CHR Source 1230
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Core Details
Author/originator:
Roland Harris
Source type:
Digital Archive (Unpublished primary digital archive)
Source sub-type:
Graphic material (Pictorial, painted or drawn material such as slides, drawings, photos, plans excluding cartographic.)
Year/date of creation:
2015
Title:
Image of 626311 Architectural Inscription
Description:
Work at Wymondham Abbey, for construction of new buildings at the east end of the church, has been accompanied by excavation and building recording. Large quantities of Gothic architectural mouldings have been recovered from the excavation and from above ground, which are providing new insight into the later development of the medieval priory. The most substantial quantity of worked stone has come from the unblocking of the former opening from the 12th-century nave north aisle into the north transept. This unblocking has revealed a substantial incised architectural design on the newly exposed respond (also forming the rear of the north-western 12th-century crossing pier). The incised design measures 1.9m x 1.3m and is a scale drawing for a gable and window tracery: the window combines a central rose over a pair of two-light windows, with each pair surmounted by an eight-cusped oculus. The design is largely complete, with gaps in the lines mostly due to surviving patches of later medieval paint, and includes various setting-out lines, circles and points. In addition to the main window design, the lower part of the respond is inscribed with another simple arch and numerous graffiti, including a grotesque head, compass circle and daisy wheel designs. The design is more complete than well-known examples such as those in the Galilee Porch at Ely Cathedral, the Roslin chapel crypt, and Christchurch Priory. It does not relate to surviving Gothic additions to Wymondham Abbey and, therefore, almost certainly relates to the monastic buildings or, much more probably, the eastern arm of the abbey church, demolished at the Dissolution: as such, it provides an important insight into the lost parts of the building. The combination of elements tentatively suggests a date before the end of the 13th century and raises the question as to whether – like its sister cell at Binham Priory with its precocious west front design of c.1240 – Wymondham was at the forefront of bar tracery design in England in the mid-13th century.
Location
Where can the source be accessed?:
626331_Wymondham Abbey_Norwich_CHRSource.jpg
Is this a web URL?:
Yes
When was the source last accessed at this location?:
Sun 05 Jan 2025 01:56:25
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Rights
Copyright Notes:
Dr. Roland B Harris
Church code
Church
Diocese
Specific Reference
Church record
626331
Wymondham: St Mary & St Thomas of Canterbury
Norwich
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