this volume.

The plan of a Gothic Cathedral has been described, and it has been
already remarked that before the Gothic period had commenced the
dimensions of great churches had been very much increased. The
generally received disposition of the parts of a church had indeed
been already settled or nearly so. There were consequently few
radical alterations in church plans during the Gothic period. One,
however, took place in England in the abandonment of the apse.

At first the apsidal east end, common in the Norman times, was
retained. For example, it is found at Canterbury, where the choir and
transept are transitional, having been begun soon after 1174 and
completed about 1184; but the eastern end of Chichester, which belongs
to the same period (the transition), displays the square east end, and
this termination was almost invariably preferred in our country after
the twelfth century.

A great amount of regularity marks the plans of those great churches
which had vaulted roofs, as will be readily understood when it is
remembered that the vaults were divided into equal and similar
compartments, and that the points of support had to be placed with
corresponding regularity. Where, however, some controlling cause of
this nature was not at work much picturesque irregularity prevailed in
the planning of English Gothic buildings of all periods. The plans of
our Cathedrals are noted for their great length in proportion to their
width, for the considerable length given to the transepts, and for the
occurrence in many cases (_e.g._ Salisbury, thirteenth century) of a
second transept. The principal alterations which took place in plan as
time went on originated in the desire to concentrate material as much
as possible on points of support, leaving the walls between them thin
and the openings wide, and in the use of flying buttresses, the feet
of which occupy a considerable space outside the main walls of the
church. The plans of piers and columns also underwent the alterations
which will be presently described.[8]

Buildings of a circular shape on plan are very rare, but octagonal
ones are not uncommon. The finest chapter-houses attached to our
Cathedrals are octagons, with a central pier to carry the vaulting. On
the whole, play of shape on plan was less cultivated in England than
in some continental countries.

The plans of domestic buildings are usually simple, but grew more
elaborate and extensive as time went on. The