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ARCHITECTURE, EMBELLISHMENTS, 
 
 0atnte& dSlass, 
 
 TEMPLE CHURCH, LONDON. 
 
NOTICE, 
 
 The original Drawings, fac-siniiles of which are in this volume, were at first intended to be 
 published by Mr. Essex. Mr. Weale, however, having purchased the same of that gentleman, 
 became the proprietor, and, in accordance with the recent Acts of Parliament, the copyright of 
 such Drawings are vested in the purchaser. Moreover, Mr. Sydney Smirke having, with his 
 usual kindness, written for the proprietor an account of the Church, the volume therefore, by 
 registration under the said Acts, is the copyright of the Publisher. Any interference with such 
 right will render the person so interfering amenable to the said law. 
 
 Loxdox : 
 
 Printed by A. Spottiswoode, 
 
 New. Street-Square. 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 ARCHITECTURAL 
 
 ORNAMENTS AND EMBELLISHMENTS, 
 
 AND 
 
 TEMPLE CHURCH, LONDON. 
 
 FROM DRAWINGS SPECIALLY MADE, BY PERMISSION, 
 
 BT 
 
 W. R. H. ESSEX. 
 
 WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE RECENT RESTORATION OF THE CHURCH, 
 
 BT 
 
 SYDNEY SMIRKE, ARCHITECT, 
 
 F.S.A. F.G.S. ETC. ETC. ETC. 
 
 LONDON: 
 JOHN WEALE, 5 9. HIGH HOLBORX. 
 
 1845. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2011 with funding from 
 
 Research Library, The Getty Research Institute 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/illustrationsofaOOesse 
 
AN ACCOUNT 
 
 THE TEMPLE CHURCH. 
 
 By SYDNEY SMIRKE, F.S.A. and F.G.S. 
 
 The date of the erection of the Temple Church can hardly be said to rest on mere 
 conjecture, for, until the close of the seventeenth century, an ancient inscription on 
 the wall of the round part of the church recorded its consecration by Heraclius, the 
 Patriarch of Jerusalem, on the 10th February, 1185. A subsequent consecration 
 is mentioned in the contemporary annals of Matthew Paris as having occurred on 
 Ascension Day, 1240, which, doubtless, relates to the consecration of the square 
 or chancel part of the Church. It is not however generally known that, during the 
 progress of the recent restoration, the clearest evidence presented itself of a more 
 ancient fabric at the east end of the circular church. Broad and substantial found- 
 ations of rubble stone work were discovered, and still remain, beneath the surface 
 of the present pavement, exhibiting but little correspondence with the present chancel, 
 and indicating an earlier one, of about the width of the present centre aisle of 
 the square church. The foundations were traced for above fifty feet eastward 
 of the chancel arch. Whether these remains formed part of a building still more 
 ancient than the round church, or were part of a chancel originally attached to 
 it, and replaced by the present one, are questions which we are not in a condition 
 to determine. 
 
 The square part, which corresponds with the chancel in the ordinary arrangement 
 of a church, consists of three vaulted aisles a of about equal height, and not of very 
 
 a There seems to be no inaccuracy in calling the central avenue an aisle, notwithstanding the opinion 
 that has been expressed against the propriety of calling by that name any thing but a lateral avenue. 
 The opinion is founded upon the notion that alea, or alata, in Middle Age Latin, means a wing, and not 
 an alley. 
 
 B 
 
2 THE TEMPLE CHURCH. 
 
 dissimilar width. The equal height of the aisles, and the consequent absence of a 
 clerestory, has diminished the light, and given to the interior perhaps a somewhat 
 disproportioned width. Although rare, however, this arrangement is by no means 
 peculiar to the Temple Church. The hardihood, which ventured to place so great a 
 weight of roof and vault upon pillars so slender, is very remarkable, but may be said 
 to be justified by the fact that the work has stood for six hundred years. It is true 
 the pillars have to a certain extent yielded to the load imposed upon them, for there 
 i 9 not one quite straight or upright ; the exterior walls also, previously to their 
 restoration, were inclined many inches outwards ; a defect of common, and almost 
 universal, occurrence in our old churches. If there be any truth in the maxim of 
 Vignola, " Che le fabbriche non si hanno da sostenere colle stringhe," our old church 
 builders have much to answer for. 
 
 The pillars are of Pui'beck marble. Their surface appeared to have been origin- 
 ally polished, but to have suffered much from the effect of time. For nearly an inch 
 in depth the marble had become corroded. Purbeck marble does not, indeed, appear 
 to be a material capable of receiving a very durable polish, in consequence, perhaps, 
 of the large proportion of aluminous matter in its composition. It is probable that 
 the polish, that has been recently given to these pillars and other marble works in 
 the course of their restoration, has been rendered more permanent by the coat of 
 artificial varnish with which it has been deemed expedient to protect it. 
 
