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World of Art
The Cathedrals of England
More than two hundred photographs and text trace the development of cathedral design from its Norman beginnings through the flowering of Gothic to the new Roman Catholic cathedral in Liverpool
288 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1967
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
July 31, 2024
Alec Clifton-Taylor writes like a wholesome ole grandpa guiding you around these buildings, great read with great pictures to accompany the text
April 11, 2015
I started to re-read this about three weeks back as I wanted to refresh my knowledge of the Cathedrals of England by someone who on balance is my preferred authority on English buildings and historic architecture. He writes extremely well about the history and structure of the buildings, placing them in the context of the times in which they were built. He is not afraid of being judgmental about bad renovations/additions and restoration and indeed is forthright about such horrors as sentimental Victorian stained glass and memorials. It would be hard to find a better and more readable guide to the country's cathedrals.
September 20, 2024
This book provides a wonderful balance of information and opinion from an expert who clearly knows his subject inside out. The Cathedrals of England makes no concessions to those with little knowledge of Christian architecture: it's full of technical details and although there is a glossary at the end, anyone with even half of the author's command of them would be well advised to make a copy of it and use it as a bookmark for easy reference throughout! It also makes no attempt at coziness: Clifton-Taylor is as ready to criticise as he is to celebrate, and his verdicts on the original shortcomings of, or misguided alterations to, the cathedrals that he so clearly admires can be refreshingly blunt: "feeble" Victorian stained glass comes in for particular disdain! Because the book is arranged chronologically, one cathedral can appear many times as its architecture develops style by style, which means that this is a book to be read cover to cover, rather than dipped into as a guide. The gorgeous and copious photos do a great job in accompanying and guiding the text: the lack of colour is no lack at all, and may even be a benefit as the architecture stands out all the more clearly. Although this book was originally published nearly sixty years ago, only the last few paragraphs date it—perhaps not entirely surprising given that many of the buildings described here are eight or nine hundred years old! Clifton-Taylor is quite strict in limiting his subject to ancient cathedrals, which means that a few buildings that it would have been nice to hear more about either get mentioned only in passing (Beverley Minster, for example) or referred to regularly but remain unseen (Westminster Abbey, notably), which is a shame but understandable.
In the last year, I've been fortunate to have been able to visit several of the cathedrals dealt with here (Carlisle, Durham, Lincoln, both Liverpools, Ripon, Rochester, Southwark, Westminster, and York). I'm not sure whether reading this book beforehand would have enhanced my appreciation of them at the time, or if I appreciated this book more having seen the actual buildings first. Perhaps both could be true.
In the last year, I've been fortunate to have been able to visit several of the cathedrals dealt with here (Carlisle, Durham, Lincoln, both Liverpools, Ripon, Rochester, Southwark, Westminster, and York). I'm not sure whether reading this book beforehand would have enhanced my appreciation of them at the time, or if I appreciated this book more having seen the actual buildings first. Perhaps both could be true.
January 12, 2008
Great geeky art history fun. It's pretty specialized, though, so if you don't already know the difference between a tribune and a triforium, this probably won't be your cup of tea. However, if you dug medieval art in school like I did, this is cool. It helped fill in some of the more glaring lacunae in my very franco-centric study of the topic.
July 12, 2017
Yes, it'll have to be the full five stars for this gem; what a fascinating book (well, for a building bore like me, anyway) and written in such an engaging, provocative manner. I need to get put there and view these glories again with a (slightly) more knowledgeable eye.
March 28, 2018
Alec Clifton-Taylor became quite widely known in the UK in the early 1980s, due to three TV series of which he was the author and presenter: Six English Towns, Another Six English Towns and Six More English Towns – all with the sub-title “A Pattern of Building”. Each programme looked at the layout and the development of a town, with commentary on the building materials available at different times, the fashion of each period of building, the economic underpinning, geographic restrictions, historical impacts and the like. Alec Clifton-Taylor made an enthusiastic, energetic and at times caustic presenter. The three series were released on DVD last year and I've greatly enjoyed re-watching them.
Arising from that I looked for books of which he was the author and came across the Cathedrals of England. I enjoy visiting Cathedrals to tour round for a couple of hours but am no great expert in the details of the architecture and the periods. I can recognise fan vaulting and a clerestory, I've heard of Norman, Gothic, Perpendicular and Classical but that is about it. I've been reading this book since January, a little at a time and have now completed it. As I'd hoped, the prose is excellent, his enthusiasm shines through, there are characteristically caustic comments such as “Norman towers fell like ninepins”, plenty of human snippets and a good narrative and clear information.
The book came about in 1967 when the author was invited to provide new text for a collection of notable black and white photographs of the Cathedrals of England by Martin Hurlemann. Some photos by other photographers have been added for illustration of the text, a few being in colour.
