The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Decorated style
name applied to the second period of English Gothic architecture from the late 13th to the mid-14th cent. The basic structural elements developed during the Early English style (late 12th and 13th cent.) were retained, but their decoration became more elaborate. Stone construction became lighter and more spacious, and vaulting became more complex. The Decorated style can be further divided into an early geometric phase and a later curvilinear phase. The Decorated style is exemplified in Bristol Cathedral. After c.1350, it was succeeded by the Perpendicular or Rectilinear style of English Gothic architecture.