 The walls are of rubble work, consisting chiefly of unhewn fragments of chalk, 
 flint, and Kentish rag stone ; the original window jambs and tracery and the ribs of 
 the vaulting are of firestone; the spandrils of the vaulting are of squared chalk. 
 The practice of the medieval builders of turning the spandrils of a groined vault 
 with a light material, as chalk and tufa, was common to them and to the Romans. 
 The dome of the Pantheon is built of volcanic scoria. 
 
 The pavement was originally laid with small encaustic tiles, many of them orna- 
 mented in the manner attempted to be imitated in the new pavement. 
 
 The diameter of the round church is about the same as that of the square part. 
 It consists of two concentric circles ; the inner of which consists of six groups or clus- 
 ters of polished Purbeck marble columns, supporting a cylindrical superstructure of 
 about the height of sixty-three feet. Immediately over the great arches, which are 
 pointed, and which spring from the columns, is a series of interlaced arches correspond- 
 ing with the triforium of an ordinary church ; and above this is a clerestory of six 
 large circular-headed windows. From a slender marble shaft in the middle of each 
 pier springs a groined vault, of which the springers are old and of stone; the rest of 
 the vault is new, and is formed of wrought oak ribs with spandrils of oak. The for- 
 
THE TEMPLE CHITRCH. 6 
 
 mer ceiling was flat, and was probably not the original one, although of considerable 
 antiquity. 3 There was found no indication of any stone vault, and perhaps a doubt 
 was entertained from the first as to the capability of the vaults to sustain such an 
 additional charge. Such vaulting, however, is not very common in English work of 
 so early a date. The walls of the clerestory are 2 ft. 9 in. thick, built only of rubble 
 stone work faced inside with a chalk ashlaring. There are six external buttresses in 
 it, but they are of slight projection, and rest, not on a solid foundation, but upon the 
 ribs of the aisle vaults. 
 
 Around the inner circle, which corresponds with the centre aisle of the nave, is 
 a concentric aisle with a stone groined vaulted ceding. This aisle is lighted by 
 plain circular-headed windows, beneath which, on the inside, is a series of Avall- 
 arches, pointed in their form, but for the most part Norman in their detail : the small 
 shafts, supporting this arcade, rest upon a plinth which projects so as to form a stone 
 bench extending round the walls not only of the circular but of the square part of 
 the church. 
 
 The two parts of the church are connected by three large pointed arched open- 
 ings, and much skill is thought to have been shown in overcoming the great difficulty 
 of uniting in an harmonious manner two such dissimilar forms. Opposite to these 
 openings is the great west door with a wheel window over it, which, although pierce -<i 
 and glazed, is now unfortunately blanked by external buildings. The door opens 
 from a square groined porch, which has been carefully restored. A western porch 
 is a rare feature in church architecture, and it is probable that this was not origin- 
 ally such, but merely one bay of the cloister, or porticus, which connected the church 
 with other portions of the convent. The oak door is new, the former door having 
 been an unsuitable design of the seventeenth century. 
 
 At the northern junction of the round and square parts is the newel stair b leading 
 to a small stone chamber, commonly supposed to have been a penitential cell or 
 place of confinement, and also to the triforium and roofs. This is now surmounted 
 by a new belfry turret ; the bell, heretofore improperly placed in the roof over the 
 centre of the round church, has been transferred to this more appropriate as well as 
 safer position. 
 
 On the southern side of the round church there existed, till 1824, the remains of 
 
 a The timber was of oak of the species called Quercus Sessiliflora, extensively used in our oldest 
 works, and commonly mistaken for chestnut by workmen of the present day, who miss the silver grain 
 which distinguishes the oak now chiefly in Hse. 
 
 b Perhaps it is not generally known that the newel stair, so common in Gothic buildings of all 
 periods, is found in pure Greek work : a fine example occurs in a Doric temple at Selinuntum, in Sicily. 
 
 b 2 
 
4 THE TEMPLE CHURCH. 
 
 a small chapel dedicated to St. Anne. That its date was later than that of the church, 
 was rendered indisputable by the fact that the wall of the church, against which it 
 abutted, was found to be everywhere of ashlared work, and finished as an exterior wall. 
 
