christ church cathedral, oxford

choir of c12, with vault of c.1500. this elevation, with the triforium tucked under a giant order of the arcade, is aesthetically problematic. the problem of support of the aisle arches and vaults is solved in the most inelegant way with half capitals tacked on the back of the heavy round piers, not only irrational but also ugly.whilst this design had been built elsewhere (tewkesbury, romsey, jedburgh) neither it nor the odd capitals seem to have effected style locally; gothic swept away romanesque pretty much across the country by the time the priory church was built, except in cases where an extra strong link with the past was being invoked, such as at glastonbury.