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458
MEDIEVAL ENGLAND
increased, sometimes without any structural justification, and
the effect of linear pattern^making is much more strongly
marked than at Canterbury. Secondly, though the sexpartite
system of vaulting is to be found in the eastern transepts and
rather later in the great transepts themselves which followed the
rexerection ofthe eastern limb ofthe church in the early years of
the thirteenth century, the main vessel of the eastern limb was
vaulted with an original system ofribbed vaults, the purpose of
which seems to have been to provide a consistent pattern ofribs
both for the normal bays ofthe choir itselfand for the larger bay
ofthe eastern crossing and thereby to avoid the interruption of
the pattern of the vaulting, which is a marked feature of the
Canterbury design, where the system changes from sexpartite
to quadripartite at that point.
Work on the church at Lincoln seems to have been conx
tinued steadily throughout the greater part of the thirteenth
century. The great transepts which were in building in the early
years ofthe century, one ofthe most remarkable features ofthe
church, are of exceptional breadth and aisled both east and
west. Work on the nave continued during the 1220*5 and
123 o's, and in the early 1240*5, under the episcopate of the
celebrated Grosseteste, the western parts of the church were
reached and the central lantern tower was rebuilt. The characx
ter of the work remains remarkably consistent throughout in
spite ofimportant changes, notably in the character ofthe vaults
and in the greater richness of the bay design, especially
at the
tribune level and in the clerestory (PL 80 a). At the west end of
the church the remarkable late eleventlvcentury western block,
which had already been enlarged and enriched in the mid'
twelfth century, was profoundly modified by having its
western face framed by a great screen wall which extended
considerably farther to the north and south and rose to a level
parapet line at the height of the twelfth/century gables. These
alterations were in part made necessary by the greater height
of the new thirteentlvcentury nave, but also offered a space
for large chapels built flanking the west end of the church to
the north and south outside the aisles. The nave vault shows