MEDIEVAL ARCHITECTURE
Medieval church architecture on Exmoor does not generally have a local style. The style was the Gothic style used throughout much of western Europe at the time. The original Gothic style sprang up in the Ile de France, and was known during the Middle Ages as ‘the French Style’. It was not until the 16th century that art critic Giorgio Vasari compared medieval architecture to the barbarism and presumed lack of taste of the Goths, who had ravaged Rome, and the term ‘Gothic’ came into vogue. Vasari also coined the term ‘Renaissance’ that referred to the rebirth of classical styles of architecture in his own era. Taste can, however, go around in circles and there was a revival of the Gothic style in the 19th century. Generally speaking, Gothic architecture emphasised strong vertical lines and included high vaulted ceilings, minimal wall space, pointed window and door openings, and buttressed walls.
It is in the Early English period (1200-1275) that the Gothic style became truly adapted by English craftsmen and architects. This period is also called "Lancet", referring to the pointed lancet (narrow, untraceried) windows that characterise it. Form was still austere and proportion simple.
The main points of Early English are: quadripartite ribbing in vaults, slender towers topped with spires, lancet windows - both single and grouped - and piers with narrow, clustered shafts. The finest example of Early English architecture is to be found at Salisbury Cathedral.
Decorated Gothic (1275-1375) - also called Geometric, Curvilinear, and Flamboyant - These terms describe primarily the fanciful tracery and ornamentation found in the window heads during this time. Windows were wider than the earlier lancet openings. Exeter Cathedral contains some of the best examples of this style.
The final flourishing of Gothic in Britain was the Perpendicular period (1375-1530+). As its name suggests, the chief characteristic of Perpendicular architecture is the emphasis on strong vertical lines, seen most markedly in window tracery and wall panelling. Towers in particular were elaborately decorated and pinnacled, and windows became massive, traceried spider-webs of stone. Wall space was at a minimum, which had the effect of introducing a wonderful feeling of light and spaciousness into the interior of these buildings. Selworthy church has beautiful Perpendicular architecture, amongst the finest in the West Country, and Luccombe church has particularly ornate Perpendicular windows.
Few churches in Somerset escaped embellishment in the 15th century. The sixty or so Perpendicular towers in Somerset are unequalled nationally for their composition, detail and beauty. Teams of masons would travel from parish to parish, exploiting the rivalry between them for the height and beauty of the towers. Exmoor parishes did not have the wealth to compete with others and towers remained plain and squat in comparison, more in the Devon than Somerset style. They lack the detail of carving in the tracery, pinnacles and figures on towers in the true ‘Somerset’ style. The nearest the area comes to this are the one hundred foot tiered towers at Dunster and Combe Martin, which is in Devon. The nearest true ‘Somerset’ style towers are probably at Bishops Lydeard and Chittlehampton, which is also in Devon.
In the late 15th and early 16th centuries towers and porches were added to simple moorland churches that had only a nave where the congregation stood and a chancel for the altar, priest and choir, if any. The larger churches on the Exmoor fringes usually had extra accommodation for an expanding congregation in aisles running along either side of the nave at the same length and height. These are known as ‘hall churches’. The standard plan of chancel, nave (with or without aisles), west tower and south porch is characteristic of the parish churches of Devon and West Somerset. On Exmoor there are few exceptions to this plan: a handful of churches having north porches and Dunster having a cruciform plan. The reason for the latter is that it was a priory church with two naves: one for parishioners and one for monks. Some of the larger churches had side chapels added for the tombs of wealthy patrons. The porches of some also had a room above for a priest, school or gallery, such as at Porlock and Selworthy.
On the Exmoor fringes are exceptionally fine, ornately carved wooden rood screens from this period. The largest examples are at Dunster, Carhampton, Combe Martin, Withycombe and Minehead (St Michael’s), which retains its rood loft. Rood screens, which divided the chancel from the nave, were often removed during the Reformation or later restoration, but survived better in the West Country than elsewhere. The rood loft, which carried a gallery over the screen with the rood, a depiction of Calvary, was a particular target for Puritan reformists and rarely survives in Britain. A new rood has been placed on the screen at Combe Martin.