 On the occasion of the important repair of part of the church in 1824, this chapel 
 was found to be in state of great decay, and it became absolutely necessary either 
 to remove or to rebuild it. The former course was adopted, for several reasons. It 
 was clearly posterior to the church, and formed no part whatever of the design. 
 It deformed the symmetry and encumbered the exterior of the church, without 
 possessing any intrinsic architectural beauty or interest ; for its features were plain, 
 and the whole had undergone considerable mutilation and change. Its removal has 
 recently been regretted, on the ground that it might have received the monuments ; 
 an object, however, for which it was altogether unfit and utterly inadequate, inasmuch 
 as half a dozen of them would have filled it. It has occasionally been referred to, as 
 a structure of " exquisite beauty," by those who can never have seen the original ; for 
 no living eye-witness of it could easily be found to confirm this exaggerated descrip- 
 tion ; and the only blame that can fairly be imputed to the Benchers is, that they did 
 not rebuild, after a design that must have been to a certain extent conjectural, a 
 small and mutilated excrescence, for the mere gratification of curiosity. The chapel 
 is said to have been formerly in much repute among certain votaries, whose fecundity 
 was supposed to be promoted by the intercession of the patron saint. 
 
 Having now described the principal features of the church, it may be well to advert, 
 in few words, to the nature of the recent works, which have been most munificently com- 
 pleted, at the joint expense of the two societies of the Inner and Middle Temple. The 
 whole of the former interior fittings were removed, together with the screen and every 
 vestige of modern work throughout the building. In the square part, the arches, ribs, 
 and spandrils were restored, and in many places wholly renewed ; the pillars, too, under- 
 went extensive renovation, and a great quantity of new marble was substituted for the 
 decayed parts ; a task, it may be well imagined, of great labour, and requiring 
 the utmost caution. On the walls and buttresses a new ashlared face has been 
 given to the outside, and in some cases they were wholly rebuilt and made 
 perfectly sound inside and out ; new polished marble shafts and stringcourses were 
 also introduced. All the monuments, of which there were about ninety-two, were 
 removed, and the serious injury they had occasioned to the walls was repaired and 
 made good. A few were refixed on such parts of the walls as would receive them 
 without injury or disfigurement, and some were fixed in the new vestry-room ; but 
 they were for the most part removed to the triforium of the round church, which 
 was paved, ceiled, lighted, and properly prepared to receive them. Much difficulty 
 
THE TEMPLE CHURCH. 5 
 
 was felt on the subject of these monuments, and much difference of opinion existed. 
 Some thought that these memorials of the dead should have been restored, as nearly 
 as possible, to the situations which they originally occupied. Others desired their 
 entire removal from the church, and suggested the erection of an adjoining cham- 
 ber or cloister, exclusively dedicated to their reception. The appropriation of 
 the triforium to this purpose was a middle course, which satisfactory solved the 
 difficulty. 
 
 That a desire, so natural and so commendable, to place a record of the dead 
 within the precincts of the church, should have led, as undoubtedly it has, both here 
 and elsewhere, to much violation of decorum, and to grave architectural impro- 
 prieties, is greatly to be regretted ; and it seems worthy of consideration, whether 
 the idea of converting the triforium to such a purpose might not be very advan- 
 tageously entertained in many other sacred buildings, where that portion of the 
 design is often a spacious and free avenue, formerly dedicated to various purposes, 
 but now wholly neglected and disused. 
 
 Reverting to our enumeration of the works of restoration, we may proceed to 
 the round church, where all the six clusters of pillars have been wholly renewed, the 
 old pillars having become very unsafe, partly from decay, and partly from the 
 inconsiderate manner in which they had been damaged by the erection of modern 
 monuments. To a superficial observer they appeared at least round, although not 
 perpendicular ; but a careful inspection led to the discovery that much of their fair 
 exterior was due to cement, with which modern hands had endeavoured to conceal 
 the rottenness within. For the purpose of supporting the lofty superstructure, whilst 
 these pillars were undergoing renovation, a cast-iron frame was shaped to receive 
 the springing of the great arches, and this was supported by timber uprights 
 brought closely up to their bearing by iron wedges. By these means the very diffi- 
 cult and even dangerous task of giving new pillars to the whole of the upper part of 
 the round church was effected without accident. 3 
 
 Here, as in the square part, the vaulting of the aisles and the whole interior 
 surface of the walls were restored, and in great part rebuilt. A new roof, of cast 
 
 1 Some peculiarities in the original construction of these pillars are worthy of notice. Very little 
 pains had been taken to work close bedding joints ; the two surfaces were very roughly tooled over, but 
 an uniform bearing was secured by running in, in a fluid state, a great quantity of lead, to the thickness, 
 in some places, of half an inch. A number of wedges were found in these beds, which appeared to have 
 been used to bring the stones to a true level, previously to the running of the lead. Some of these wedges 
 were three inches long, and were of lead, iron, and even of wood ; the latter had of course nearly 
 perished. The insertion and permanent use of these wedges prove that the visible joints must have been 
 very imperfectly fitted, for some of the wedges were half an inch thick at their large end. 
 
