Roof Bosses In Medieval Churches

Church Woodwork in the British Isles, 1100-1535: An Annotated Bibliography is a thoroughly researched bibliographic guide to monographic, serial, archival, and graphical resources that deal with all aspects of late Romanesque, Gothic, and early Renaissance ecclesiastical woodwork in churches throughout the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Dealing with both the decorative and structural elements of wooden church furnishings fittings, this authoritative reference tool includes more than 900 annotated citations for works published from the mid-19th century to the present. The extensive and informative annotations provide a synopsis of each cited resource. Resources are categorized in separate chapters by their specific location in the church, their decorative features, their structural function, or other pertinent criteria. This annotated bibliography represents the most comprehensive reference tool for material that deals with church woodwork that has yet been published.

Situated 80 feet up from the floor of the Norwich Cathedral, the roof bosses are too distant to be appreciated by worshippers. Their detail is discernible only from special vantage points or through binoculars. This book brings them to the public through photographs, described in a scholarly text.

Reproducing over 900 photographs taken by the author (most using natural light) this is a guide to the themes, origins, symbolism, variations and distribution of medieval church art in the British Isles.

Excellently framed and designed, with bold, receding arches, the open timber roofs of the medieval period featured massive moldings, carved timbers, and intricate tracery. Today, these roofs are recognized for their striking beauty, rich ornamentation, and the consummate skills of the carpenters and builders who crafted them. This excellent reproduction of a rare nineteenth-century volume includes numerous full-page illustrations and construction details revealing a wealth of information on the major roof styles (tie-beam, trussed rafter, hammer-beam, and collar-braced) of medieval English churches. More than 50 illustrations of 34 English churches are included, among them the exquisite double hammer-beam roof of Knapton Church in Norwich, the richly ornamented roof over Trinity Chapel, Cirencester Church, in Gloucestershire, and the magnificent roof over Wymondham Church, in Norfolk, in which hammer-beams, boldly projecting into the nave, are exquisitely carved into figures of angels with expanding wings. These and many more masterly constructions are captured in the authors' own geometric and perspective drawings (done on-site), superbly reproduced here in detailed, highly accurate engravings. In addition to a wealth of pictorial detail, the authors also provide an informative general introduction to the major types of roof construction, as well as expert commentary on each individual roof, describing its distinguishing characteristics, ornament, measurements, and other details. Artists and illustrators will prize these beautifully rendered plates for their beauty and detail, while architects, antiquarians, and lovers of things medieval will appreciate the authenticity of the plates and the knowledgeable commentary of the architect-authors.