The fundamental principle behind toichology is observation. We can look for consistency in order to determine which portions of a building were constructed at the same time, or we can look for anomalies in order to find breaks in construction and changes in design concept. Usually, common sense will allow us to determine which portions of a building came before or after others, and this in turn allows us to develop a relative chronology. Further study of details and carving styles allows us to narrow the dating of those portions, and in the end we should be able to arrive at a convincing chronology of construction for any given building. On this page we present initial observations and speculate about the likely implications for chronology.

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Project B - Narthex/Tower Tower There are several vertical joints visible around the lowest level of the tower. Implications The base of the tower was the result of several campaigns of construction, each one marked by clear vertical joints. Three different wall constructions are visible in the photo - the central one of rubble may be from the original narthex, that on the right is a facing, and on the left is the west facade, one of the last portions of the church to be put in place.

Project B - Narthex/Tower Tower Entrance At the base of the stairs, a passage to the east has been filled in, and the new entrance has been created on the north. Implications It seems clear that the original stairs continued further down and to the east, which would have exited into the original church. When the new nave was constructed, it blocked the original stair entrance and it had to be relocated to the north.

Project B - Narthex/Tower Tower Stairs There is a dichotomy in the construction method of the stair vise, being rubble from ground to 60th tread, and cut ashlar above that to the 80th tread. Implications The lower portion of the tower stairs are in rubble construction and seem consistent with the construction of the crypt. They may be the remnants of the first church. The upper part of the stairs is later, when the tower was raised in tandem with the new nave. The use of single ashlar stones for each tread is quite different from the rubble construction of the lower part.

Project B - Narthex/Tower Tower Stair Windows There are windows on the north and west sides of the stair vise, some of which have been sealed off by later stonework. Implications The original stair vise needed small openings to light the stairs, and these remain on the interior, but those on the west side have been covered by later work. Those on the north side were preserved when the later facing was installed. The fact that some were covered over supports a theory that this staircase predates the other work at the west.

Project B - Narthex/Tower Tower Stair Treads All of the stair treads in the rubble portion of the vise are consistent, with one exception. The 29th tread is wider than the others, and today a short stairway leads up to the organ loft level of the tower, seen in the upper left of the photo. Implications It seems likely that there was also an upper level to the original narthex, and that this odd tread was intended to serve as a landing for the passage leading to it. That upper level must have had a wood floor.

Project B - Narthex/Tower Tower Ashlar The stair vise and exposed strip of rubble wall mentioned above are not consistent with the cut ashlar facing of the current tower. Implications The existence of rubblework in both the stair vise and the exposed strip of wall indicates that whatever existed earlier has been almost completely refaced with later ashlar work, inside and out. This photo shows how the windows on the north side of the stair vise were retained.

Project B - Narthex/Tower Tower Adaptations On the south side of the tower, which is more exposed than the west and north sides, there is an opening that has been blocked. Implications This opening is below the level of the tower floor, and has been completely covered on the interior side by the ashlar facing that was installed much later. It could be the remnants of a window or opening that was at the top of the original narthex, but it is surrounded by ashlar whereas the narthex is presumed to have been of rubble. It may be that this opening was intended to illuminate the interior of the narthex as part of the adaptations in preparation for the tower, but before it was decided to line the interior of the narthex with new ashlar and rib vault. There may have been a similar opening on the west, which was adapted to serve as the later window. The stair vise is on the north, but the rubble portion terminates at about the level of the bottom of the south window.

Project B - Narthex/Tower Tower Adaptations The portion of the tower above the roof has been cleverly adapted to provide greater support for the upper parts of the tower and to convert the base of the tower from quite rectangular to nearly square. Implications At some point a decision was made not to remove the original narthex but to strengthen it in order to support a taller tower. The narthex of the original church was wider from north to south than from east to west, but towers, especially those with spires, needed to be nearly square. It was also the case that the walls of the narthex were not thick enough to support the weight of a much taller tower. Observation of the inner and outer walls of the base of the new tower (photo) shows what appear to be relieving arches visible in the masonry. On the north and south sides (photo bottom), the new wall was built over the existing, and the wall was thickened toward the interior, the arches serving to support this thickening which would otherwise have no support underneath. On the west side (photo top), the wall was again built over the original, but on this side the arch was placed on the exterior, perhaps between original western buttresses, and the wall was thickened toward the exterior. The effect was to shift the plan of the base from rectangular to close to square. No relieving arch is currently visible in photos of either side of the east wall.

Project B - Narthex/Tower Tower Adaptations The transition from the original narthex to the tower base occurred in three steps. Implications First, the original narthex was prepared for the transition. Then, the relieving arches were set and the walls were thickened. Finally, there are three distinctly different courses of stone above the interior relieving arches. The lower two include the squinches in the corners, intended to support the corner pilasters above. The third course is much narrower, and seems intended to establish a level base for the next level of the tower. These three courses correspond to the scalloped transition on the exterior.

Project B - Narthex/Tower Tower Design The second level of the tower has arched openings on all four sides. Implications The presence of detailing on the east side of the tower at this level indicates that the designers believed it would be exposed, or were at least unclear on whether it would be. There was no reason to spend extra money on detailing that would never be seen. However, the decision about how to connect the nave and tower was likely still an open question at this point.

Project B - Narthex/Tower Upper Tower and Spire The design of the third level of the tower and the spire are consistent with one another. Implications The use of continuous moldings at both levels indicates likely contemporaneity. the only other part of the building that has continuous moldings is the apse of the choir, suggesting that these two parts of the building may be contemporaneous.