Experimental Architecture? Vaulting and West Country Cloisters in the Late Middle Ages

Abstract

Complex and spatially adventurous vaults have come to be seen as a critical element in the development of Decorated architecture. By the second quarter of the 14th century it is the West Country that had become the most significant region within England for experiments in vaulting designs. This paper examines the history of late medieval vaulting from the perspective of a series of West Country cloisters, many of them demolished or little studied, in order to assess the role of the cloister in the evolution and development of lierne vaulting in late medieval England. It is shown that the meditative, liturgical and processional uses of cloisters made them an obvious showcase for the most extravagant architectural effects. A number of particular vault designs were employed, two of which — the fan and the lierne — became the preferred options for prestige projects in the early 15th century. Fan and lierne vaults were not in competition for recognition or status and both were fundamental to the creation of the Perpendicular cloister.