\paperw5085 \margr0\margl0\ATXph16380 \plain \fs20 \f1 \fs22 Whereas the round-arched tunnel vault typical of Norman architecture presses down on the whole of the walls on which
it rests, the pointed arch of \ATXnt901 Gothic architecture\ATXnt0 enabled the designer to achieve more \ATXnt902 vertical and hence safer constructions\ATXnt0 . In addition, he could also build vaults over oblong instead of square bays, thereby distri
buting the weight of the vault over a greater area and securing the stability of the building. Moreover, the \ATXnt903 oblong Gothic\ATXnt0 vault was constructed with ribs to strengthen the groins, and this too was technically advantageous. A tunnel-v
ault or a \ATXnt904 Romanesque\ATXnt0 groin-vault needed a wooden centring underneath its whole length and width to build it up. By contrast, in the case of rib-vaults, a centring was erected that was simply strong enough to support the transverse arch
es and diagonal ribs until their mortar had set. Clearly this contributed to a considerable saving in timber as well as time. Certainly the austere simplicity of the Early \ATXnt905 English architecture\ATXnt0 with its unadorned vaults, narrow lancet
windows and thin ribs of masonry was in remarkable contrast to the massive squatness of Norman building. In fact the impression of lightness it conjured up was an aesthetic as much as a material achievement.\par
\ATXnt906 Masons and designers \ATXnt0 t
hen discovered that there was nothing to stop them increasing the number of ribs in a vault for decorative rather than structural purposes; by the same token, windows became more elaborate as the tracery was shaped into fanciful and complex forms. The c
ombination of these features constitutes the core of what is known as the \ATXnt907 Decorated Gothic\ATXnt0 style of the late 13th and 14th centuries. The Perpendicular style that gradually succeeded it was the fruit of the growing technological ingenu
ity of the masons who were able increasingly to dispense with solid walls for the sake of vast expanses of glass held in place by the vertical divisions from which the style derives its name. \ATXnt908 Unlike its predecessors, which bore witness to the
influence of French architecture\ATXnt0 , the Perpendicular style was essentially a native English product. In due course, the great monuments in this style such as the nave of Canterbury Cathedral were to attract expert attention on the Continent. In
fact elements of the English Perpendicular were later to reappear as far afield as Bohemia, Portugal and Spain.