The text is organised by architectural period, starting with the Norman. There is an appendix at the back that covers architectural terms, and a second one with floor plans of all the cathedrals in the book with a summary paragraph of their characteristics. This means that many cathedrals make repeat appearances – I hadn't realised before over how many centuries most cathedrals were built and re-built. So that a cathedral may have a Norman tower, an Early Gothic choir, a later decorated Gothic nave and a chapel added in the perpendicular style – and so appear in each chapter on that subject.
As with Six English Towns Alec Clifton-Taylor comments on the impact of local materials and economic, for example the Cathedrals of the northwest of England being limited by the relative poverty of the area in the Medieval period and the lack of any high quality building stone locally. There is also the wonderfully informative observation that one of the Medieval kings was planning for a war with France – so he sent officials to inventory church plate – as in gold and silver, so he had some idea of the wealth available to fund his army. This greatly alarmed the churchmen, who promptly embarked on a programme of new buildings and improvements to existing cathedrals – such as additional carving and stained glass, effectively converting their decorative, but portable, gold treasures into decorations that would be far harder to remove. In the same period in France, there was little building due to economic restriction.
The overarching themes of the book are the proportions of the buildings both inside and out, the quality of the design of the decorative carving, the quality of the workmanship and of the building materials. It looks at the interplay of all of these, for example one cathedral being described as having a tower that is of excellent proportions, but best seen from a distance as the decorative carvings on it are mathematical in style leading to a mechanical effect.
It has clarified to me why at times a cathedral I have visited has had less of an uplifting “wow” feel than I was expecting. Presumably something was a bit “off” in either the proportions, the way the arches were handled, or the decorative carvings. Mentioning carvings, there is a lovely comment regarding carved figures and how in I think it was the decorative period everyone (in the carvings) was amused, but in an earlier period all the carved figures were solemn and dignified with no smiling.
The book continues into the 20th century, including the rebuilding of Coventry Cathedral amongst others, though the 20th century chapter is the smallest.
Alec Clifton-Taylor has firm opinions but is not an “old is best” proponent by any means. He firmly comments on where later changes were an improvement, at least as much as criticising poorly handled restoration.
I've greatly enjoyed this and hope to spend some time in one of the cathedrals again, with this book in hand so I can look through at the comments while actually in situ. I've also bought his book on English Parish Churches and will definitely read that this year.
Arising from that I looked for books of which he was the author and came across the Cathedrals of England. I enjoy visiting Cathedrals to tour round for a couple of hours but am no great expert in the details of the architecture and the periods. I can recognise fan vaulting and a clerestory, I've heard of Norman, Gothic, Perpendicular and Classical but that is about it. I've been reading this book since January, a little at a time and have now completed it. As I'd hoped, the prose is excellent, his enthusiasm shines through, there are characteristically caustic comments such as “Norman towers fell like ninepins”, plenty of human snippets and a good narrative and clear information.
The book came about in 1967 when the author was invited to provide new text for a collection of notable black and white photographs of the Cathedrals of England by Martin Hurlemann. Some photos by other photographers have been added for illustration of the text, a few being in colour.
The text is organised by architectural period, starting with the Norman. There is an appendix at the back that covers architectural terms, and a second one with floor plans of all the cathedrals in the book with a summary paragraph of their characteristics. This means that many cathedrals make repeat appearances – I hadn't realised before over how many centuries most cathedrals were built and re-built. So that a cathedral may have a Norman tower, an Early Gothic choir, a later decorated Gothic nave and a chapel added in the perpendicular style – and so appear in each chapter on that subject.
As with Six English Towns Alec Clifton-Taylor comments on the impact of local materials and economic, for example the Cathedrals of the northwest of England being limited by the relative poverty of the area in the Medieval period and the lack of any high quality building stone locally. There is also the wonderfully informative observation that one of the Medieval kings was planning for a war with France – so he sent officials to inventory church plate – as in gold and silver, so he had some idea of the wealth available to fund his army. This greatly alarmed the churchmen, who promptly embarked on a programme of new buildings and improvements to existing cathedrals – such as additional carving and stained glass, effectively converting their decorative, but portable, gold treasures into decorations that would be far harder to remove. In the same period in France, there was little building due to economic restriction.
The overarching themes of the book are the proportions of the buildings both inside and out, the quality of the design of the decorative carving, the quality of the workmanship and of the building materials. It looks at the interplay of all of these, for example one cathedral being described as having a tower that is of excellent proportions, but best seen from a distance as the decorative carvings on it are mathematical in style leading to a mechanical effect.
It has clarified to me why at times a cathedral I have visited has had less of an uplifting “wow” feel than I was expecting. Presumably something was a bit “off” in either the proportions, the way the arches were handled, or the decorative carvings. Mentioning carvings, there is a lovely comment regarding carved figures and how in I think it was the decorative period everyone (in the carvings) was amused, but in an earlier period all the carved figures were solemn and dignified with no smiling.
