ARCHITECT, English
(active 1337-1360 in Gloucester)

Exterior view

1337-60
Photo
Cathedral, Gloucester, Gloucestershire

In December 1327 the body of the murdered king Edward II (reg 1307-27) was buried north of the high altar of Gloucester Cathedral. Within a few years the place was marked by a monument; its tall and unprecedentedly complex spired canopy is one of the masterpieces of this predominantly English genre. The popular cult that instantly arose was the major inspiration and source of finance for the remodelling of the eastern parts of the church from c. 1331. It marks the climax of Gloucester's architectural history and produced one of the most notable achievements of European Late Gothic architecture.

The work was carried out in four separate phases: the south transept (c. 1331-36), the liturgical choir within the crossing (c. 1337-51), the presbytery (after 1351), and the north transept (after 1368). The building process entailed 'skinning' and refacing the Romanesque main elevations. In the presbytery the main vessel was lengthened by demolishing the 11th-century ambulatories at ground-floor and gallery level. The eastern corners of the new easternmost bay are farther apart than the rest of the central vessel and the east window bows outwards. The result of these improvisations is one of the most extraordinary effects in medieval architecture, a great window wall wider than the space it lights, the full width of which cannot be seen from most viewpoints.