A fan vault is a form of vault used in the Gothic style, 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 Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The earliest example, dating from about 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. The fan vault is peculiar to England. The lierne vault of the cathedral of Barbastro in northern Spain closely resembles a fan vault, but it does not form a perfect conoid. John Harvey (1978) suggests

Catherine of Aragon Catherine of Aragon (also spelt as Katherine, historical Spanish: , now: ; 16 December 1485 – 7 January 1536) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England as the Wives of Henry VIII, first wife of King Henry VIII from their marr ...

as a possible source of English influence in

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

Birth of the fan vault

The fan vault is attributed to development in

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

between 1351 and 1377, with the earliest known surviving example being the east cloister walk of Gloucester Cathedral. Harvey (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 Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

of Cambridge, Gloucestershire, who left in 1364 to work on the

chapter house A chapter house or chapterhouse is a building or room that is part of a cathedral, monastery or collegiate church in which meetings are held. When attached to a cathedral, the cathedral chapter meets there. In monasteries, the whole communi ...

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 fil ...

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

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

Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The l ...

, Chapel ceiling – a spectacular example of plaster pendant fan vaulting *

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, crossing tower by John Wastell, Henry VI's chantry chapel *

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, 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, Somerset, under the tower * Church of St. John the Baptist, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, porch and north chapel * Collegiate Church of St Mary, Warwick, Dean's Chapel * Convocation House, Oxford * Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, main gateway *

Ely Cathedral Ely Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Ely, is an Church of England, Anglican cathedral in the city of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. The cathedral can trace its origin to the abbey founded in Ely in 67 ...

, Bishop Alcock's chantry chapel * Eton College Chapel (the vault dates from 1958) * Hampton Court Palace, Great Gate and oriel window in the Great Hall * Henry VII's Lady Chapel, Westminster Abbey, London, 1503–1509 (with pendants, by William Vertue) * Lincoln's Inn Chapel, undercroft *

Manchester Cathedral Manchester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Mary, St Denys and St George, in Manchester, England, is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Manchester, seat of the Bishop of Manchester and the c ...

, under the tower * Milton Abbey, Dorset, crossing (by William Smyth) * Peterborough Cathedral, Cambridgeshire, retrochoir *Red Mount Chapel, King's Lynn * Sherborne Abbey, Dorset, quire c. 1430, nave c. 1490 (by William Smyth) *St Andrew's Church, Cullompton, Devon, south aisle * St Bartholomew's Church, Tong, Shropshire, chantry chapel * St David's Cathedral, Wales, Trinity Chapel * St Mary Aldermary, London (by

Christopher Wren Sir Christopher Wren FRS (; – ) was an English architect, astronomer, mathematician and physicist who was one of the most highly acclaimed architects in the history of England. Known for his work in the English Baroque style, he was ac ...

) * St Mary's Church, North Leigh, Oxfordshire, Wilcote chantry chapel *St Mary's Church, Ottery St Mary, Devon, aisle *St Stephen's cloister at the

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(1529) * St. George's Chapel, Windsor, crossing, Urswick chantry chapel * Tewkesbury Abbey, cloister (only one bay remains) * University College, Oxford, gatehouse vaults * University Church of St Mary the Virgin, Oxford, porch * Wells Cathedral, crossing (by William Smyth) *

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, Parliament of Canada,

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* Eastnor Castle, drawing room * Grand Theatre,

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

* Harkness Tower,

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, New Haven, Connecticut, USHarkness Tower Memorial Hall
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lobbies, committee staircase, in the

* John Rylands Library, baconcy, Manchester * Middlesex Guildhall, Westminster * Palau de la Música Catalana, Barcelona * Basilica Minore de San Sebastián, Manila, Philippines * St John's,

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* 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, South Carolina, US * Washington National Cathedral, Washington, DC, US (Children's Chapel) * Wills Memorial Building, University of Bristol * Cathedral Basilica of Christ the King, Hamilton, Ontario

References