The book continues into the 20th century, including the rebuilding of Coventry Cathedral amongst others, though the 20th century chapter is the smallest.
Alec Clifton-Taylor has firm opinions but is not an “old is best” proponent by any means. He firmly comments on where later changes were an improvement, at least as much as criticising poorly handled restoration.
I've greatly enjoyed this and hope to spend some time in one of the cathedrals again, with this book in hand so I can look through at the comments while actually in situ. I've also bought his book on English Parish Churches and will definitely read that this year.
December 13, 2022
I would have given the book 5 starts but it just falls short. The content is excellent and informative and most of all opinionated (that is something sadly lacking in modern books as I think everyone is frightened of upsetting someone) but it is hard to read in a block maybe too much information and you do have to pick your way through the descriptions. One description of an aperture is "A very distinctive feature is the segmental window in the form of an equilateral triangle with curving sides, filled with three trefoil-cusped circles of bar tracery." it is correct but takes some decoding. For a book that talks of the 1970's in the future sense it still stands good but little changes with the subject matter. The photos in the book would easily be worth 5 starts. they are excellent. And all taken well before photoshop could be thought of anything other than where you took your films to be developed,
November 18, 2024
This book is obviously about the architecture of our English Cathedrals. There is very little theology or spirituality, but the author's love of his subject and his critique of the cathedral's architecture (both affirmative and critical) is infectious.
November 10, 2023
Hoooo boy! Is this guy ever (negatively) opinionated about these glorious churches. His opinions, focusing on defects, are often reasonably well founded and substantially backed up by the accompanying pictures.
The main criticism often seems to be that these English cathedrals are not French. He does a reasonably good job of organizing the book to discuss and illustrate the evolution of cathedral churches in England. He sometimes points out that those changes usually were the result of evoling liturgical developments; the resulting renovations, which often created the very lack of French focus and consistency he critisizes, were an almost inevitable result.
But he does not say what those liturigal changes were. Yes, the development and gradual adoption of the Sarum mass in England is an important subject about which many volumes could (and have) been written. But might it have been possible to outline those changes briefly? After all, the form of these churches was shaped by the evolving function of the English liturgy.
Contrasting English and French cathedral architecture (which he does in passing, usually in praise of French and to disparage the English) were the result of a difference in liturgical evolutions. The French liturgy changed relatively little throughout the middle ages, while the English liturgy evolved vigorously (and gloriously). When building a cathedral, often over the course of a hundred yrars or more, it might it not have been easier to keep architectural focus and consistency if the underlying liturgy these buildings were built to serve was not rapidly evolving at the same time.
A good book. I enjoyed engaging with his opinions and following his generally cogent arguements in support of his theseis. The illustration, while all in black and white, are beautiful and well chosen in support of his points. But I was kind of expecting a more neutral survey.
Oh well. On to Nicholas Pevsner to see what he has to say. I started with this one because it is considerably shorter.
The main criticism often seems to be that these English cathedrals are not French. He does a reasonably good job of organizing the book to discuss and illustrate the evolution of cathedral churches in England. He sometimes points out that those changes usually were the result of evoling liturgical developments; the resulting renovations, which often created the very lack of French focus and consistency he critisizes, were an almost inevitable result.
But he does not say what those liturigal changes were. Yes, the development and gradual adoption of the Sarum mass in England is an important subject about which many volumes could (and have) been written. But might it have been possible to outline those changes briefly? After all, the form of these churches was shaped by the evolving function of the English liturgy.
Contrasting English and French cathedral architecture (which he does in passing, usually in praise of French and to disparage the English) were the result of a difference in liturgical evolutions. The French liturgy changed relatively little throughout the middle ages, while the English liturgy evolved vigorously (and gloriously). When building a cathedral, often over the course of a hundred yrars or more, it might it not have been easier to keep architectural focus and consistency if the underlying liturgy these buildings were built to serve was not rapidly evolving at the same time.
A good book. I enjoyed engaging with his opinions and following his generally cogent arguements in support of his theseis. The illustration, while all in black and white, are beautiful and well chosen in support of his points. But I was kind of expecting a more neutral survey.
Oh well. On to Nicholas Pevsner to see what he has to say. I started with this one because it is considerably shorter.
June 4, 2013
This was an interesting book although I feel that perhaps I should go away and learn some more architectural terminology beyond what a corbel is so I don't have to keep confusedly flicking to the back where the terminology section was! This book was subject to the author's personal tastes in what he thought was good or bad, and this was both really tedious and also pretty amusing being littered with comments such as; "Half a century ago a rood, unfortunately of no artistic merit, was re-erected at Wells", "feeble rose-window", and "is rather too reminiscent of a parsley-bed". I suspect if I go visit a cathedral now after reading this, there will be the author's voice in the back of my mind going "Hmm, It is admittedly a very mild dragon; but in the Decorated period everybody, even a dragon, was amiable".
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews