The Architecture of the English Medieval Cathedral (Online)



Overview

Attracting millions of visitors every year from all corners of the globe, England’s cathedrals rank amongst the greatest achievements of medieval culture. They also provide important insights into the country’s religious, social and architectural heritage.

In this course you will explore the architecture of the English cathedral from its relatively humble beginnings in the Anglo-Saxon period to the turbulent impact of the Reformation in the 16th century and beyond. Placing these developments against a rich historical and cultural backdrop, you will examine fixtures and fittings and decorations that help us to understand how these buildings originally appeared, and engage with the dynamic story of changing architectural style.

Cathedrals have long been the centre of their community, occupying an imposing position in the landscape. Their rich architecture reflects changing fashions in stylistic taste and evolving religious ideas. Ultimately, each – from Winchester Cathedral to York Minster – is an attempt to evoke an experience of Heaven on Earth.

This course will explore the English medieval cathedral as a developing institution which survived over a thousand years of religious upheaval and historical change, focusing on the multifaceted architecture of these truly great churches.

Programme details

The course is broken down into 10 units over 10 weeks, each requiring approximately 10 hours of study time. The following topics are covered:

Week 1: Opening themes

  • Time
  • Culture
  • Place
  • Cathedrals and other churches
  • Great churches

Week 2: Observing and worshiping within cathedral architectural space

  • Looking at buildings
  • Form and style
  • A cathedral plan
  • The cathedral in three dimensions
  • The cathedral interior
  • Architecture and worship
  • Architecture and liturgy
  • Medieval Christianity
  • The Eucharist

Week 3: Cathedral architecture: function and faith manifest

  • Fittings: screens, doors and altars
  • Other elements of worship
  • Ideas about the afterlife
  • Shrines and tombs
  • Sacred spaces
  • Architectural symbolism and decoration
  • Ancillary buildings

Week 4: the Anglo-Saxon cathedrals, c.600 - c.1070

  • Medieval society
  • Medieval time: the modern view
  • Landmark events
  • Case study I: Canterbury
  • Time: the medieval view
  • The roots of cathedrals
  • The later Anglo-Saxon cathedrals
  • Case study II: The old minster, Winchester

Week 5: The Romanesque cathedrals: Normans and Angevins, c.1066 - 1250

  • Architecture and invasion
  • Romanesque cathedral architecture
  • Recognising Romanesque
  • Conquering: the 1070s
  • Conqueror: the 1080s
  • Conquered: the 1090s
  • Case study III: Durham
  • The Romanesque achievement

Week 6: From Romanesque to Gothic, c.1110 - c.1200

  • 12th century cultural developments
  • Romanesque in the 12th century
  • Gothic origins and understanding Gothic
  • Style in the late 12th century
  • Developments in form
  • The pattern of building, c1170 - c.1250
  • The late 12th century rebuilds and 'cathedralness'
  • Case study IV: Lincoln

Week 7: The Early English cathedrals, c.1200 - c.1270

  • Early English building patterns
  • Understanding Early English
  • The Episcopal style
  • The screen façade
  • Innovations
  • Case study V: Salisbury

Week 8: Decorated cathedrals – the later Middle Ages, 1250-1350

  • The decorated style: development and patterns of building
  • Understanding Decorated
  • Decorated: form and articulation
  • Micro-architecture and masons
  • Polygonal spaces: Lady Chapels and chapter houses
  • Case study VI: Exeter
  • Inventing perpendicular

Week 9: The perpendicular cathedrals, c.1350 - c.1530

  • Architecture and society: the late medieval period
  • Perpendicular cathedrals: the pattern of building
  • Understanding perpendicular
  • Perpendicular bell towers
  • The cage chantry
  • Iconography and meaning
  • Case study VII: Winchester (and Bath)
  • Late or Tudor perpendicular

Week 10: The Reformation and afterwards

  • Reformation and dissolution
  • Case study VIII: York and its saints
  • The impact of reform
  • The cathedrals, c.1550 - c.1850
  • From the 19th century to the present day

We strongly recommend that you try to find a little time each week to engage in the online conversations (at times that are convenient to you) as the forums are an integral, and very rewarding, part of the course and the online learning experience.

Textbooks

To participate in the course you will need to have regular access to the Internet and you will need to buy the following textbooks:

  • Cannon, J., Medieval Church Architecture (Shire, 2014) ISBN 9780747812128
  • Jenkins, S., England’s Cathedrals (Little Brown, 2016) ISBN 9781408706459
  • Orme, N., The History of England’s Cathedrals (Yale University Press, 2024) ISBN 9780300275483

Please note that Orme’s The History of England’s Cathedrals was reprinted in 2024. If you are unable to obtain a copy of the latest edition, the page numbers in the 2017 (Impress) edition are the same as the 2024 reprint. Therefore, either edition is acceptable for studying the course.

