Historical Notices of ISLIP,Oxfordshire1

Reginald Taylor and Lord Fletcher Essay Prize Winner

One of the most architecturally stimulating features of the Old Town Bridge Tower in Prague is the net vault over the ground level, designed by Peter Parler. Often assumed to have been built after the net vault of Prague Cathedral’s choir, this article looks more closely at the masonry, the heraldry and the sculptures of the Tower to suggest that the Bridge Tower vault predates the choir vault. After setting this vault as the first net vault in Bohemia, the article examines how this particular formt fits within the evolution of Parlerian vault designs in Prague. In addition, the article explores the larger implications of a design process where smaller spaces are used to experiment and develop new designs before utilising those designs on a larger scale.