Capital of a column in the Chapter House, Southwell Cathedral
The Chapter House, in Southwell Cathedral. Nottinghamshire, is one of the glories of English cathedral architecture. The minster building was begun in the 12th century, and the Chapter House was completed around 1300. It is an outstanding example of the Early Decorated style, and is renowned particularly for the fine foliage carving that adorns the capitals, gables, and doorway. The naturalistic sculpture is the earliest of its kind in England, and the leaves are instantly identifiable today, including representations of oak, maple, hop, ivy, bryony, hawthorn and buttercup. At least three sculptors were involved in the work, and the astonishing detail was made possible by the use of finely grained limestone quarried 15 miles away, near Mansfield. Southwell was linked to the Archbishopric of York through a college of secular canons, but became an independent diocese in 1884.
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