StStephen'sChapel

This1955bookexaminesthebeginningsof'Perpendicular'.Areconsiderationofthestructuresthemselvesandoftheirdocumentarybackgrounddrasticallycorrectedpreviousideas,andallthisknowledgeismadeuseofandextendedbytheauthor.DrHastingssetsforththewholetheoryoftheincidenceanddiscriminationofprinciplesandpracticeoftheCourtSchoolofmasonsanddecorators,takingashisfocalpointthebuildingofStStephen'sChapel,Westminster(1292–1347).DrHastingsintroduceshismainsubjectbyanexaminationofthe'NewWork'ofStPaul'sCathedral,byasurveyofmasonsemployedonroyalbuildings,andbyastudyofthesurvivingevidencerelatingtotheEleanorCrosses.HeconcludeswithanessayonthetombdesignofEnglandandFrancewithinhisperiod,byanexaminationofthecontemporaryworksatWindsor,Ely,Gloucester,andbyafinalchaptersumminguphisconclusions.Thebookisrichlyillustratedbyreproductionsofoldplansanddrawings,andbyphotographs.