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THE OLD CHUECHES OF
OUE LAND:
THE WHY, HOW, AND WHEN OF THEM.
FOE THOSE IN SEARCH OF A HOBBY.

By FRANCIS BALDWIN,
ARCUITEOT.

PUBLISHED UNDER THE DIRECTION OE THE TRACT COMMITTEE.

LONDON :
SOCIETY FOE PEOMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE,
NORTHUMBERLAND AVENUE. W.C. i
43, QUEEN VICTORIA STREET, E.C.
New York : E. & J. B. YOUNG AND CO.
1894.

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CONTENTS.

I. Preface and Introductory  3
II. A glance at Egyptian, Greek, and Eoman architec
ture ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 10
III. A description of the Early Christian church, or
basilica; crypts and to-wers  28
IV. On the earlier forms of vaulted ceilings, and the
diflSculties attending their construction  31
V. The architecture of Christian churches from the
fifth century to the Norman period ... ... 4'2
VI. On Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman architecture ... .51
VII. Anglo-Norman architecture — continued ; its charac
teristics and defects; the difficulties of vaulting
previous to the introduction of the pointed arch ... 61
VIII. The introduction of the pointed arch, and the transi
tion from Norman to Early English architecture 70
IX. The Early English style of architecture ; the sedilia,
piscina, credence, stoup or holy-water basin, aumbry,
and altar  78
X. Early forms of window-tracery ; Early English vault
ing ; buttresses  86
XI. On cloisters, chapter-houses, baptisteries, and fonts 92
XII. On gable crosses, crockets, detached shafts, corbels,
parapets and corbel-tables, wall-arcades, niches or
tabernacles  99

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XIII.

XIV.

XV.

XVI.

XVII.

XVIII.

XIX.

XX.

The Decorated style of architecture ; its window-
tracery, the ball-flower ornament, gablets enclos
ing the heads of windows 
Decorated windows and doorways, mouldings,
cornices and parapets, buttresses and pinnacles
Eoofs over vaulted ceilings ; string courses, hood
mouldings or labels, bosses, plinths, beU-oots, the
sanctus-bell, squints, the "low side-window" ...
Spires; English characteristics; wooden ceilings
and roofs 
Chancel-screens, rood-lofts, the "Holy Sepulchre,"
recessed tombs, niches, stalls, " misereres ; " the
transition from Decorated to Perpendicular
window-tracery 
Tho Perpendicular style of architecture ; its tracery,
wall-panelling, parapets, the- flattened arch,
gablets over arches, mouldings, and pillars
Clerestories added to existing buildings; Perpen
dicular loofs and woodwork, screens, reredoses,
chantries, carved decoration, lierne vaulting, fan-
traoery vaulting
The decline of Gothic architecture, and the inter
mixture of Eoman details; the extinction of
Gothic, and substitution of revived Classic archi
tecture ; the modern revival of Gothic archi
tecture; conclusion 

106

114

123

131

138

145

152

160

W^iT^^^

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THE OLD CHURCHES OF
OUR LAND.
CHAPTER I.
|Y aim in writing what follows has not
been merely to arouse a languid interest,
possessing insufficient vitality to survive
the spare half-hours devoted to the
reading of it; but rather to awaken an interest
which shall gather strength as that reading pro
gresses, impelling not only to renewed study of these
pages, but also the fixing and amplifying of the
knowledge so obtained by the study of actual
examples, and so induce many to take up a subject
as a holiday hobby which will prove to them as
fascinatipg and instructive as it is, alas ! neglected.
Many find in botany a subject full of charming
interest. Every meadow furnishes specimens on
which to test their knowledge, every hedgerow
excites their curiosity.
Geology finds, perhaps, fewer votaries, yet none

4 THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.
who have really made some start towards a know
ledge of this grand science can have failed to find
it a source of rare enjoyment. If the reader has for
his or her hobby either of these sciences, or any
other, there yet may be added thereto a study of
old architecture, whereby much may be learnt of
the history of our country which is not set down in
any Book of Chronicles that ever was written.
Some, alas ! are so situated as to rarely have an
opportunity of casting eyes upon anything more
lovely than rows of houses, ill-buij.t and worse
designed, stretching street after street for miles,
without any relief or variety, unless it be a tavern,
situated in a commanding position, towering above
its neighbours, and outvying them in every particular
of ugliness by reason of much enlarged vulgarity.
It is a relief to turn our backs upon such a scene.
Perhaps a few miles' walk will carry us into some
enchanting valley, hidden away among the great
hills, the abode of peace and beauty, of the song of
birds and of the ceaseless brook; or to some old-
world contented village, clean and fresh, with red
and white cottages clustering about the venerable,
time-stained church, around the sturdy, weather-
beaten tower of which the rooks have sailed and
cawed for more than five hundred years.
Let us take this old village church (Fig. 1) for our
subject, and see what it can tell us of the history of
its building. As a botanist can tell the age of a tree
by counting the annual rings exposed where the
saw has severed its trunk, so an architectural student
can tell the age of such a building as this by a

