 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Byland Abbey: History
Byland Abbey: Buildings
|
The design and layout of the church Byland was the first church in the North of England to make a complete transition to the Gothic style of architecture, which created a sense of space, light and freedom of style.(8) This was reinforced by the church’s décor. The interior and exterior of the church would have been lime-washed white, with mock masonry lines traced over in red. Additional decoration was added to columns, capitals and the chapel walls; remains of this can still be seen. By the fourteenth century there were colourful paintings on the walls of the aisles, which included an image of the dead Christ on his mother’s knees. To reduce unnecessary expense, artificial lighting was kept to a minimum but natural light was exploited, and during the day the church would have been quite brightly lit. Coloured glass was prohibited by the General Chapter and, at least in the early days, the monks would have either used a clear glass or grisaille glass, which had a greenish tint and was set in a complex geometric pattern. Later on coloured glass was used at Byland, as elsewhere, and pieces of pictorial coloured glass were recovered during excavations at the site.
The floor of the church would originally have been cobbled, slabbed or simply beaten bare earth, covered with earth and rushes. By the early thirteenth century the most important areas of the church were tiled, with green and yellow tiles set in a complex geometric pattern. Remains of this remarkable paving can be seen in the presbytery and south transept. This would have been quite magnificent, creating a spectacular finish to the church; today it is a key feature of the site. |
