Transcribed from the 1864 Courant Office edition by DavidPrice,
ON THE ARCHITECTURAL
History of Chester Cathedral.
BY THOMAS RICKMAN,
WITH ANINTRODUCTORY MEMOIR.
A PAPER READBEFORE
The Architectural,Archæological, and Historic Society
of Chester.
BY THE REV. CANON BLOMFIELD.
CHESTER:
PRINTED AT THE COURANT OFFICE, NORTHGATESTREET.
1864.
p. 3ON THE
Architectural History of Chester Cathedral,
BY THOMAS RICKMAN,
WITH AN
INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR BY THE REV. CANON BLOMFIELD.
The MS. of the following Report byThomas Rickman, on the Architectural features of ChesterCathedral, has been for many years in the possession of agentleman in Chester, [3a] but has never yetappeared in print. It is supposed to have been drawn up atthe request of Dean Cholmondeley, who was one of Rickman’searly patrons, and the date of it may be fixed at about1812. It is therefore probably the earliest specimen of hisstyle of architectural analysis. As, at the same time, itaffords a valuable specimen of the accuracy of his observation,and the clearness of his discriminative judgment, it is thoughtright to present it to the public, through the medium of theChester Architectural and Archæological Society.
The name of Thomas Rickman is familiar to every student ofGothic Architecture, as the author of the clearest and mostcomprehensive text book on the subject. He was the first toelucidate the true characteristics of Gothic Architecture, andreduce them to a simple and intelligible system. Thenomenclature which is now universally received, was first broughtinto use by him. For though he adopted the title of“Early English” from Miller, who had suggested it in1805, [3b] and that of “Decorated”from Britton, who applied it in his description of MalmesburyAbbey, in 1807; [3c] yet he was the first person who reallygave substance and meaning to those terms by assigning to eachits proper characteristics. The term“Perpendicular” he himself invented, as describingthe features of the later style. Thus, arranging p. 4the wholeseries of Ecclesiastical buildings in this country under the fourdivisions of Norman, Earl