The dating found here is based on the work of John James, and is meant on this site to serve as a starting point. James' dating is derived from a system that uses his interpretation of the development of capitals over time as the basis for chronology, among other factors. His goal is to refine the dating to within years rather than decades. I have not fully embraced James' methodology, and will be developing this page from its current state to one which is admittedly more conservative. The relative expenditure values found in the Timeline are also based on James' work, and I believe these to be reasonably reliable. They are intended only to give a sense of the amount of work involved in each decade.

I have added the idea of the "project" as a way of separating work in buildings. In my mind, a "project" is a discrete section of work in a building that resulted from the one-time acquisition of funding. "Projects" are generally separated by at least a decade where no work was being done. It is my view that it would have been unwise to start a "project" that could not be finished and protected from the elements, and as such a "project" usually involved a wing or multiple wings of a building, from floor to roof. Rural churches, which could only secure small amounts of funding at irregular intervals, often were the result of many small projects, while the great churches, which benefitted from relatively consistent funding, may have involved only a few large projects.

30

268

142

10

49

1060s

1070s

1080s

1090s

1100s

1110s

1120s

1130s

1140s

1150s

1160s

1170s

1180s

1190s

1200s

1210s

1220s

1230s

1240s

1250s

The apse with buttresses and simple windows to 5 or 6 courses was possibly built before the nave; the interior shafts were added along with the vaults; chapel on the south intended but not built above possible joint at s-s sill;

Nave arcade with aisles; the eastern bays of the aisles were omitted; there were many campaigns; the narthex was built with the nave, though the axis was offset;

The nave clerestory in a number of campaigns; the wall arches are lower on the north than on the south and in the upper narthex there is a junction just under the barrel vault where the pilasters change;

Transepts and north chapel added on to earlier apse over six campaigns;

Interior shafts to the apse were added with the vaults;

Tower I

Tower II

Upper walls of transepts with tracery