The Nave of Saint Andrew at Steyning: A Study of Variety in Design in Twelfth-Century Architecture in Britian

Abstract

This article examines the variety of ornament in the nave of Saint Andrew at Steyning (Sussex). Archeological analysis indicates that, with the exception of a break between the third and fourth bays in the south clerestory, the nave was the product of a single campaign in which ornamental variety was perceived as aesthetically important. This aesthetic variety is paralleled in a number of major twelfth-century British churches including York Minster, Saint David's Cathedral, Glastonbury Abbey, and Saint Cross at Winchester. Documented praise of design variety is cited in Abbot Suger on the Abbey Church of Saint-Denis and its Art Treasures, and analogues for this aesthetic are found in works created under Suger's patronage and in the work of the leading metalworkers of the twelfth century. The conclusion is that the design variety in the Steyning nave was inspired by the art of the metalworker and the description of the Heavenly Jerusalem in the Apocalypse.