Why the Window Is Your Best Clue

Walk into any English churchyard and your eye will be drawn upward: the tower, the spire, the bell openings. But how do you tell whether that elegant needle of stone was raised in 1320 or 1420? The answer, more often than not, is hiding in the windows. Window shapes and tracery – the decorative stonework inside the arch – changed with the fashions of the day. By learning a few key transitions, you can stand in a churchyard and make a confident guess at a spire’s likely period. It is not an exact science, but it is deeply satisfying.

Remember that a spire itself rarely has windows. What you are really dating is the tower below it, and the lucarnes – the small dormer-like openings that sit at the base of the spire. These features echo the windows of the main building. So start low, then look high.

Round Arches and Lancets: The Norman and Early English Tower

If the belfry openings are round-headed, with deep, splayed jambs and perhaps a single plain chamfer, you are likely looking at Norman work – roughly 1066 to 1200. These windows are often small, sometimes just slits, and the tower itself is sturdy and unbuttressed. Spires from this period are extremely rare; most Norman towers had pyramidal roofs or simple battlements. If a spire sits on such a tower, it is almost certainly a later addition.

From about 1190 to 1300, the lancet appears: a tall, narrow window with a pointed arch. Early English belfry openings often come in pairs or triplets, separated by slender shafts. Look for plate tracery – where the stone is pierced with simple shapes like circles or trefoils, rather than built up from bars. A spire with lucarnes that mirror these lancets – narrow, pointed, without complex curves – points to the 13th century. Broach spires (where the spire sits directly on the tower walls without a parapet) are common in this era, especially in the Midlands and the West Country.

Geometric Circles and Flowing Lines: The Decorated Spire

The 14th century brought the Decorated style, and with it the most beautiful tracery in English church architecture. Windows become wider, and the stone bars (mullions) form intricate patterns. First comes geometric tracery: perfect circles, quatrefoils, and trefoils arranged in strict symmetry. A belfry opening with a large circle in the head, flanked by smaller circles, is a classic sign of c. 1280–1350.

Later, around 1320–1360, the style turns curvilinear: the circles become ogees and flowing, leaf-like shapes. The tracery seems to move. If your spire has lucarnes with ogee arches or a hint of nodding curves, you are likely in the mid-14th century. This is also the great age of the recessed spire, where the spire sits behind a parapet with pinnacles at the corners. The lucarnes often sit on the cardinal faces, and their windows – though small – will copy the curvilinear tracery below.

Vertical Panels and Straight Lines: The Perpendicular Belfry

From about 1360 to 1530, English church architecture went Perpendicular. The watchword is verticality: mullions run straight up from the bottom of the window to the arch, crossed by horizontal transoms. The result is a grid of panels, like a stone screen. Belfry openings become large and rectangular, often with a four-centred (Tudor) arch. Look for louvred panels that fill the whole opening, with the transom cutting across at mid-height.

A spire from this period will usually have lucarnes with straight, vertical mullions – no circles, no flowing curves. The spire itself is often taller and more slender, with crockets (leaf-like bumps) on the edges and a weathervane at the top. If you see a tower with huge, grid-like belfry windows and a spire with matching straight-sided lucarnes, you can confidently say late 14th to early 16th century. This is the classic East Anglian and Somerset tower.

After the Reformation and the Gothic Revival

The Reformation of the 16th century slowed church building, and new windows became plain, classical, or round-arched. Spires were still built – think of the elegant late 17th-century needles of London – but their windows, if any, are simple and un-traceried. Then came the Gothic Revival of the 19th century. Victorian architects loved spires, and they copied every medieval style. How can you tell? Look for crispness and consistency. Medieval tracery is often weathered, uneven, and patched. Victorian tracery is sharp, uniform, and sometimes uses stone that is harder than the original. If every window on the tower matches perfectly, and the spire sits on a tower that looks suspiciously clean, you may be looking at 1840 rather than 1340.

A Practical Field Guide to Dating Your Spire

Here is a simple method you can use on your next church crawl:

• Start with the belfry openings. Round arch = Norman. Pointed lancet = Early English. Circle or flowing tracery = Decorated. Vertical grid = Perpendicular. Plain or classical = post-Reformation or Victorian.
• Then look at the lucarnes. Do they match the belfry? If yes, the spire is likely contemporary with the tower. If they are simpler or different, the spire may be a later addition.
• Check the spire’s base. A broach spire (no parapet) suggests 13th or early 14th century. A recessed spire with pinnacles suggests the 14th or 15th century.
• Compare with local examples. Every county has its own traditions. A spire in Lincolnshire will differ from one in Devon. Use a county guide or a local church trail to find dated examples.
• Beware of restorations. Many towers were re-windowed in the 15th century, and many spires were rebuilt in the 19th. A single window is a clue, not a verdict.

Dating a spire by its window is a gentle art. You will get it wrong sometimes, but each mistake teaches you to look more closely. And that, after all, is the joy of celebrating Britain’s historic churches: not just naming the century, but seeing the hands of masons who shaped stone to catch the light.