British architecture

Unit 1 - BRITISH ARCHITECTURE

PROLOGUE 
 

I. Read the text for more information: 

Stonehenge

    There is no place in all Britain and few in the whole world, so surrounded by mystery as the group of huge, rough-cut stones which people call Stonehenge - place of the “hanging stones”. This “Riddle of Ages” is situated on the Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, a county in south-western England. It is the most famous and probably the most remarkable of all prehistoric monuments in the country. Started 5,000 years ago and remodelled several times in the centuries that followed. It represents one of the most remarkable achievements of prehistoric engineering. It is made of many upright stones, standing in groups of twos, 8,5 meters high. They are joined on the top by other flat stones, each weighing about 7 tons. They form a 97 foot-diameter circle that once held 30 columns and an inner horseshoe of even grander blocks, some 200 feet tall.

    There have been many different theories about the original use of Stonehenge. In the 12^th century it was believed to be a monument over King Arthur's grave. Other theories have attributed it to the Phoenicians, Druids, Romans, Vikings and visitors from other worlds.

    Some scientists think that Stonehenge was built as an observatory to study the sun, the moon and the stars. Others consider it to be a temple of the sun. Another interesting theory is that the great stone circle was used to store terrestrial energy.

    Alongside the theories of the scholars are local legends. Here is one.

    Stonehenge was built by the devil in a single night. He flew backwards and forwards between Ireland and Salisbury Plain carrying the stones one by one and setting them in place. As he worked, he laughed to himself “That will make people think. They'll never know how the stones have come here!” But a friar was hiding in a ditch nearby. When the devil saw him, he threw a stone which hit the friar on the heel. That is why the stone, which the devil threw, was called the “Heelstone” and it stands at the entrance of Stonehenge.

    Today, several groups in Great Britain and Ireland practice what they believe to be ancient Druidism. They hold Druidic festivals at the beginning of spring, summer, autumn and winter. But their chief celebration takes place at Stonehenge on Midsummer's Day. Every year they meet here to greet the raising sun and to perform their mystic rites as it was in ancient times. The Druids were members of the ancient Celtic order of priests, teachers of religion and magicians. They led religious ceremonies and served as leaders and advisers to their people. Many of their rites were connected with the worship of trees, particularly the oak. They believed that the soul was immortal and entered a new body after death. The druids killed animals and possibly people as sacrifices. They studied the flights of birds and the remains of sacrificed animals to foretell the future. 
 

II. Use the dictionary to translate the text. 
 

III. The following words will help you to understand the texts: 

 
 

IV. Discuss the text using the following questions:

1. Was the information quite new for you?
2. What impressed you most of all?
3. Which fact about Stonehenge do you think is the most interesting?
4. What is your own idea at the point?
5. Would you like to see it with your own eyes? Why? When?
6. What else have you heard or read about Stonehenge?

 

Unit 2- GLIMPSES OF BRITISH ARCHITECTURE 

Have you ever paid attention to the houses, buildings, palaces, towers, bridges that surround you in your city? Have you ever heard the phrase “architecture is poetry in stone?” Do you agree with it?

   Read the text and enjoy the poetic description of architecture. Use the dictionary if necessary.

From “The Sketch Book”

by Washington Irving.

   I stood before the entrance to Henry the Sevenths chapel in Westminster Abbey. A flight of steps leads up to it through a deep and gloomy but magnificent arch. Great gates of brass, richly and delicately wrought, turn heavily upon their hinges, as if profoundly reluctant to admit the feet of common mortals into this most gorgeous of sepulchres.

   On entering, the eye is astonished by the pomp of architecture and the elaborate beauty of sculptured detail. The very walls are wrought into universal ornament, encrusted with tracery, and scooped into niches crowded with the statues of saints and martyrs. Stone seems, by the cunning labour of the chisel, to have been robbed of its weight and density, suspended aloft, as if by magic, and the fretted roof achieved with the wonderful minuteness and airy security of a cobweb.

   Along the sides of the chapel are the lofty stalls of the knights of the Bath, richly carved at oak. On the pinnacles of the stalls are affixed the helmets and crests of the knights, with their scarves and swords; and above them are suspended their banners, emblazoned with armorial bearings, and contrasting the splendour of gold and purple and crimson with the cold grey fretwork of the roof. In the midst of this grand mausoleum stands the sepulchre of its founder - his effigy, with that of his queen, extended on a sumptuous tomb - and the whole surrounded by a superbly wrought brazen railing.

   Two small aisles on each side of this chapel present a touching instance of the equality of the grave, which brings down the oppressor to a level with the oppressed, and mingles the dust of the bitterest enemies together. In one is the sepulchre of the haughty Elizabeth; in the other is that of her victim, the lovely and unfortunate Mary…  
 

I. Read the words: 

 
 

II. Read the text:

Part One

Roman and Anglo-Saxon architecture

    When the Anglo-Saxons invaded England in the 5^th century, four centuries of Roman Britain came to an end. Except for traces of the Roman wall across northern England and parts of the baths at Bath, little remains from the Roman years. From the Dark Ages (the 5^th-11^th centuries) only a few churches, like those at Earls Barton in Northamptonshire or Barton-upon-Humber in Lincolnshire, are left their towers punctuated by tiny windows and their small size testifying to the poverty of the era. Anglo-Saxon architecture (also known as Saxon architecture) is a simple style characterised by small, deep-set windows, rounded arches and alternated long and short angle stones.

