh (eds.) 'House of secular canons - Lichfield
cathedral: To the Reformation', in A History of the County of Stafford:
Volume 3, (London, 1970), 140–166.
[3]
R. Willis, ‘On foundations of early buildings recently discovered in Lichfield
Cathedral’. The Archaeological Journal, (1861), 18, 1–24.
[4]
P. Brieger, The Oxford History of English Art (1216–1307), (Oxford:
1957), 185.
[5]
Ibid, 186.