Hall church

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For churches with no aisles, see Aisleless church.
For the church in Gotland, see Hall Church, Gotland.
Great Yarmouth Minster

A hall church is a

architectural basilica, where the nave is lit from above by the clerestory
, a hall church is lit by the windows of the side walls typically spanning almost the full height of the interior.

Terms

In English language, there are two problems of terminology on hall churches:

  • The term hall church is ambiguous because the term hall is ambiguous. In some cases, the church of a manor house ("hall") is called a hall church. Regarding the shapes of churches, hall church is also used for large aisleless churches, an entirely different type. Aisleless churches with a rectangular plan are called zaalkerk in Dutch and Saalkirche in German, zaal/Saal, derived from French salle, marking large rooms of less extent than hal/Halle.
  • The obligatory distinction between nave and aisle, which does not exist in other European languages, is inappropriate for many hall churches. In Dutch the schip ('ship', entire nave) can consist of two, three or more parallel beuken (lit. 'bellies'), and the koor ('choir, chancel') can do as well.

History

The first churches with naves and aisles of equal height were crypts. The first aisled hall church north of the Alps is St Bartholomew's Chapel (German: Bartholomäuskapelle) at Paderborn, consecrated c.1017. In western

Gothic period, most notably in the areas of Westphalia and upper Saxony
.

In the

barrel vaults
with separate longitudinal roofs over each nave or aisle. In England, there are more than a thousand aisled hall churches with wooden barrel or
waggon roofs, as well as other kinds of ceilings (see Commons:Category:Hall churches in England by county), though official descriptions do not use the term hall church. In German literature on English medieval architecture, they are mentioned as a frequent type peripherally.[5]

In Devon, more than 200 churches (or a part of a church) are such aisled halls, forming the majority of all church buildings, there. In parts of Wales, two-vessel halls are a traditional type of churches, as mentioned using terms like "typical two naves" in descriptions by Cadw. In Scotland, some aisled hall churches are Neoclassical buildings, and some aisled Gothic Revival hall churches have been built there transferring medieval English forms.

There are also English hall churches vaulted with stone, such as Temple Church in London, the choir of Bristol Cathedral and the Lady Chapel of Salisbury Cathedral.

Some

Saint Louis, Missouri, designed by Viktor Klutho
and completed in 1908.

A completely separate 20th-century usage employs the term hall church to mean a multi-purpose building with moveable seats rather than pews and a chancel area which can be screened off, to allow use as a community centre during the week. This was particularly popular in Britain in inner city areas from the 1960s onwards.

Principles and variations

Some typical forms of hall churches and how to distinguish them from basilicas:

  • Hall church. Instead of one longitudinal roof, it may have several roofs, either longitudinal or travers.
    Hall church. Instead of one longitudinal roof, it may have several roofs, either longitudinal or travers.
  • Stepped hall, the vaults of the central nave begin a bit higher than those of the lateral aisles, but it doesn't extend to an additional storey.
    Stepped hall, the vaults of the central nave begin a bit higher than those of the lateral aisles, but it doesn't extend to an additional storey.
  • Pseudo-basilica, the central nave extends to an additional storey, but it has no upper windows.
    Pseudo-basilica, the central nave extends to an additional storey, but it has no upper windows.
  • Basilica, the central nave extends to two storeys above the lateral aisles, called gallery and clerestory.
    Basilica, the central nave extends to two storeys above the lateral aisles, called gallery and clerestory.
  • Hall church with arcades but no vaults and a partly horizontal, partly sloping ceiling
    Hall church with arcades but no vaults and a partly horizontal, partly sloping ceiling

Various floorplans of hall churches:

See also

Further information

Lists of almost all hall churches of Europe are available on French Wikipedia (incomplete for Germany) and German Wikipedia. The listed churches are identical with the national lists in Czech, Dutch (for the Netherlands and Belgium), Polish, Portuguese and Spanish Wikipedias.

References

  1. ^ Pevsner's Architectural Glossary, Yale University Press, 2010, p. 69
  2. ^ Wilhelm Lübke Die mittelalterliche Kunst in Westfalen (1853)
  3. ^ DES ÉGLISES-HALLES ROMANES AU GOTHIQUE ANGEVIN
  4. ISBN 9783895347528 (Table of contents
    )
  5. ISBN 978-3534095421
    , pp. 170 and 228–229.
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