    Norman (Romanesque) and Anglo-Norman architecture

    After their conquest of England in 1066, the Normans introduced imposing Romanesque cathedrals. The Norman style featured massive piers, round arches, and thick walls that usually supported timber roofs, although the Cathedral of Durham, the grandest Norman church, has a stone vault over both nave and aisles.

    Gothic architecture

    In this architectural style it is pointed arches, soaring lines and height that predominate. In Britain, Gothic architecture is typified by the Early English, Decorated and Perpendicular styles.

    Early English (Early Gothic) style

    This style appeared about 1150 and was probably inspired by French architecture. The Frenchman William of Sens built the choir of Canterbury Cathedral with the narrow, pointed windows typical of this style. Salisbury Cathedral is perhaps the most complete example of Early English architecture.

    Decorated style

    This began about 1250. Piers and vaults became complex. The distinguishing feature of this style is the broad pointed window in the upper part of the wall decorated with tracery.

    Perpendicular style

    This style of architecture was wide spread in the 14^th and 15^th centuries. It is characterised chiefly by large windows with vertical lines of tracery. Examples of this style are the chapel of King's College, Cambridge, St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle and several of the older colleges at Oxford and Cambridge.

    Tudor architecture

    By 1500 the Tudor peace that suppressed the private armies of feudalism made fortifications unnecessary. Compton Wynyates in Warwickshire is a manor house with large windows on the outside as well as opening onto the courtyard. It was built not as a castle but as a home. 
 

III. Translate the following word combinations into Russian:

    except for traces; their towers punctuated by tiny windows; a simple style characterised by…; deep-set windows, pointed arches, inspired by…; the distinguishing feature; decorated with tracery. 
 

IV. Give English equivalents of the Russian words and expressions:

    следы романской архитектуры, свидетельствовать о бедности, закругление арки, каменный свод, стрельчатые арки, узкие стрельчатые окна, украшенные ажурной каменной резьбой, отличительная черта этого стиля, церковь Св. Джорджа. 
 

V. Say that you know (you've read, heard, seen) it too:

1. I know when the Anglo-Saxons invaded England in the 5^th century, four centuries of Roman Britain came to the end.
2. I've read that Anglo-Saxon architecture is a simple style characterised by small, deep-set windows, rounded arches, and alternate long and short angle stones.
3. I've heard that Gothic architecture is typified by the Early English, Decorated and Perpendicular styles.
4. I know that Early English style appeared about 1150 and was probably inspired by French architecture.
5. I've read that Salisbury cathedral is the most complete example of Early English architecture.
6. I've heard that the Perpendicular style was wide spread in the 14^th and 15^th centuries.
7. I know that by 1500 the Tudor peace made fortifications unnecessary.
8. I've read that Compton Wynyates in Warwickshire is a manor house.

 
 

VI. Agree or disagree:

1. Anglo-Saxon architecture is a simple style characterised by small deep-set windows rounded arches and alternate long and short angle stones.
2. Gothic architecture isn't typified by the Early English, Decorated and Perpendicular styles.
3. The Early English style was inspired by the Russian architecture.
4. The classical style was wide spread in the 14^th and 15^th centuries.
5. The chapel of King's college, Cambridge and St. George's chapel at Windsor castle are examples of Perpendicular style.
6. By 1500 the Tudor peace made necessary the appearance of a lot of fortifications, fortresses and forts.
7. Roman Britain came to the end when the Normans invaded Britain.
8. The Frenchman William of Sens built the choir of Canterbury Cathedral.

 
 

VII. How many true sentences can you make about the styles of British architecture:

 
 

VIII. Ask your classmates:

1. when the Early English style appeared;

2. if four centuries of Roman Britain came to the end in the 5^th century;
3. who built the choir of Canterbury cathedral;
4. if the Early English style was inspired by French architecture;
5. what the most complete example of Early English architecture is;
6. when the Perpendicular style was wide spread;

7. what the distinguishing feature of the Decorated style is;

8. if only a few churches are left in Britain from the Dark Ages;
9. what Anglo-Saxon architecture is characterised by;
10. what made fortifications unnecessary.

 
 

IX. Complete the sentences:

1. By 1500 the Tudor peace that suppressed the private armies of feudalism…
2. Salisbury cathedral is perhaps…
3. The Early English style appeared about…
4. Except for traces of the Roman wall across northern England and parts of the baths at Bath…
5. Gothic architecture is typified by…
6. The Frenchman William of Sens built…
7. Perpendicular style is characterised by…
8. Anglo-Saxon architecture is a simple style, characterised by…
9. From the Dark Ages only…
10. Compton Wynyates in Warwickshire is…

 
 

X. Give the beginning of the sentences:

1. …four centuries of Roman Britain came to an end.
2. …massive piers, round arches, thick walls that usually supported timber roofs.
3. …pointed arches, soaring lines and heights that is predominate.
4. …was wide spread in the 15^th and the 14^th centuries.
5. …not as a castle but as a home.
6. …little remains from the Roman years.
7. …deep-set windows, rounded arches and alternate long and short angle stones.
8. …pointed windows are typical of this style.
9. …with vertical lines of tracery.
10. …has a stone vault over both nave and aisles.

 
 

XI. Find the derivatives of the words:

architecture

north

test

character

Roman

impose

dominate

type

necessary

side