As others have noted, French cathedrals put an emphasis on soaring height. To build the cathedrals as tall as they were without having the walls collapse, the French used flying buttresses. These look like a row of columns outside the main building, connected to the main building by arches at the top of each column that press into the wall of the main structure and help hold it up.
English Gothic cathedrals did not put such a great emphasis on soaring toward heaven. They achieved a taller height than Romanesque cathedrals, however, through the use of lancets. These are tall, narrow windows that look lances with a point at the top. The fact that they were made of glass rather than stone meant they were lighter, so buildings could go higher without collapsing. The glass was narrow enough that it would not collapse either.
Another important difference between French and English Gothic cathedrals is the relationship between the facade of the buildings and the interior. French cathedrals tried to make facades and interiors work together, with facades, for example, inviting people inward to the interior. English Gothic, however, was not concerned with integrating the inside and outside of cathedrals.
Compared to the Romanesque period that precedes it, Gothic architecture exhibits a grand sense of proportion and light. Advancements in structural engineering during the High and Late Middle Ages, like pointed arches and flying buttresses, allowed architects to redistribute the weight of heavy stone materials. Finally, modern castles and cathedrals could soar stories above their predecessors.
French Gothic cathedrals were designed to emphasize their own verticality. On the inside, they often use elaborate tracery to draw the eye upward along slender, pointed arches directed toward decorative-yet-practical vaulted ceilings. On the outside, the thrust from the vault is distributed outward along flying buttresses and then down into the ground. The distribution of weight along these characteristic arches allows Gothic cathedrals to use thinner walls and larger windows, many of them stained glass housed in vertical bars that further emphasize the vertical scale and grandeur of the nave. For examples of French Gothic cathedrals, see Amiens, the tallest ever completed, and Notre-Dame, the most iconic.
If the French emphasized verticality, the English opted for horizontality. While the most impressive cathedrals in the French Gothic style reach well beyond 100 feet in height, many English Gothic cathedrals resemble Romanesque buildings in elevation. Unlike the relatively small footprint of the French, however, English Gothic cathedrals are often expansive in length. Where the French used visual adornments to draw attention to vertical lines, the English did the opposite, instead emphasizing the building's horizontal lines. The layers of English Gothic cathedrals are often subtly different in tone or texture, breaking the eye’s ascent toward the spire and redirecting it along the width of the facade. See Wells Cathedral in Somerset for an example.
English Gothic cathedrals use fewer flying buttresses because they are not as tall; however, just because you cannot see a buttress does not mean it is not there. Some architects chose to hide them beneath roof extensions in order to create a more cohesive and less ornate look. Salisbury Cathedral is a beautiful example of Gothic architecture using disguised buttresses.
Gothic architecture, an evolution of the earlier Romanesque style, found its footing in Middle Ages Europe. It was characterized by an ornate style featuring buttresses, vaulting, elaborate façades, and stained glass. The Gothic period coincided with the construction of some of Europe's great cathedrals and became a hallmark of ecclesiastical architecture.
English cathedrals were noted for the decreased emphasis placed on one of the characteristic elements of the Gothic style—flying buttresses. These support structures were of greater importance in French cathedrals which emphasized height over form.
English cathedrals also privileged symmetrical towers in their design and construction, a departure from the asymmetrical towers favored in France. Finally, English cathedrals generally employed fan vaulting in contrast to the ribbed vaulting used in French cathedrals of the Gothic period.
http://salisbury.art.virginia.edu/uva10312602956714
https://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/gothic
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