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.

145

48

8

288

170

226

52

53

65

1060s

1070s

1080s

1090s

1100s

1110s

1120s

1130s

1140s

1150s

1160s

1170s

1180s

1190s

1200s

1210s

1220s

1230s

1240s

1250s

Narthex and arched entry and unadorned tower I-III, crossing and apse.

Nave aisles and arcades butt up against crossing without provision for ribs; some of these capitals are in the Cluny museum

Crossing piers both east and west including provisions for rib vaults to the crossing and the nave; as this campaign was only on the aisle side of the piers suggests that the older apse was still in place and this was wrapped around the outside.

Tower IV

Paired shafts for east side of a smaller crossing, built within the earlier shafts.

Nave clerestory with some capitals recarved in the designs of contemporary carvers

Crossing pier on the southwest not designed for ribs and vault completed in a number of campaigns

Choir triforium

Choir clerestory.

Hemicycle vault and flyers.

Nave vaults.

Completion of remaining choir vaults.

Choir gallery reduced in height and windows enlarged.