The History Of Westminster Abbey's Cosmati Pavement

At every level of inspection, the Cosmati craftsmen's opus sectile (or "cut work") tiling is impressive. Set in Purbeck marble, stones were brought in from disparate regions of Europe (via Nexus Network Journal). Some from Italy, others from France, the design features stones such as Egyptian gabbro, Tadcaster limestone, alabaster, and white and pink breccia corallina marble (via "Westminster Abbey; the stones of the Sanctuary Pavement"). The porphyry rock sparkles with embedded crystals and brings green and purple colors to the mosaic's pallet. Added to the detail are opaque and transparent potassium-lime glass from northwestern Europe, most likely France.

These tiles are cut into shapes that differ from the more common cubes popular at the time in England. The geometric elements of the pavement include numerous quincunx. Like how the dots are arranged on the five-side of a die, quincunx features individual objects placed in four corners and a fifth in the center. To fully appreciate the scope of the installation, the best view of the pavement is from the triforium — a gallery above the arches of the choir. Only from there can you see that the design is truly quincunxes within a quincunx, a frame of roundel figure eights, and observe the final outline of tombs.