1842.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



121 



ON SPIRES. 



We have already borrowed largely from the Penny Cyclopaedia, on 

 the subject of staircases, and now similarly avail ourselves of the article 

 "Spire," which is certainly the most complete and most original we 

 have ever yet met with. In fnct, scarcely anything at all relative to 

 spires is to be found in preceding publications, — not even in those 

 which profess to be strictly architectural. They give us little more 

 than an explanation of the term, and some not even that ; at least, such 

 is the case with Nicholson's Architectural Dictionarv, where, unac- 

 countable as it may seem, the word "Spire" is altogether omitted! 

 Besides calling attention to a variety of interesting particulars that 

 seem to have entirely escaped the observation of others, the writer of 

 the article in the Penny Cylopsdia has suggested several new and 

 expressive terms that, in our opinion, are wpU worthy of being generally 

 adopted. We are aware that some persons object" to any innovations 

 of tliR kind, yet if they are found to be really useful, and to enrich the 

 terminology of the art, there can be no impropriety in adopting them; 

 neither is there any greater difficulty attending' tlie introduction of 

 them than arises from the attempt to revive terms which have become 

 so entirely obsolete, that their original meanings can now only be 

 vaguely guessed at, so that there is danger of the terms so rescued 

 from oblivion being applied very differently from what they were 

 while they were in use. 



"Spire (in German Spitze, or Thmn-Spitze; in French, F/<'cZ'(?, from 

 its resemblance to the pointed tip of an arrow ; but the Latin spira 

 signifies a coil, or spiral line, and not an upright cone or pyramid). 

 The term belongs to Gothic architecture, and is used to designate the 

 tapering pyramidal mass erected on a tower by way of finish and orna- 

 ment. That so little relative to spires is said in works on Gothic 

 architecture is the more remarkable, because, in proportion to the 

 number of examples, they exhibit more variety than almost any other 

 separate feature in edifices in that style. Though the spire is'a very 

 striking feature in a building, it has nothing to recommend it on the 

 score of direct utility. It is a mere external appendage to an edifice, 

 since it does not, like the dome, contribute to anv kind of effect what- 

 ever internally, a circumstance that seems to have been overlooked bv 

 Mr. A. W. Pugin, for else he would hardly have made it a reproach 

 against the architect of St. Paul's, that the exterior dome of that fabric 

 is merely for effect. Though the same objection might be made to 

 the spire, we are far from urging it: mere utility is a low test of merit 

 in architecture, and although this merit cannot be claimed for this 

 feature in Gothic architecture, we hold the spire to be one of para- 

 mount value in it, inasmuch as that pyramidal figure concentrates all 

 its principles and characteristics, rendering it most eminentlv the 

 Pointed style. So considered, the spire may be said to be the' key- 

 stone of the whole idea of such style ; — that 'which visibly completes 

 if. It serves, moreover, to impart an air of graceful lightness to the 

 whole of a building, and to correct — if we may so express it— what 

 might else be excess of length as compared with the general height of 

 a structure, by giving a corresponding degree of loftiness to one 

 portion of it. 



" The origin of the spire, like that of the pointed arch, is merely 

 Matter of conjecture. The probability is that it arose out of the peaked 

 roof usually given to campaniles and towers of a preceding period, 

 which form was afterwards gradually improved upon and refined, till 

 it eventually grew up into the slender tapering spire. According to 

 such supposition, we would rpfer to the tower of Than church in 

 Normandy, as an example exhibiting the rudiments of the spire, it 

 being no more than a steep peaked roof or low pyramid, whose height 

 does not exceed three-fourths of its bsse. A peak of this kind differs 

 also from the spire, both in being the same in plan as the tower on 

 which it is placed, and in being mimediately set upon it, whereas the 

 spire is almost invariably an octagon or other polygon, and is surrounded 

 at Its base with a parapet. In Italy, where campaniles are usually 

 detached square towers of very slender or lofty proportions, the spire 

 IS almost unknown, for such towers liave seldom more than a mere 

 pyramidal roof or peak, which, though it may be considered as the 

 germ from which the Gothic spire was afterwards developed, is in 

 Itself of quite different character ; vet, at the same time, that of each 

 IS best adapted to the respective st'yle. There are some few instances 

 of square spires ; among them a very singular one at Egeln in Ger- 

 many, where two such spires are set immediately together upon the 

 same tower. But however slender in their proportions such spires 

 may otherwise be, they liave a certain heavy massiveness of form. 

