Modelling Medieval Vaults: Comparing Digital Surveying Techniques to Enhance our Understanding of Gothic Architecture

Abstract

Surveying tools such as laser scanning and photogrammetry are increasingly accessible, providing opportunities as digital mediators to enhance our understanding of architectural heritage. Here we discuss and compare the use of both techniques as starting points to analyse medieval vaults at two sites in England: Chester Cathedral and Exeter Cathedral. The project is inspired by the work of Robert Willis, a Victorian scholar who hypothesised how medieval vaults were designed and constructed; however, he did not have sufficient survey data to fully prove his theories. We will discuss the accuracy of each digital survey method in relation to our research that occurred at two distinct scales: the overall geometry of vault rib arcs where vault bays were several metres in length and width, as well as more detailed investigations of individual rib profiles where millimetre accuracy is required. We will compare laser scanning with photogrammetry in terms of their methodological and practical applications to architectural heritage in the particular context of medieval vault design, in order to assess the relative merits of each and aid decision-making as to which method should be used in specific circumstances.