The Nave and West Front
The west towers, west front, arcades, clerestory and presbytery arch, replacing the Norman east crossing arch, were built in a specialised version of Early English style associated with the West Country. The arcades were built from west to east, in order to leave the Norman nave and transepts undisturbed as long as possible. As the 37' module was abandoned in this work, and as the east end of the nave 17 is at a considerable distance to the west of the east face of the transept (Figures 1,10), the presumed Norman aisle windows would have been out of step with the new arcades, as the south door still is.
There are affinities in the Early English work with Wells Cathedral, which was under construction from c. 1175 onwards,18 e.g. in the design of the piers, which consist of a core with straight edges and attached triplet shafts, in the bold chamfering, and in the tendency to omit capitals. The two cathedrals also share important geometrical features. It may be conjectured therefore that one or more of the master masons at Wells also designed the Early English work at Llandaff.
As we have seen, the Early English masons were presented with existing aisle walls with their outer faces aligned on 37' module lines. In practice the north aisle wall bends towards the south in its progress westward and the internal width at the west end of the nave is 64 feet. As the Norman west end was probably situated immediately to the west of the skeleton line in Figure 1, if not 37 feet to the west of this, it must have been demolished before the fourth piers from the west were built, i.e. before the change in design which occurs at this point (Figure 6, contrast the two piers). Bearing in mind that the Early English masons reset the present north door, they were probably also responsible for the western part of the north aisle wall. It is shown later that the north presbytery aisle wall is bent for geometrical reasons. It is possible to speculate as to whether the Early English masons bent the north nave aisle wall deliberately, in order to make the internal width at the west end equal to a geometrically derived value d (described below) in round figures.
There are affinities in the Early English work with Wells Cathedral, which was under construction from c. 1175 onwards,18 e.g. in the design of the piers, which consist of a core with straight edges and attached triplet shafts, in the bold chamfering, and in the tendency to omit capitals. The two cathedrals also share important geometrical features. It may be conjectured therefore that one or more of the master masons at Wells also designed the Early English work at Llandaff.
As we have seen, the Early English masons were presented with existing aisle walls with their outer faces aligned on 37' module lines. In practice the north aisle wall bends towards the south in its progress westward and the internal width at the west end of the nave is 64 feet. As the Norman west end was probably situated immediately to the west of the skeleton line in Figure 1, if not 37 feet to the west of this, it must have been demolished before the fourth piers from the west were built, i.e. before the change in design which occurs at this point (Figure 6, contrast the two piers). Bearing in mind that the Early English masons reset the present north door, they were probably also responsible for the western part of the north aisle wall. It is shown later that the north presbytery aisle wall is bent for geometrical reasons. It is possible to speculate as to whether the Early English masons bent the north nave aisle wall deliberately, in order to make the internal width at the west end equal to a geometrically derived value d (described below) in round figures.