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND. 5
glance at its windows, their mouldings and tracery,
and other unmistakable signs and tokens.
Here is a bricked-up doorway (Fig. 2), partly con
cealed with ivy, which informs us at once that at least
the lower part of this side of the tower was built
about 750 years ago — that is, about the year 1140, at
which time the Norman style of architecture was at
its best and richest. The doorway is recessed deeply
into the thick tower wall, the surface of the door

Fis. 1.
itself — supposing it to have been, say, a foot behind
the face of this inserted brickwork — being quite
three and a half feet back from the exterior face of
the wall.
Observe that here the whole of the architecture is
within the thickness of the wall. First comes a
pair of short cylindrical pillars or shafts, with
curious, clumsy capitals, from which there springs
a semi-circular arch, adorned with a zigzag pattern

6 THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.
cut in its outer edge. Within this arch, and re
cessed more deeply into the wall, is a second and
smaller arch, adorned in a similar manner, and
having a similar pair of pillars. Then we come to

Fia. 2.

the actual jambs of the door, enclosed between this
second pair of shafts, and still more deeply recessed
into the wall. The edge of these jambs is cut into
the shape of a plain cylindrical roll or moulding,
which is carried right round the edge of the arch

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

also, and takes the place of the pillars and of the
zigzag adornment of the two outer arches.
This is a Norman doorway of no mean order, and,
though only about seven feet high to the crown of
the opening, is not lower than the generality of
Norman doorways in such a situation.
The belfry windows (Fig 3), which appear to be
similar on all four sides of
the tower,and bya glance
at which the tower was
judged to be about five
hundred and fifty years
old, are, as may be seen,
totally different in form
and character from this
doorway. They are of
much greater height, as
compared with their
width, and the two
curved sides of the
arched head meet in a
point, forming what
nearly everybody nowa
days understands as a
" Gothic " arch. One can
easily see, also, how very different is the character
of the mouldings, which are cut in the jambs and
arch of the window, from these bolder and ruder
adornments of the doorway. Then, moreover, there
is what is called "tracery" in the upper part of
the window, the upright stone bar, or mullion, which
divides the opening into two, appearing to branch

THE OLD CHURCHES OP OUR LAND.

out at the top something like a plant, and form a
beautiful ramification in the head of the window.
Now, the way in which this " tracery " first origi
nated, and then developed, forms a very interesting
story, which must be taken up in its proper place.
The particular stage of development shown in these
tower windows is sufiicient of itself to declare the
, , , , , period of its work
manship to have
been at the end
of the fourteenth
century. At the east end
of the chancel is a
window differing
in many particu
lars from the tower
windows (Fig. 4).
In the first place
it is very large,
occupying nearly
half the total area
of the wall in
which it is placed.
The shape of the arch is much flatter than those in
the tower, and its curve, which is very sharp at the
point of its springing from the jamb, is much flatter
towards tlie point or apex, whereas the curve of each
side of the belfry arch is uniform throughout.
Looking at the mouldings of the jambs and arch
of this east window, one readily notices a large
hollow running round the opening and appearing to

Fig. 4.

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND. 9
divide the mouldings into two separate groups,
something like the large hollow so commonly seen
in plaster cornices round our ceilings. Then there
is the tracery. This also differs from tliat of the
belfry windows, not only in that there is a great
deal more of it, but that in its character it is dif
ferent. That in the tower windows branches off
from the top of the mullion in easy-flowing curves,
whereas the whole of this tracery consists of little
else than vertical stone bars, or muUions, crossino-
horizontal stone bars, or transomes, in a regular
gridiron pattern, only relieved by the little foliations
formed at the tDp of each division, or "light" of
the window. This window shows work of a later
date than that of the tower windows, and can hardly
be earlier than about 14.50, or towards the end of
the reign of Henry VI.
Thus far, therefore, we have found that this
church, like hundreds of others, has been altered
and added to at different times, and that each altera
tion was carried out in the fashion of work in vogue
at the time, without any attempt to make it agree
in style with the older work adjacent to it. Very
glad should we be that this was so; otherwise our
old churches would present as little variety or
interest as our modern ones, and would not declare,
as they do now, the history of their own construction.
But the history of the building, as legible to us
from a cursory inspection, does not end with 1450.
For instance, here is a porch (Fig. 5), built of brick
work, on the north side of the church, and close to
the tower, which stands at the west end. There does

