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ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE 457
known as
sexpartite with (i.e. an extra transverse rib in each
But it is curious to
bay, meeting the diagonal ribs at the centre).
note that the structural system as a whole appears to be a curious
compromise between the Anglo-Norman thick/wall system
and the newly developed buttress structure ofnorthern France.
However this may be, undoubtedly Canterbury was a major
means ofthe introduction of up-to/date French ideas which had
immense influence throughout the country. One characteristic
ofthe Canterbury work was particularly influential; that was
the use of special marble-like stone imported from Dorset for
use in the subordinate shafts, so as to enhance the effect ofthe
linear pattern made by these shafts by the contrast of their
textures and colour with that of the main stone used in the
building. This fashion of contrasting materials for the sub
ordinate shafts and the main building material which formed
their background had an immediate success and was imitated
far and wide, first at Chichester and Rochester, then on an ex
aggerated scale at Lincoln, and from thence spread all over the
country in the course of the thirteenth century. It is likely that
thescheme came originally from the north-eastern part ofFrance
and the adjacent parts ofthe Low Countries where there was an
abundant supply of black marble from Tournai, but the de
struction ofmuch ofthe important medieval building in those
areas has rather obscured the question. The prestige ofthe great
cathedral monastery at Canterbury, more particularly in the
years following the martyrdom of St. Thomas Becket, ensured
that its example should be known and imitated far and wide.
The most ambitious ofthe early imitations was that begun by
St. Hugh at Lincoln in 1192, when the rebuilding of the
eastern parts of the great cathedral church was undertaken.
In plan the eastern
parts of Lincoln as begun at that time are
very clearly derived from the new work at Canterbury, and the
imitation extends to details of capitals, ofthe vaulting in parts
of the church, and above all to the prodigal use of Purbeck
marble for subordinate shafts. Two interesting and significant
departures from the Canterbury model can, however, be ob
served at Lincoln. First, the number of subordinate shafts is