Beruflich Dokumente
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Introduction
The roofing of wide spaces presented a challenge to
the medieval builder which resulted in some of the
most impressive creations of the middle ages.
The architecture of ancient Rome had provided
precedents for different types of stone vaulting.
Vaults continued to be constructed over small spaces,
but in England in the early middle ages large spans
had timber roofs, developing the practices known to
have been established as early as the 7th century for
the great timber halls of the Anglo-Saxons.
Timber roofs achieved great sophistication in the 14th
and 15th centuries, using a variety of techniques to
cover wide spans.
Gothic Vaults
Stone Vaulting
The introduction of stone vaulting below the timber roof revolutionised
the appearance of major churches.
Stone vaults had the advantage of being fireproof
From the 11th century onwards, as major churches were rebuilt on an
increasingly ambitious scale, they sought to recapture the grandeur of
the ancient Roman basilica, and the principle of the vaulted sacred
space was extended to the whole building.
The invention of the `t, combined with the pointed arch, made it
possible for the vault to be carried on walls pierced by large openings, as
the ribs directed the thrust to the corners of each bay and flying
buttresses helped to stabilise the weight of the heavy masses of
masonry.
From the 13th century onwards Gothic stone vaults were elaborated to
produce complex patterns by the addition of extra ribs and elaborately
carved and painted bosses at their intersections.
Groin Vaults
VAULTS are formed from two intersecting
.
barrel vaults (the groins are the edges of
the intersections).
They are built of heavy rubble masonry
and so need adequate support.
They were used in the large crypts
introduced by the Normans below their
new abbeys and cathedrals, where the
Canterbury Cathedral, Kent., Crypt
space was divided into a series of small
bays by numerous columns, as at
Canterbury, Worcester and Gloucester
Rib Vaults