Please ensure you are able to access copies of any required textbooks prior to enrolling on a course but please keep in mind that courses with insufficient students enrolled will be cancelled. The Department accepts no responsibility for books bought in anticipation of a course running.

Certification

Credit Application Transfer Scheme (CATS) points 

To earn credit (CATS points) for your course you will need to register and pay an additional £30 fee for each course you enrol on. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online. If you do not register when you enrol, you have up until the course start date to register and pay the £30 fee. 

See more information on CATS point

Coursework is an integral part of all online courses and everyone enrolled will be expected to do coursework, but only those who have registered for credit will be awarded CATS points for completing work at the required standard. If you are enrolled on the Certificate of Higher Education, you need to indicate this on the enrolment form but there is no additional registration fee. 

Digital credentials

All students who pass their final assignment, whether registered for credit or not, will be eligible for a digital Certificate of Completion. Upon successful completion, you will receive a link to download a University of Oxford digital certificate. Information on how to access this digital certificate will be emailed to you after the end of the course. The certificate will show your name, the course title and the dates of the course you attended. You will be able to download your certificate or share it on social media if you choose to do so. 

Please note that assignments are not graded but are marked either pass or fail. 

Fees

Description Costs
Course fee £385.00
Take this course for CATS points £30.00

Funding

If you are in receipt of a UK state benefit, you are a full-time student in the UK or a student on a low income, you may be eligible for a reduction of 50% of tuition fees. Please see the below link for full details:

Concessionary fees for short courses

Tutor

Dr Elizabeth Evenden-Kenyon

Dr Elizabeth Evenden-Kenyon has a PhD from the University of York, where she researched the religious and political publications of the Tudor printer, John Day. She has extensive knowledge of the libraries and archives of English cathedrals, as well as churchwardens accounts across the nation, having worked with the British Academy John Foxe Project and published extensively on books housed in cathedrals and parish churches. She now is an established author on the religious history of the UK, and also a commentator on religion in contemporary politics. Her book about the history of political spin, from the Reformation to the 2019 General Election, was published digitally in December 2019, and in paperback in early 2020.

Course aims

This course aims to introduce students to the extraordinary architecture of the medieval English cathedral, exploring its development over time. 

By the end of this course students will be able to:

  1. understand the rich architectural story of the medieval English cathedral
  2. analyse how the architectural style developed over time
  3. distinguish ‘great churches’ from other types of church, and outline the specific role and attributes of the cathedral church
  4. name the key localities and features of a cathedral church and their associated functions and histories
  5. examine how medieval monastic and secular communities functioned, and how this impacted the resulting buildings

Learning outcomes

This course aims to introduce students to the extraordinary architecture of the medieval English cathedral, exploring their development over time. 

You will be expected to have gained the following skills:

  1. understand the rich architectural story of the medieval English cathedral
  2. analyse how the architectural style developed over time
  3. distinguish ‘great churches’ from other types of church, and outline the specific role and attributes of the cathedral church
  4. name the key localities and features of a cathedral church and their associated functions and histories
  5. examine how medieval monastic and secular communities functioned, and how this impacted the resulting buildings

Assessment methods

You will be set two pieces of work for the course. The first of 500 words is due halfway through your course. This does not count towards your final outcome but preparing for it, and the feedback you are given, will help you prepare for your assessed piece of work of 1,500 words due at the end of the course. The assessed work is marked pass or fail.

English Language Requirements

We do not insist that applicants hold an English language certification, but warn that they may be at a disadvantage if their language skills are not of a comparable level to those qualifications listed on our website. If you are confident in your proficiency, please feel free to enrol. For more information regarding English language requirements please follow this link: https://www.conted.ox.ac.uk/about/english-language-requirements

Application

Please use the 'Book' or 'Apply' button on this page. Alternatively, please complete an Enrolment form for short courses | Oxford University Department for Continuing Education

Level and demands

FHEQ level 4, 10 weeks, approx 10 hours per week, therefore a total of about 100 study hours.

IT requirements

This course is delivered online; to participate you must to be familiar with using a computer for purposes such as sending email and searching the Internet. You will also need regular access to the Internet and a computer meeting our recommended minimum computer specification.

Terms & conditions for applicants and students

Information on financial support