A fan vault is a form of

vault Vault may refer to: * Jumping, the act of propelling oneself upwards Architecture * Vault (architecture), an arched form above an enclosed space * Bank vault, a reinforced room or compartment where valuables are stored * Burial vault (enclosure ...

used in the

Gothic style Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths ** Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken ...

, in which the ribs are all of the same curve and spaced equidistantly, in a manner resembling a fan. The initiation and propagation of this design element is strongly associated with

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The earliest example, dating from about the year 1351, may be seen in the cloisters of Gloucester Cathedral. The largest fan vault in the world can be found in

King's College Chapel, Cambridge King's College Chapel is the chapel of King's College in the University of Cambridge. It is considered one of the finest examples of late Perpendicular Gothic English architecture and features the world's largest fan vault. The Chapel was bu ...

. The fan vault is peculiar to England. The

lierne Lierne is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Namdalen region, and it is the largest municipality by area in Trøndelag. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sandvika. Other villages include ...

vault of the cathedral of

Barbastro Barbastro (Latin: ''Barbastrum'' or ''Civitas Barbastrensis'', Aragonese: ''Balbastro'') is a city in the Somontano county, province of Huesca, Spain. The city (also known originally as Barbastra or Bergiduna) is at the junction of the rivers Cin ...

in northern Spain closely resembles a fan vault, but it does not form a perfect

conoid In geometry a conoid () is a ruled surface, whose rulings (lines) fulfill the additional conditions: :(1) All rulings are parallel to a plane, the '' directrix plane''. :(2) All rulings intersect a fixed line, the ''axis''. The conoid is a ri ...

Harvey Harvey, Harveys or Harvey's may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Harvey'' (play), a 1944 play by Mary Chase about a man befriended by an invisible anthropomorphic rabbit * Harvey Awards ("Harveys"), one of the most important awards ...

(1978) suggests Catherine of Aragon as a possible source of English influence in Aragon.

Birth of the fan vault

The fan vault is attributed to development in

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

between 1351 and 1377, with the earliest known surviving example being the east cloister walk of Gloucester Cathedral.

(1978) hypothesises that the east cloister at Gloucester was finished under Thomas de Cantebrugge from the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

Cambridge, Gloucestershire Cambridge ( ) is a hamlet in the district of Stroud (district), Stroud, in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It lies on the A38 road between Bristol and Gloucester. It is about 3 miles (5 km) from Dursley and about 11 miles (18 k ...

, who left in 1364 to work on the chapter house at Hereford Cathedral (also thought to have been fan vaulted on the basis of a drawing by William Stukeley). The other three parts of the cloister at Gloucester were begun in 1381, possibly under Robert Lesyngham. Other examples of early fan vaults exist around Gloucester, implying the activity of several 14th century master masons in that region.

Structure

The ribs of a fan vault are of equal curvature and rotated at equal distances around a central (vertical) axis, forming the conoid shape which gives rise to the name. In between sequences of conoids, flat central

spandrel A spandrel is a roughly triangular space, usually found in pairs, between the top of an arch and a rectangular frame; between the tops of two adjacent arches or one of the four spaces between a circle within a square. They are frequently fill ...

s fill the space. According to Leedy (1980), the fan vault was developed in England (as opposed to France and other centres of

Gothic architecture Gothic architecture (or pointed architecture) is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It ...

) due to the manner in which English rib vaults were normally constructed. In an English rib vault, the courses are laid perpendicular to the ''rib'' while in France they are laid perpendicular to the wall.

Buildings with fan vaulting

Medieval and Early Modern

* Gloucester Cathedral, cloisters, earliest fan vaulting begun 1373 by Abbot Horton *

, the world's largest fan vault (1512–1515) * Bath Abbey, Somerset, nave and chancel (1860s restoration; originally by

William Vertue William Vertue (died 1527) was an English architect specialising in Fan vault ceilings. Along with his brother Robert, he was involved in the construction of the Tower of London (1501–1502), Bath Abbey, the Vertue brothers are reported as tel ...

) * Brasenose College, Oxford, Chapel ceiling – a spectacular example of plaster pendant fan vaulting * Canterbury Cathedral, crossing tower by

John Wastell John Wastell (1518) was an English gothic architect and master mason responsible for the fan vaulted ceiling and other features of King's College Chapel, Cambridge, the crossing tower (Bell Harry Tower) of Canterbury Cathedral, and sections of b ...