6 THE TEMPLE CHURCH. 
 
 iron, was placed on the centre, with a new groined ceiling of oak beneath it. It has 
 already been stated that the great door is new, and is formed of wainscot, orna- 
 mented and strengthened with scroll-work of hammered iron. The font also is 
 new, and designed upon the model of an ancient font at Alphington, near Exeter, 
 selected for its general conformity with the style of the circular church, though 
 probably of rather earbcr date. There is reason to believe that the subject of the 
 sculpture is typical ; but the precise import of it is open to question, and must be left, 
 for the present, to the conjectural exposition of the learned. A font of similar form 
 remains in the church of S. Mary de Gradibus in Exeter, and in the old church at 
 I'orchcster Castle, also dedicated to S. Mary. 
 
 The painted glass and the elaborate paintings on the walls and ceiling, which are 
 so well and so accurately illustrated in the accompanying plates, are, it need scarcely 
 be said, entirely new. The unusual size of the windows renders it probable that 
 in the original fabric they were all glazed with stained glass, although nothing but 
 a few shields remained. 11 With regard to the mural paintings, vestiges were met 
 with, sufficient to warrant the conclusion that the whole Avas painted much in the 
 manner we now see it. Some difference of opinion prevails as to the fitness of this 
 style of decoration ; and in England, where the climate, and perhaps the antipathies 
 of the reformers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, have left very little of 
 the original painting on the walls of our churches, it was to be expected that many 
 would object to a species of enrichment which had long ceased to be familiar to them. 
 It will be unbecoming and unnecessary here to discuss the taste and propriety of 
 this in a structure entirely new ; but the certainty that the original building was so 
 finished left no alternative to the architects, whose duty was that of simple restora- 
 tion, except where necessity or convenience required them to deviate from their 
 model. 
 
 The pavement, carved benches, pulpit, and altar, with its highly ornamented 
 reredos, are entirely new works. The pavement was lowered fifteen inches, down to 
 its original level, and has been laid with encaustic and partially vitrified tiles, a new 
 manufacture, of great beauty, that has been brought into existence by the recent 
 revival of the taste for ancient ecclesiastical architecture. The colours and general 
 design of the tiles are borrowed from portions of the original pavement that had 
 survived, and from contemporary remains in the Chapter House at Westminster. 
 
 a Those who are familiar with the stained glass of the thirteenth century will recognise, in the design 
 of these windows, the circular, elliptical, angular, and lobed medallions, on a rich mosaic ground, which 
 distinguish the work of this period in England as well as in other countries. See Thibaud's Peinture sur 
 Verre, p. 39, and the great work of M. Lasteryc. 
 
THE TEMPLE CHURCH. 
 
 The organ chamber and gallery are entirely new. On the removal of the organ 
 from its former position between the circular and square divisions of the church, it 
 became a matter of grave discussion to assign to it a new and a proper position. 
 If the body of the church had been selected, it would have formed a large and 
 unseemly encumbrance ; if the outer circular aisle had been chosen, the unity and 
 completeness of the design would have been destroyed: the Benchers, therefore, 
 acting on the advice, as well of their architect as of others, whose opinions they 
 had solicited, came to the determination of building, outside the church, a recess capa- 
 cious enough to receive the whole instrument; a decision which has not proved 
 unsatisfactory in its result. 
 
 A few words are due, in this slight sketch, to the effigies, which add so greatly 
 to the interest of the church. They are now ranged on either side of the centre 
 avenue leading from west to east through the circular portion of the church. They 
 were previously ranged in two groups, but crowded into so narrow a space, and so 
 environed by iron palisades, as to be with difficulty examined. It is probable that 
 they had held that position since the important changes that were made in the church 
 at the latter end of the seventeenth century. According to Dugdale, their original 
 position was the centre of the round. Six of these figures are of Purbeck or Pet- 
 worth marble ; two are of Reigate sandstone ; and one of a harder stone, resembling 
 the magnesian limestone of Yorkshire. Time, accident, and wanton mischief had 
 greatly defaced the sculpture, and successive coats of paint, which in some instances 
 had attained a thickness of nearly half an inch, had so concealed the true surface, 
 that the restoration of these figures was a work demanding great labour and critical 
 skill. This, however, has been done with much success, and the more prominent 
 parts that had been broken off are so effectually reinstated, that it is hardly any 
 longer possible for even a critical eye to distinguish the old from the restored parts. 
 A minute account, however, of the nature and extent of these reparations has been 
 published by the sculptor, so that future antiquaries will have no reason to complain 
 of any want of good faith. 
 