10

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

not appear to be much architecture about that, you
will say. Let us not, however, despise it ; it tells its
own history, without our referring to the date, which
is very likely carved upon it somewhere ; for in those
days men who built were very fond of inscribing the
date upon their
work. The brick
work is solid and
sound ; aud that
of the elliptic-
shaped arch over
the doorway is
remarkablygood, with mar
vellously fine
joints. Notice
the keystone in
the crown of
this arch ; also
the plain stone
coping or ledge
from which the
arch springs.
Above the key
stone is a plain
coping, and over
this rises a very
fiat gable,or pediment, also coped with stone; in every
one of these particulars the porch differs utterly from
the rest of the church. On each side, where the porch
walls adjoin the church, is a lead rain-water pipe,
with a rather elaborate head, upon which is the date

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND. 11
(1765) — the beginning of George III.'s time. It
will be quite reasonable to assign this date to the
building of the porch, with its inner doorway through
the church wall, and to the bricking up of the
Norman doorway in the tower. Over this inner
doorway, which is also square-headed, is carved a
fat little cherub face, with puffy cheeks, and two
little wings growing out of his neck. This was
carved when the doorway was formed and the porch
was built.
Entering the church and proceeding to the tower
at the west end, the inner side of the bricked-up
Norman doorway is seen, appearing like a shallow,
circular-headed recess in the wall. The brickwork
has been plastered over, and treated, together with
the whole of the interior of the tower, with several
successive coats of whitewash.
In the west wall of the tower, right over this
doorway, is a large window, the tracery of which is
of the same uninteresting character as in the east
window of the chancel; but here the arch is less
flattened and the window generally is of taller pro
portions than the east window. It may be therefore
ascribed to a somewhat earlier date.
Overhead is a ceiling of great beauty, and of a
construction somewhat unusual in an ordinary
country church (Fig 6). We notice at once that it is
of stone, although plastered over and whitewashed,
and that it seems to spring from the four corners of
the tower and rise thence to the centre overhead,
where is a hoop or ring of stone, like a plain ceiling
" centre flower," forming a circular opening.

12

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

In each angle of the tower is a slender pillar, or
shaft, like those in the Norman doorway, but very
much longer, and with a capital of a very different
character. From each capital there spring five
radiating ribs, recalling those of an umbrella, except
that these are
curved, like the
sides of an arch,
and rise like the
graceful branches
of a slender tree,
until they meet
the ribs which
spring from the
other corners of
the tower. In fact,
each of these ribs
is actually the one
side of an arch,
the rib with which
it meets being the
other side. Thus,
the ribs next the
wall, being, in
deed, part of the
wall, or, as a
mason would say,
" on solid " with it, form arches against the wall ;
while the centre rib of the five rising from each
shaft starts diagonally across the ceiling to meet
the corresponding rib from the opposite shaft, and,
but for the centre ring or hoop, would form with

Fig. 6.

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND. 18
this^rib as perfect an arch as those next the wall.
Between the wall ribs and the centre rib, rising from
each corner shaft, are intermediate ribs, making up
the five, and those fly off to points about equi
distant between the crown of the wall arches and
the centre of the ceiling, at which points they inter
sect with horizontal ribs running straight across the
tower ceiling from east to west and from north to
south, only interrupted by the central ring.
Standing under this ring, and looking vertically
upwards, we see that a very pretty and simple pattern
is traced by these various ribs, although, from any
other point of view, and without any systematic
examination of each group of ribs, the whole thing
would appear intricate. Here we have a ceiling
which consists of a skeleton formed of arched ribs ;
between these ribs is a series of irregular-shaped
curved panels of stonework thrown across from one
rib to another. The ceiling thus constructed is
called a vaulted, or groined, ceiling. Later on a
chapter will be devoted to the subject of vaulting,
which, like everything else, sprang from very simple
beginnings, and gradually became more and more
ornate and intricate.
The nave (Fig. 7) is entered through a tall arch
opening from the tower, and, walking up the church,
the student sees on each side of him a row of three
arches, springing from octagonal, or eight-sided,
pillars. Beyond these arches are seen the north
aisle and the south aisle, with windows in their outer
walls, one opposite each arch, while in the wall above
each arch is also a window. The loftier centre

