608

TIIEOUY or ARCHITECTURE.
huOK
IL
coiiiiocted by vaults of a light material. Tlie dcconitive construction, however, of the vault,
cxiiibiistlie rib and panel from the abacus L, upwards. Tlie point N is commonly at abont
:
half tiie vertical hei<^ht of the arch, iind is not
J
necessarily guided by the impost of any clear-
siory lib adjoining. M is the general position
where the mouldings of the several ribs run clear
of one anotlier at the divergence of tlie ribs.
The solid i)art LM is built of horizontal courses
of masonry, generally each of a single stone
and its level Ijeds cut the curved mouldings
obliquely in front."
2002^. Moller, Memorials, &c., translation
1S36,
p. 154, notices that, at Cologne, the
lower part of the vaulting of the cathedral is
formed by horizontal courses of stone pro-
jecting from the wall, consequently the ac-
lual span of the vaulting is ])roportioniillj
diminished, while, on the other hand, the abut-
ment is in the same degree strengthened. Still
more deserving of attention is the manner in
which the essential parts are so linked to-
gether as to be rendered incapable of thrusting or giving way, and therefo e of necessity
remaining in their original position. Price, in his work on Salisbury Cat/itd'al, 1753,
\). 25,
quaintly remarks : "And iiere 1 beg lea\e to make a conjecture, that is, that all the
S))ringing stones of tlie vaultings were inserted into the walls at the time of their being
erected, and so left till the whole church was roofi-'d <uid covered in
;
and tiien being
defended fro n rains, &c., they fixed their principal ribs and groins, and turned over the
vaultings, as having the weight of the superstructure to act instead of a buttment."
2002/.
"
Above M," continues Professor Willis,
'
the rilis are each built separately of
voussoirs, having their beds properly inclined to meet the axis of curvature of the rib. and
these ribs are backed and united by solid masonry which connects them with the w..ll, and
wiiich, appearing between the rib, seems to he a jioition of the light vaulting surface,
really employed higher up. From the upper surface N, each rib A is still built as from M
to N with voussuirs, hut upon these ribs rests the ligiit thin vault or panel-work."
SOO'-'i.
"
It is remarkable that the courses of the vaults are not laid level, but are in
most cases made to incline downwards u])on the diagonal rib. The reason for it is not
easy to explain, but it is very common, especially in the earlier exam)>les. These courses,
in the transepts at Westminster Abbey, aie of a liglit coloured stone, probably challi, in-
terrupted at regular intervals by a course of a darker stone; and the ridge, which has no
rib, is also formed entirely of this darker stone, laid in a serrated manner. These dark
courses are ratlier broader than the light o.ics, and there are four or five courses of the
light between each of the dark. Tlie suiface of the panel between ench rib is also made
slightly concave or domical (probably to preserve tiie eHL^et of being level, as seen from
below it), and may theielore have been laid witliout any centreing, since each course would
support itself, 'i'hese peculiarities may all be found with some variations in other vaults
of the same age.''
2C02/;.
"
'I'he architect of Leon cathedral," remarks Mr. Street in his work on Gothic
Architecture ill Spain,
p.
110,
"
filled in the whole of the vatdts with a very ligiit tufa, ob-
tained fiom the mountains to the north of Leon ; so at least I was assured by the super-
intendent of the works at the cathedral. Some of the material I saw was no doubt tufa
;
but some of it seemed to me to be an exceedingly liglit kind of concrete. The vaulting of
Salisbury Cathedral is similarly constructed. I do not know whether at Beauvais the same
expedient was adopted to lessen the weight." Both at Heauvais and Leon the construction
in every part was too light.
209-'/. Over the vaulis was commonly laid a tliick irregular course of rubblework,
which again is also often covered with a kind of concrete. The vaults of the western
compartments of Westminster, and of the south transept and tower of Hereford, are left
bare on the upper surfiice. and tiiese vaults, instead of being built with small briek-like
stones, are comjiosed of long thin' slabs. The ribs themselves are, in some later examples,
formed of a tew long bar- shaped voussoirs instead of tlie small and numerous jiieces of the
earlier examples. Thus, in the transept at Westminster, L to N consists of 1 3 or 14 stones
;
but at the vvest end of the nave of 6 only.
2002m. Price notices
(p. 24)
that at Salisbury,
"
The groins and principal ribs are of
ChilinarK stone, but the shell, or vaulting between them, is of hewn stone and chalk mixe-d,
in t'p of which is laid a coat of mortar and rubble of a consistence, ])robably ground in a
kind of mill, and poured on hot, while the lime was bubbling; because by this, the whole
is so cemented together, as to become all of one entire substance. This composition is