 When therefore, greater loftiness and lightness were aimed at in this 



feature, the adoption of a polygonal plan for it became almost matte 

 of course, for although in a geometrical drawing the oeneral outline 

 and proportions of a spire are the same whether it be square or 

 octangular in plan, the perspective or actual appearance is widely 

 different; because in the latter case the diagonal breadth of the square 

 tower below is cut off", and each side or plane of which the spire is 

 composed becomes a much more pointed triangle. Besides which 

 the polygonal spire produces a degree of contrast and variety bifhly 

 favourable to general effect in the pointed style." ' ^ 



* * * ■ * 



" There are so many peculiarities in spires, that it is hio'hly 

 desirable to have descriptive terms for them. First, as regards' its 

 base, a spire may be said to be Cliisler-based, when surrounded below 

 with pinnacles connected with it, and from among which it seems to 

 spring up ; of which kind St. Mary's Oxford, is a celebrated example. 

 The H6tel-(le-V'ille, at Ypres, has a spire clustered with four exceed- 

 ingly tall pinnacles or lesser spires. Where there are windows placed 

 against a spire, risisg vpright like the dormers or lucarnes on a foro, 

 the term Lncarned would express that character; we have therefore 

 not scrupled to make use of it in the annexed table of spires, where it 

 is applied, among others, to those of Lichfield catliedral, which have 

 several tiers of such windows, and are described accordingly. Crock- 

 etted and Banded are terms requiring no explanation; but in regard to 

 the first it may be remarked, that spires, otherwise quite pla?n, are 

 sometimes ornamented with crocket<s along their edo-es ; and with 

 respect to hands, they are sometimes little more than string mouldings, 

 but in other cases broad and enriched surfaces. Many of the spires 

 in Normandy are ornamented with such a number of bands, that they 

 form alternating courses with the plain spaces between them. Fini- 

 alled is a term which does not apply to anv of our English spires; 

 but that of St. Stephen's, Vienna, and some other contiiiental spires, 

 have an exceedingly large and rich finial, which ornament gives them 

 a particular boldness of expression. The Taheniacie-spire also is one 

 of which there is no example in this country, but of which the one just 

 mentioned, and those of Strassburg, Ulm (as designed), Thann in 

 Alsace, and many others, are specimens, the tower and spire being 

 carried up from the ground in a succession of diminishing stages, all 

 profusely adorned with pannelling, niches, canopies, pinnacles, and 

 other tabernacle-work, in such a manner that it is barely possible to 

 distinguish where the upright portion or tower terminates, and the 

 spire itself begins, tlie latter seeming little more than the uppermost 

 stage in continuation of the rest. Neither have we any instances of 

 Open-imrk spires, or of such as, if not actually perforated, are yet 

 entirely covered with tracery. That at Freyburg,'and those at Burgos 

 and Batalha, are all exceeiHiiCTly rich specimens of the kind. The 

 chapter-house of Burgos also has a series of very large pinnacles or 

 small spires of tabernacle character. Cambrai aiid Esslingen on the 

 Neckar afford other examples of open-work spires. 



" There are various other circumstances which, though they do not 

 affect the spire itself, produce greater or less difference in regard to 

 the character of the structure of w hich it is a component feature. Very 

 much, for instance, depends upon its situation in the general plan: at 

 Salisbury, Norwich, and Chichester, the spire is raised upon a tower 

 at the intersection of the cross, or in the centre of the plan ; whereas 

 in most continental cathedrals and large churches there are two spires 

 on the towers of the west front, though in some instances (StrasburCT, 

 Antwerp) only one has been erected. Several, however, have a sinufe 

 tower and spire in the centre of the west front (Ulm, Freyburgli, 

 Thann in Alsace), in which case the tower itself begins to diminish 

 almost from the ground, and the whole becomes what we have de- 

 scribed as of the tabernacle character. In most of our English churches 

 (not cathedrals,) the spire is placed upon a tower at the west end, as 

 at Grantham, Louth, Bloxham, &c. If we except Peterborough, where 

 they are very diminutive, the only English cathedral which has two 

 western spires is Lichfield, which is further remarkable as having a 

 central tower and spire also. Besides the richness and variety thus 

 produced, the larger central spire serves to balance the whole coraao- 

 sition, whereas else the body of the structure is apt to look low' io 

 comparison with the west end. At St. Stephen's, Vienna, the tower 

 and spire are singularly placed on the south side of the edifi:?, it 

 having been intended to balance them by a corresponding tower on 

 the north side. At Gehihausen, on the contrary, there is a group of 

 spires, as already noticed, at the east end." 



Haying extracted so largely from this article, we must refer our 

 readers to the Penny CyclopsJia itself for the remainder, transferring 

 to our own pages tlie annexed Table : — 