 It is needless here to enter into any description of these interesting specimens 
 of early art ; abundant information respecting them may be found in recently pub- 
 lished works. 
 
 In closing these observations, it would be unfitting not to add some expression 
 of that grateful acknowledgment, so widely and so warmly felt, of the liberality with 
 which the Benchers of the two Temples have undertaken and carried out the 
 restoration of this interesting edifice ; an edifice which, it may be confidently said, 
 would have been a ruin before many years had expired, but for this timely inter- 
 
8 THE TEMPLE CHURCH. 
 
 position. The main external walls were pushed out towards the north, south, and 
 east ; the vaulting was fissured to an alarming extent ; and the pillars were mu- 
 tilated and corroded to their core. The whole fabric was, in truth, on the verge of 
 dissolution. 
 
 Very large as the expenditure has been, it has at all events been bestowed upon 
 no unworthy subject. The square chancel is unquestionably one of the best sur- 
 viving examples of a style of architecture scarcely to be found in its purity out of 
 England. Examples of the circular style, which preceded it, abound on the Con- 
 tinent and here, almost identical in their character ; whilst the ornate style, which 
 succeeded it, exists in many gorgeous examples all over Europe, with various modi- 
 fications, it is true, yet in the main identical. But where, out of England, is to be 
 found the counterpai"t of the Temple Church ? 
 
BfSmptibc Catalogue 
 
 OF THE 
 
 PLATES ILLUSTRATING THE RESTORATION 
 
 OF 
 
 THE TEMPLE CHURCH, 
 
 LONDON. 
 
 By R. H. ESSEX. 
 
 A descriptive catalogue of the plates executed for this work, illustrative of the re- 
 storation of the Temple Church, is desirable. We shall endeavour to supply it by 
 commencing with those of the stained glass, proceeding thence to the decorations 
 of the ceiling and walls, and lastly to the altar-piece, seats, and other architectural 
 details, which will nearly follow the order in which they have been published. 
 
 Our obhgations must be expressed, in the first instance, to the Masters of the 
 Bench of the Honourable Societies of the Inner and Middle Temple, for their 
 kindness in permitting the free access to their church at all seasonable times from 
 the period at which I first commenced illustrating the progress of its restoration, 
 and for their patronage and encouragement in regard to the perspective views 
 I had the honour of making for them; to the architects, Messrs. J. Savage, Sydney 
 Smirke, and Decimus Burton, for their politeness and liberality in communicating 
 any thing of interest that was required ; and also to Mr. Willement, to whose kind- 
 ness in allowing me to take sketches of the stained glass windows, &c, in his atelier, 
 previous to their erection, I am mainly indebted for the accuracy of that portion of 
 the illustrations in particular. It may be due to myself also, as well as satisfactory to 
 
 c 
 
10 RESTORATION OF THE TEMPLE CHTRCH. 
 
 those to whom these illustrations may be interesting, to allude briefly to the circum- 
 stances under which they were made. 
 
 I was introduced to the works in September, 1840, at the time the scaffolding 
 was up. for the purpose of making perspective drawings for the Benchers of the two 
 societies : and availing invself of the facilities thus afforded to the more accurate 
 completion of the perspective views, and partly with a view to the probability of 
 future publication, sketches were made of the measurements of those of interest thus 
 attainable, from the commencement to the completion of the restoration. 
 
 Commencing with the windows at the east end of the north and south aisles will 
 be found the following subjects, according to the arrangement assigned them in the 
 accompanying general outline. 
 
 Plate 1. Xos. 1. 2. 9, and 10. Geoffrey, son of Stephen, and Amaric de St. Maur, 
 who were Grand Priors or Preceptors of the Order of Knights Templars in England ; 
 the former in a.d. 1180, the latter in a.d. 1203. They each bear the celebrated 
 black and white banner of the order, denominated " Beau Seant." 
 
 Plate 2.. Xos. 3. 11. and 22., contains the arms of Henry L, of England; those 
 of Baldwin. King of Jerusalem ; and an ancient device of the Warriors of the Cross, 
 representing that symbol of their faith triumphantly surmounting the crescent of the 
 infidel, with the Hon of England beneath. " taken from a seal attached to a deed of 
 grant of lands to the Master and Brethren of the Temple in England, now preserved 
 anions the Harleian MSS. in the British Museum.*' 3 
 
 Plate 3.. Nos. 4. and 15. The Red Cross of the Templars, " surrounded by a 
 circular band, on which is inscribed the verse of the psalm of David, which the 
 Templars ' humbly sang' when they raised the exulting shout of victory. " , This, it 
 will be observed, decorates the upper part of the central light of the windows of both 
 aisles. No. 8. " The ancient device of the two Knights riding on the same horse, as 
 represented on the first seal of the Knights Templars.*' The border shown in the 
 two subjects is continued round the corresponding fights in both aisles. 
 