, Henry VI's chantry chapel * Christ Church, Oxford, staircase to the great hall * Church of St Andrew, Mells, Somerset, porch * Church of St John the Baptist, Axbridge, Somerset, crossing *

Church of St Peter and St Paul, Muchelney The Church of St Peter and St Paul in Muchelney, Somerset, England, has Saxon origins, however the current building largely dates from the 15th century. It has been designated as a Grade I listed building. The church, which is adjacent to the si ...

, Somerset, under the tower *

Church of St. John the Baptist, Cirencester The Church of St. John Baptist, Cirencester is a parish church in the Church of England in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, England. It is a Grade I listed building. The building reflects architectural styles since the 12th century. The chancel ...

, Gloucestershire, porch and north chapel *

Collegiate Church of St Mary, Warwick The Collegiate Church of St Mary is a Church of England parish church in Warwick, Warwickshire, England. It is in the centre of the town just east of the market place. It is grade I listed, and a member of the Major Churches Network. The church ...

, Dean's Chapel *

Convocation House Convocation House is the lower floor of the 1634–1637 westward addition to the University of Oxford's Bodleian Library and Divinity School in Oxford, England. It adjoins the Divinity School, which pre-dates it by just over two hundred years, ...

, Oxford * Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, main gateway * Ely Cathedral, Bishop Alcock's chantry chapel *

Eton College Chapel Eton College Chapel is the main chapel of Eton College, a public school in England. The chapel was planned to be a little over double its actual length, but this plan was never completed owing to the downfall of the founder Henry VI. A plaque ...

(the vault dates from 1958) * Hampton Court Palace, Great Gate and oriel window in the Great Hall * Henry VII's Lady Chapel,

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the Unite ...

, London, 1503–1509 (with

pendants A pendant is a loose-hanging piece of jewellery, generally attached by a small loop to a necklace, which may be known as a "pendant necklace". A pendant earring is an earring with a piece hanging down. Its name stems from the Latin word ' ...

, by

) *

Lincoln's Inn Chapel The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincol ...

, undercroft * Manchester Cathedral, under the tower *

Milton Abbey Milton Abbey school is an independent school for day and boarding pupils in the village of Milton Abbas, near Blandford Forum in Dorset, in South West England. It has 224 pupils , in five houses: Athelstan, Damer, Hambro, Hodgkinson and Tregonw ...

, Dorset, crossing (by

William Smyth William Smyth (or Smith) ( – 2 January 1514) was Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield from 1493 to 1496 and then Bishop of Lincoln until his death. He held political offices, the most important being Lord President of the Council of Wales and ...

) *

Peterborough Cathedral Peterborough Cathedral, properly the Cathedral Church of St Peter, St Paul and St Andrew – also known as Saint Peter's Cathedral in the United Kingdom – is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Peterborough, dedicated to Saint Peter, Saint Pau ...

, Cambridgeshire, retrochoir *Red Mount Chapel, King's Lynn *

Sherborne Abbey Sherborne Abbey, otherwise the Abbey Church of St. Mary the Virgin, is a Church of England church in Sherborne in the English county of Dorset. It has been a Saxon cathedral (705–1075), a Benedictine abbey church (998–1539), and since 1539, ...

, Dorset, quire c. 1430, nave c. 1490 (by

) *St Andrew's Church,

Cullompton Cullompton () is a town and civil parish in the district of Mid Devon and the county of Devon, England. It is north-east of Exeter and lies on the River Culm. In 2011 the parish as a whole had a population of 8,499 while the built-up area of ...

, Devon, south aisle * St Bartholomew's Church,

Tong, Shropshire Tong is a village and civil parish in Shropshire, England. It is located between the towns of Shifnal, Newport and Brewood. It is near junction 3 of the M54 motorway and A41 road. The population of the village which was included in the civil ...

, chantry chapel * St David's Cathedral, Wales, Trinity Chapel *

St Mary Aldermary The Guild Church of St Mary Aldermary a contraction of St Mary Aldermanbury (or St Mary Elder Mary) is an Anglican church located in Watling Street at the junction with Bow Lane, in the City of London. Of medieval origin, it was rebuilt from 15 ...

, London (by Christopher Wren) *

St Mary's Church, North Leigh The Parish Church of Saint Mary, North Leigh is the Church of England parish church of North Leigh, a village about northeast of Witney in Oxfordshire. From Anglo-Saxon foundation until the Reformation The bell tower is late Anglo-Saxon, ...

