The Ground Plan of the English Parish ChurchThompson, A. Hamilton (Alexander Hamilton)
History
The Ground Plan of the English Parish Church
Thompson, A. Hamilton (Alexander Hamilton)
Church architecture -- England
transept, and carried eastwards for a little distance beyond the east
wall of the chancel. Thus chancel, south chapel, and north chapel, are
all of three different lengths and breadths, the south chapel being the
longest and widest. When the south chapel was built, a considerable
portion of the old chancel wall was left untouched on its north side. It
is obvious that the methods of building employed in such additions were
those which have been described in connexion with the addition of aisles
to a nave. It is no uncommon thing to enter, as at Tamworth, a chancel
aisle or chantry chapel, and find substantial remains of the old outer
wall of the chancel, which has been pierced with one or more arches of
communication.
Sec. 69. As the relative dates and proportions of chancel chapels vary so
greatly, it is obvious that in many cases only one will be found. We
frequently meet with churches which have only one aisle to the nave; but
these are for the most part small buildings, and one aisle usually, in
larger buildings, presupposes another, although symmetry of proportion
need not be expected. However, many important churches have one chancel
chapel, and no more. Raunds in Northamptonshire, and Leverington in
Cambridgeshire, have south, but not north, chapels. Stanion in
Northamptonshire, and Hullavington in Wiltshire, have north, but not
south chapels. In both these last cases, the chapels are simply
continuations of the aisles, without a break or intermediate arch; and
the chapel at Stanion is neither more nor less than a second chancel. As
the dedication of Stanion church is to St Peter and St Paul, it is not
unlikely that the prominence given to the north chapel may be due to the
provision of altars for both saints. The same consideration may have
influenced the building of the church at Wisbech, which is also
dedicated to St Peter and St Paul. Here, the twelfth century chancel had
a south chapel; but when, at the end of the thirteenth century, the
chancel was lengthened, the south chapel was also enlarged into what is
practically a second chancel. Not only this, but the south aisle of the
church was rebuilt on the scale of a second nave, a second south aisle
was built out beyond it, and the whole church, which afterwards was
enlarged towards the north and otherwise altered, was more than doubled
in size.
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