 Plate 4. Xos. 12. 13. 2<>. 21. Alanus Marcel, and Robert de Monfort. Grand 
 Preceptors of England, a.d. 1224 and a.d. 1234. bearing the war-banner of the order, 
 as those in the window on the north side before described. 
 
 Plate 5. No. 14. The lower panel, inscribed " Sigillum Templi." represents 
 " the device of the Lamb bearing the banner and cross of the Temple, taken from 
 
 ■ Vide the Temple Church, by C. G. Addison, of the Inner Temple ; to which work, and the History 
 of f. - Templars, -.ime author, I am indebted for manv of the particulars here stated. 
 
 b Addison's Temple Church. c Ibid. 
 
HESTORATION OF THE TEMPLE CHUECH. 11 
 
 the ancient seals of the Templars." 3 The remaining panels of the side lights in both 
 aisles (not figured in the outline) being filled in precisely similar to the upper one in 
 this plate. The side borders are also the same. 
 
 Plate 6., No. 19., has in the upper compartment the arms of Henry III., 
 " who was one of the greatest of the many benefactors of the order of the Temple, 
 and honoured with his presence the consecration of the quadrangular part of the 
 church," b which took place on Ascension Day, a.d. 1240.° The lower panel, con- 
 taining within a circular border the ancient mystic symbol of the double triangle, 
 revered alike by Christian and Moslem, is repeated in all the unfigured compart- 
 ments in the centre light of this and the corresponding window ; the side border is 
 likewise carried round as mentioned in the description of No. 8., Plate 3. 
 
 Of Nos. 5, 6, 7. 16, 17, and 18., comprising conventional representations of 
 the Temple of Jerusalem and the City of Bethlehem, no plates are given; for 
 although they are perfectly in character with similar architectural delineations on 
 glass, and in illuminated books of the 13th century, and are in admirable keeping in 
 regard to harmony of colour and general effect with the rest of the design of these 
 windows, yet, shewn separately, they would appear devoid of interest, as an incon- 
 gruous heap of doors, windows, gables, and pinnacles, unintelligible but from the 
 inscriptions beneath them, in yellow letters on a black ground : " Templum Hieru- 
 salem " — " Civitatis Bethlehem." 
 
 Having thus completed our description of the windows at the east end of the 
 north and south aisles, we come to that in the centre of the south aisle, opposite the 
 organ gallery (given in two plates), which perhaps needs no further explanation or 
 comment than the very appropriate quotation from the 150th Psalm, painted in red 
 and black Norman letters on the jambs : — 
 
 " LAUDATE . DOMJNUM . IN . SONO . TUBE . LAUDATE . EDM . IN . PSALTERIO . ET . CTTHARA . LAUDATE . 
 EU1I . IN . TY3IPANO . ET . CHORO . LAUDATE . EUM . IN . CHORDIS . ET . ORGANO." 
 
 The last stained-glass window which remains to be noticed, is that at the east of 
 the tower or clerestory of the " Round," presented to the church by Mr. Willement, 
 by whom it was designed and executed, together with those before described : it re- 
 presents, within a vesica, the Saviour glorified, having the usual attributes and ac- 
 companiments, with the symbols of the EvangeLists, &c, in the upper and lower 
 compartments, and an appropriate text from Jeremiah d beneath. 6 
 
 " Addison's Temple Church. b Ibid. c Ibid. 
 
 d Lamentations, v. 19. 
 
 e The completion of the other five windows, in the clerestory, with stained glass, as suggested by 
 Prince Albert, when visiting the restored church, is absolutely necessary for the effective completion of 
 
 c 2 
 
12 RESTORATION OF THE TEMPLE CHURCH. 
 
 According to the order proposed at the commencement of this description, the 
 ceiling next claims our attention, to which, in contemplating the edifice itself, the eye 
 seems naturally to revert from the windows. A general plan in outline, as projected 
 from above, intended to accompany the details, will be found figured in accordance 
 with each plate. 
 
