The Architecture of Canterbury Cathedral after the Fire of 1174

Abstract

The architecture of Canterbury cathedral by William of Sens after the fire of 1174, which is known in detail by Gervase's description, shows many irregularities in its presbytery. They have been interpreted by many scholars as changes of conception which reflect changes of cathedral monastery's attitude toward the cult of Becket, whose shrine is to be set in the middle of Trinity Chapel. We don't agree with such iconographical interpretations, and think that those irregularities can be explained almost exclusively by constructive and administrative restrictions. In fact, William of Sens seems to have no definitive conception of final form, and sometimes indigenous masons make arbitrary decisions. In his last phase William of Sens are inspired by this situation and abandon logical method of French Gothic. William the Englishman who follows William of Sens, at last, adopts this English way of flexibility.