The medieval cloister in England and Wales

in order to provide a continental context for claustral design in England and Wales, the paper concentrates on four aspects of the Latin medieval cloister: its origins, uses, architecture and imagery. The subject of the origins of the medieval cloister is treated separately; the rest of the paper concentrates on the cloister between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries

between the early twelfth and late-thirteenth centuries, a number of royal and episcopal residences incorporated or were planned around covered walkways, for which the word `cloister' was sometimes used. The form may have originated in monastic planning conventions, although the two earliest survivals, the twelfth-century episcopal palaces at Sherborne and Old Sarum, were configured differently to each other. By the mid-twelfth-century, cloisters had also been adopted for entirely secular palaces, including the royal retreat at Everswell, for which alternative prototypes in Islamic architecture have also been suggested. Thirteenth-century documents indicate that several cloisters were associated with queens, and suggest that cloisters had come to be regarded as adjuncts of the garden and the chamber rather than the church or domestic chapel

the paper, along with its companion on Cistercian cloister arcades, brings together a number of reconstruction studies. A summary presentation is given in the form of a series of reconstruction drawings, and a brief commentary is given on the form and detail of each reconstruction. Mention is also made of other surviving cloister fragments. The presentation brings together a selection of reconstructions indicating the diversity of design and decoration of twelfth- and thirteenth-century cloister arcades throughout England, Wales and Scotland

it is argued that the uniformity of Cistercian claustral ranges allows for a level of analysis beyond the functional attribution of different spaces, and that, even in the absence of sculptural iconographic schemes, it is possible to detect meaning in surviving remains. The paper shows the entrances from the east cloister alley into the various rooms of the east range to be carefully nuanced and to display a range of meanings. While the importance of the chapter-house is stressed by the architectural enrichment of its façade, the relative status of the book room and the parlour appears to have changed over time

it is argued that complex and spatially adventurous vaults were a critical element in the development of Decorated architecture, and that by the second quarter of the fourteenth century the West Country had become a significant region within England for experiments in vaulting designs. The paper examines the history of late medieval vaulting from the perspective of a series of West Country cloisters in order to assess the role of the cloister in the evolution and development of lierne vaulting in late medieval England. It is shown that the meditative, liturgical and processional uses of cloisters made them a showcase for extravagant architectural effects. A number of particular vault designs were employed, two of which -- the fan and the lierne -- became the preferred options for prestige projects in the early-fifteenth century. Fan and lierne vaults were not in competition for recognition or status and both were fundamental to the creation of the Perpendicular cloister