 Plate 1. The two first spandrils on the north side of the east end of the centre 
 aisle, the scroll-work and groining being the same to the other six of that compart- 
 ment. The vesica in this plate discloses an ancient mystic symbol, demonstrated by 
 the learned to combine that of the cross with the sacred monogram of the Redeemer. 
 The medallion contains the usual symbolic representation of the Evangelist St. Mat- 
 thew, having " the face of a man." Those of Plate 2., Figs. 2, 3, and 4., represent- 
 ing the other Evangelists, Mark, Luke, and John, the first " like a lion," the second 
 " like a calf," the last "like a flying eagle." 3 The vesica piscis, Fig. 1., contains 
 another ancient symbol of the redemption ; the cross, with the initials I. N. R. I., 
 Plate 3., developes the general design of the remainder of the ceiling of the middle 
 aisle, to the west end of the parallelogram ; the respective devices of the Inner and 
 Middle Temple, viz., the winged horse, and the lamb with the nimbus, supporting 
 the banner and cross, being arranged so as to alternate in each spandril. Plate 4. 
 exemplifies the decoration of the spandrUs and groining at the east end of the side 
 aisles. On the label in this compartment (that of the north aisle) commences a 
 part of the 19th Psalm, in red and black Norman characters, "lex domini imma- 
 cclata," &c, which is continued in Plate 1., and also to the south aisle. Plate 5., 
 with the medallion in Plate 3., illustrates the decoration of the south aisles as con- 
 tinued to their western extremity, the banner " Beau Seant " alternating with the 
 device of the cross triumphant over the crescent in the spandrils embracing the win- 
 dows, the others being decorated with the red cross of the Templars, the colour of 
 tlie border of each medallion varying from red to blue alternately, with a similar 
 reciprocating change in the colours of the scroll-work. 
 
 A plate showing the decoration of the groined dome of the " Round " completes 
 those of the ceiling, which it may be as well here to observe are each represented as 
 developed on a plane surface, with the exception of the general plan of reference, 
 
 this part of the building; ami the fresh arrangement in appropriate glazing of the lower windows is 
 evidently required. At present the very unfinished state of this, the most interesting part of the edifice, 
 might seem to indicate' a falling off in the exertions and taste of the Committee, who had so very effec- 
 tively completed all tin- other parts. A reduction of the now too powerful light in this vestibule would 
 add exceedingly to the effect of the eastern division of this church. — W. 
 • Revelations, iv. 7. 
 
RESTORATION OF THE TEJIPLE CHURCH. 13 
 
 which is orthographically projected from above; the scale attached to Plate 1. apply- 
 ing to all those figured on the same, in accordance with this remark. 
 
 The two plates, entitled " Decoration of central archway of the west end of the 
 chancel," and " Decoration over archways at the west end of south and north aisles," 
 cannot be more accurately described than in the words of W. Burge, Esq., one of the 
 most active and efficient members of the committee appointed for carrying these 
 restorations into execution, and who has written an interesting account thereof. 3 He 
 says, " On the spaces of wall left between the vaulting and the three arches which 
 communicate with the round church have been painted, in a style strictly according 
 with the date of the architecture, six enthroned figures of those English monarchs 
 who were connected with the history of the Knights Templars and with this church. 
 
 " The first represents King Henry I., in whose reign the order was first recognised 
 in England. He bears their original banner, the Beau Seant ; the second, Stephen, 
 carries their subsequent device, the red cross, on the silver field. Then follows 
 Henry II., holding a representation of the Temple Church as it was built in his 
 reign. Next comes Cceur-de-lion, the only monarch of England who was personally 
 engaged in the crusades : he bears loftily the representation of the Temple Church 
 in his left hand, and in his right his sword, unsheathed. Between these, in a subor- 
 dinate panel, is a representation of ' Henricus Junior,' the eldest son of Henry II., 
 who was crowned as king, and died during his father's reign. These are followed by 
 the figure of King John, who carries also a representation of the church ; and the 
 series is completed by the figure of King Henry III., who holds a model of the 
 Temple Church, with its eastern addition, as it stood in his time. 
 
 " The interspaces are filled by scroll ornaments, similar in design to those on the 
 vaultings, with the shields of Henry I. and III., and the cross of the order. On the 
 jambs of the centre arch are the following quotations from the Psalms : — 
 
 ' NISI DOMINUS vEDIFICAVERIT DOJTCM, IN VANUJI LABORAVERUNT QUI -SDIFICANT EUM. 
 ' NISI DOMINUS CUSTODIERIT CIVITATEM, FRUSTRA TIGILAT QUI CUSTODIT EUM.' 
 
 " On the piers on either side are painted the emblazoned shields of the arms 
 which are borne at the present time by the two societies." 
 
 Another plate gives the decoration over the principal window at the east end, 
 with that of the splays, &c. The devices of the sun and moon in the quatrefoils on 
 each side the centre light are appropriate symbolic representations of the old and 
 
 a The Temple Church. An account of its restoration and repairs, by William Burge, Esq., of the 
 Inner Temple, one of Her Majesty's counsel, M.A., F R.S., F S.A., &c. &c. 
 