, Oxfordshire, Wilcote chantry chapel *St Mary's Church,

Ottery St Mary Ottery St Mary, known as "Ottery", is a town and civil parish in the East Devon district of Devon, England, on the River Otter, about east of Exeter on the B3174. At the 2001 census, the parish, which includes the villages of Metcombe, F ...

, Devon, aisle *St Stephen's

cloister A cloister (from Latin ''claustrum'', "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against a ...

at the Palace of Westminster (1529) *

St. George's Chapel, Windsor St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle in England is a castle chapel built in the late-medieval Perpendicular Gothic style. It is both a Royal Peculiar (a church under the direct jurisdiction of the monarch) and the Chapel of the Order of the Gart ...

, crossing, Urswick chantry chapel *

Tewkesbury Abbey The Abbey Church of St Mary the Virgin, Tewkesbury–commonly known as Tewkesbury Abbey–is located in the English county of Gloucestershire. A former Benedictine monastery, it is now a parish church. Considered one of the finest examples of No ...

, cloister (only one bay remains) *

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the unive ...

, gatehouse vaults *

University Church of St Mary the Virgin The University Church of St Mary the Virgin (St Mary's or SMV for short) is an Oxford church situated on the north side of the High Street. It is the centre from which the University of Oxford grew and its parish consists almost exclusively of u ...

, Oxford, porch *

Wells Cathedral Wells Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Wells, Somerset, England, dedicated to St Andrew the Apostle. It is the seat of the Bishop of Bath and Wells, whose cathedra it holds as mother church of the Diocese of Bath and Wells. Built as a ...

, crossing (by

) *

Winchester Cathedral The Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity,Historic England. "Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity (1095509)". ''National Heritage List for England''. Retrieved 8 September 2014. Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint Swithun, commonly known as Winches ...

, Beaufort and Waynflete chantry chapels *St. Mary’s Church, Putney, Bishop West chapel

Gothic Revival

Centre Block The Centre Block (french: Édifice du Centre) is the main building of the Canadian parliamentary complex on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa, Ontario, containing the House of Commons and Senate chambers, as well as the offices of a number of members ...

, Parliament of Canada, Ottawa *

Eastnor Castle Eastnor Castle, Eastnor, Herefordshire, is a 19th-century mock castle. Eastnor was built for John Cocks, 1st Earl Somers, who employed Robert Smirke, later the main architect of the British Museum. The castle was built between 1811 and 1820. ...

, drawing room * Grand Theatre,

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

Harkness Tower Harkness Tower is a masonry tower at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Part of the Collegiate Gothic Memorial Quadrangle complex completed in 1922, it is named for Charles William Harkness, brother of Yale's largest benefactor, Edward ...

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

, New Haven, Connecticut, USHarkness Tower Memorial Hall
/ref> *

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

lobbies, committee staircase, in the Palace of Westminster *

John Rylands Library The John Rylands Research Institute and Library is a Victorian era, late-Victorian Gothic Revival architecture, neo-Gothic building on Deansgate in Manchester, England. It is part of the University of Manchester. The library, which opened to t ...

, baconcy, Manchester *

Middlesex Guildhall The Middlesex Guildhall is the home of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom and of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. It stands on the south-west corner of Parliament Square in London. It is a Grade II* listed building. Constructe ...

, Westminster *

Palau de la Música Catalana Palau de la Música Catalana (, en, Palace of Catalan Music) is a concert hall in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Designed in the Catalan '' modernista'' style by the architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner, it was built between 1905 and 1908 for ...

, Barcelona * Basilica Minore de San Sebastián, Manila, Philippines * St John's,

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

* St Mary's Church, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire * Saint Patrick's Church, New Orleans, Louisiana, US (apsidal fan vault) * Strawberry Hill, Twickenham, London *

Unitarian Church in Charleston The Unitarian Church in Charleston, home to a Unitarian Universalist congregation, is an historic church located at 4 Archdale Street in Charleston, South Carolina. It is the oldest Unitarian church in the South and the second oldest church bu ...

, South Carolina, US *

Washington National Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the City and Diocese of Washington, commonly known as Washington National Cathedral, is an American cathedral of the Episcopal Church. The cathedral is located in Washington, D.C., the ca ...

, Washington, DC, US (Children's Chapel) *

Wills Memorial Building The Wills Memorial Building (also known as the Wills Memorial Tower or simply the Wills Tower) is a neo-Gothic building in Bristol, England, designed by Sir George Oatley and built as a memorial to Henry Overton Wills III

, University of Bristol * Cathedral Basilica of Christ the King, Hamilton, Ontario

References