•
Towers were exceptionally tall, and frequently had battlements. Spires were less frequent than in earlier periods. Buttresses were often placed at the corners of the tower, the best position for providing maximum support. Notable Perpendicular towers include those of
York Minster and Gloucester Cathedral, and the churches of Boston (Lincolnshire), Wrexham and Taunton. •
Stained glass windows were so large that the walls between were reduced to little more than piers. Horizontal mullions, called "transoms", often had to be added to the windows to give them greater stability. •
Tracery was a major feature of decoration. In the larger churches, the entire surface from ground to summit, including the battlements, was covered with panels of tracery composed of thin stone mullions. It also appeared frequently in the interior, and often carried the designs in the window tracery down to the floor. Tracery designs were less varied, with three main types: angular reticulation, common in the west of England, panel tracery, seen in the east, and the Court style, characterised by sub-arches filled with inverted daggers in the side lights. •
Roofs were frequently made of lead, and usually had a gentle slope, to make them easier for walking. The roof timbers on the interior were often exposed to view from below, and had ornamental supports. In this period the
hammerbeam roof was used over select high-status buildings. •
Vaults of stone were frequently elaborate and highly decorative. The most common types on major buildings were fan vaults and
lierne vaults, both of which could be further elaborated with pendants. The increased weight of the vaults caused by the ornament was countered by larger buttresses on the exterior. •
Columns were generally octagonal in section, with octagonal bases and capitals. In greater churches shafting was commonplace, and could be carried up above the capitals to unify the elevation vertically. The capitals were usually decorated with moulded or carved oak leaves, or with corbels of shields or armorial symbols, or with the
Tudor rose. In more advanced buildings, capitals became less prominent. •
Fourth-centred arches or
Tudor arches were commonly used in windows and tracery and for vaults and doorways, though the
two-centred arch dominated until late in the period. • The interiors had richly carved
woodwork, particularly in the choir stalls, which often featured carved grotesque figures on the bench ends called "poppy heads", from . Pulpits and benches became more common in churches with the increased emphasis on preaching.
Chantry chapels appeared in major churches, either as screened-off sections or structural editions, paid for by wealthy individuals or guilds. == Examples ==