14 RESTORATION OF THE TEMPLE CHURCH. 
 
 new covenants ; the former as the moon reflecting the more full and perfect light of 
 the latter. 
 
 The description of the altar-piece is extracted from Mr. Burge's account: — 
 " In the design and construction of the tabernacle work of the altar, Messrs. Smirke 
 and Burton have had to contend with, and they have overcome, great difficulties 
 arising from the comparatively little height from the pavement to the base of the 
 
 central eastern window The string course on which the central eastern 
 
 window rests is not more than nine feet from the pavement. There could be 
 only one step from the pavement to the altar. The altar itself could not be raised 
 above the surface of the wall. Greater richness in the ornamental parts which sur- 
 mount and surround the altar would therefore be required to counteract the disad- 
 vantage of the want of height. These ornamented parts must be so constructed as 
 not to conceal the string course or cornice, which, with severe simplicity, has been 
 preserved round the whole church. The altar is surmounted by an arcade, which 
 extends the whole width of the middle aisle, being the entire space appropriated to the 
 altar. This is inclosed by a low perforated parapet of carved stone, elaborately painted. 
 In the centre of the arcade are panels of rich tabernacle work. The Decalogue is in- 
 scribed in the two panels to the north, and the Lord's Prayer and Creed on the two 
 panels to the south, with illuminated capitals and ornaments. The central panel is a 
 cross fleury, with the monogram I. H. C. ; the ground is light blue, stellated in gold. 
 Although the gablets of the tabernacle work extend above the marble string course, 
 the eye distinctly recognises that same string course which has been continued round 
 the whole church. The other panels of the arcade are well calculated, by the depth 
 of their colouring, to give a peculiar brilliancy to the central panels." 
 
 " Carved oak elbows to seats." — These four plates afford but a small sample of the 
 " endless luxuriance and variety" displayed in the carvings of the stalls and benches, 
 which were executed from casts of ancient examples supplied by Mr. L. N. Cotting- 
 ham, Architect, from his collection of architectural antiquities. 
 
 The plate in outline, " West end of the Benchers' seats, on the north side," 
 may serve to give some idea of the appropriation of the above carvings, with their 
 dimensions and arrangements. The outline " Elevation of one compartment of tri- 
 forium," may be interesting as illustrating that portion of the " Round," in which, 
 and some other ancient examples, the intersection of the circular arch has given rise 
 to much animated discussion upon the origin of the pointed form. The whole 
 periphery is divided into six similar compartments to the one here delineated, 
 which is developed superficially, so as to equal (from centre to centre of the two 
 outer shafts) one sixth of the inner circumference of the tower. The columns, 
 
RESTORATION OF THE TEMPLE CHURCH. 15 
 
 caps, and bases, in Purbeck marble, are complete restorations from the originals, 
 which were much decayed. They stand out from the wall of their abutment, equal 
 to the diameter of the shaft, as shewn in the plan on one of the two following 
 plates. 
 
 " Caps and bases of columns of triforium." — The style of design of these caps 
 is remarkable, resembling that of the larger columns below, of an oriental character 
 peculiar to the period of the transition from the Norman or circular to the early 
 pointed style of architecture, no two being precisely similar. 
 
 Thus are briefly described all the plates supplied for this work, with the exception 
 of the general plan, which will sufficiently explain itself, and thus tend to elucidate 
 the whole. 
 
 R. H. ESSEX. 
 
NUMERICAL LIST OF PLATES. 
 
 STAINED GLASS. 
 
 Plates. 
 
 Outline elevation of the windows at the east end of the north and south aisles - 1 
 
 Coloured illustrations of ditto 6 
 
 Centre window of south aisle 2 
 
 East window of tower 1 
 
 DECORATION OE CEILING, WALLS, ETC. 
 
 10 
 
 General plan in outline of the two eastern compartments ... \ 
 
 Coloured illustrations of ditto ......... 5 
 
 Ditto of the groined dome of the " Round" 1 
 
 Decoration over archways at the west end of chancel 2 
 
 Ditto over the principal window at the east end, with that over the side windows, 
 
 splays, &c. ------...... 1 
 
 Altar-piece -----.......1 
 
 Carved oak elbows to seats ------ ...... 4 
 
 Outline elevation of the west end of the benchers' seats on the north side, &c. 1 
 
 Ditto of one compartment of triforium 1 
 
 Caps and bases of columns of ditto 2 
 
 General plan of the church as restored 1 
 
 30 
 
EAST IRP OF N"RTH AISLE 
 
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 WINDOWS AT 1HF EAST END OF THE NORTH AND SOUTH AISLES. 
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DECORATION OF (3ROIXED DOME. 
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