§ 38.
Such a plan obviously gave little scope for
processions, while the number of altars was limited
by the aisleless presbytery. While some churches,
such as Buildwas and Kirkstall, kept their early plan
without alteration, and while thirteenth-century
churches such as those of Sweetheart abbey in Kirkcudbrightshire
and Valle Crucis in Wales were built
on the traditional plan, others were rebuilt with aisled
presbyteries and ranges of eastern chapels. In two
instances, at Croxden and in the extension of Hayles
made in 1271-7, the ordinary French Gothic plan of
an apse with a processional path and apsidal eastern
chapels was adopted. Special Cistercian models,
however, were provided by the rebuildings at Clairvaux
(1174) and Cîteaux (1193). At Clairvaux an
apse took the place of the rectangular presbytery: the
east walls of the chapels next the presbytery were
removed, and these chapels were continued round
the apse as a processional path, out of which opened
a series of chapels, one from each bay, divided by
walls and covered by a common lean-to roof. The
plan of Cîteaux was simply a rectangular version of
that of Clairvaux: the presbytery was aisled, the aisles
were returned across the east end, and all three sides
surrounded by similar chapels walled off from each
other. Of the Clairvaux plan the only known example
in England is the thirteenth-century church of Beaulieu.
The Cîteaux plan in a modified form was more
general. It is well seen at Dore, where there are no
chapels opening from the north and south aisles, but
the processional path has an eastern aisle containing
five chapels, originally divided from one another by
perpeyn walls. This plan was followed in the earlier
church at Hayles (1249-51), before the eastern arm
was extended to include the chapel of the Holy Blood.
In some churches, as at Byland and Waverley, the
processional path was provided by moving the high
altar a bay west of the main east wall, and placing
the chapels in the returned aisle, instead of building a
special aisle for them beyond. On the other hand, the
eastern limbs at Jervaulx, Rievaulx, Tintern, and
elsewhere were rebuilt in the thirteenth century upon
the ordinary aisled rectangular plan. The high altar
was placed two bays west of the east end: the processional
path was in the bay between it and the
eastern chapels, which were ranged against the east
wall. The presbyteries in these churches were usually
walled off from the aisles, as may be seen in Tintern:
the walls were provided for from the beginning and
were sometimes bonded into the piers. As a rule,
such aisled presbyteries were short. Four bays was
a usual length, as at Jervaulx, Netley and Tintern:
this allowed two bays for the high altar and presbytery,
and the quire was left in its normal position. But at
Rievaulx the eastern arm was lengthened to seven
bays and included the quire. The thirteenth-century
enlargement at Fountains gave four bays to the altar
and presbytery, without removing the quire; while
behind the altar was built a vast eastern transept two
bays deep, with nine chapels against its east wall and
a processional path in the western bay. This unusual
and beautiful plan was imitated with great splendour
in the Benedictine church of Durham.