14

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

portion of the building is called the " nave," and is
the main body of the church, while the lower wings
outside the two rows of pillars and arches are called
the " aisles." Their roofs slope up and lean against

Fig. 7.

the nave walls, at a level just above the nave arches
and just below the nave windows. These upper
windows are called the "clear-story," or, to adopt
the old spelling, the " clerestory " windows, because
this upper story is clear of the side aisles, in contra
distinction to the lower story.
A glance shows that the windows are very nearly

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND. 15
related to the east window. Being smaller in size,
and having only one mullion, the gridiron charac
teristic is less pronounced, and their proportions
and appearance are pleasing.
The arches of the nave arcade present little that
is distinctly peculiar to one particular period, being
devoid of mouldings, having their edges merely cut
away, or splayed, as it is called. But their sharp,
pointed form seems to indicate a fairly early period,
and, from one or two other slight tokens, one may
judge that the arches are rather earlier in date than
even the belfry windows, and, therefore, considerably
older than the clerestory windows above them, or
those of the side aisles. By looking closely at the
west wall, two sloping lines or marks will be
observed, which start just below the level of the
clerestory window-sills, and nearly meet under the
roof. These are the remains of the " weather-
mould," a thin band or string of projecting stone
work for covering and protecting the joint between
the roof and the tower wall. They therefore mark
the original slope of the roof, and show that at one
time the nave had no clerestory. Many churches
throughout the country have thus been improved
by the addition of a clerestory of later date.

CHAPTER IL
jUR next look at the subject had best take
the form of a very brief review of the
earlier llistory of architecture, previous
to the date of the tower doorway, which
we have seen to be of Norman design, in order to
show how the art developed from the style of the
Romans to that which was imported into this country
at the Norman conquest. Having got so far, we
may study our own country's architecture at leisure,
visiting as many old churches as will afford examples
by which to trace, step by step, its gradual develop
ment from the style displayed in the old tower
doorway to that of the east window, and then on
through Yorkist, Tudor, and Stuart times, until the
very last spark of our national architecture utterly
died out.
Although starting presumably without any know
ledge of architectural detail, or architectural history,
some acquaintance with the history of England is
necessary, and also with that of Rome, its empire

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

17

over the world, its decline and fall. Armed with
this knowledge, we shall readily be able to follow the
history, in outline, of the development of our own
branch of architecture.
Egypt, the oldest country in the world, had attained
a high state of civilization as long ago as three
thousand years, when the Pyramids were erected
for the tombs of kings. It does not appear to
have derived its art from any other country, so
that, in Egyptian work, we
have the very earliest of civil
ized architecture. It may be
briefly described as a style of
posts and lintels — that is, its
openings and spaces were
spanned, not with arches and
vaults, but with lintels and
beams. It follows from this use of
lintels that there could be no
ivide covered spaces, as lintels
can only be procured, and
raised to their positions, in moderate lengths, espe
cially as the Egyptians used stone for this pur
pose. It was necessary, therefore, when large apart
ments had to be roofed, to employ a multitude of
pillars (Fig. 8), spaced near enough together for the
lintels to reach from one to the other. In Egyptian
architecture there is very little in the way of
mouldings, owing to the great difficulty of working
them in the hard granite, which was their principal
building material. On the other hand, their walls
0

Fig. S.

18

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

and pillars were lavishly adorned with brilliant
paintings, representing the figures of men, birds,
beasts, and fiowers.
The architecture of Greece, which was in great
measure derived from that of Egypt, was also a
style of pillars and beams. Whether the principle
of the arch was known to the Greeks or not, they
never employed it in their building construction.
The character of their architecture differed con
siderably from that of Egypt, and, while not possess
ing so much of that massive grandeur which in
Egyptian buildings is so suggestive
of eternal duration, very greatly
exceeded it in artistic refinement,
beiug doubtless the most exact
and scholarly art that the world
has ever seen.
As the Greeks constructed their
roofs of timber, they were able to
cover wider spaces than the
Egyptians, although in this respect
coming far short of the Romans,
who were not only acquainted
with the principle of the arch,
but used it with a marvellous skill
and boldness in spanning across
enormous spaces.
The accompanying sketch (Fig. 9) shows a pillar,
with its capital, and the superincumbent architecture,
such as is very frequently found in Greek temples,
especially those of the largest size. This style of
pillar and superstructure is known as the Doric

Fig. a

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

19

order, from the Dorian race which developed it, and
is remarkable for its noble simplicity and majesty.
The Parthenon, the ruins of which still remain as
the great wonder of Athens, was one of the grandest
and most beautiful buildings ever erected, and dis
plays this style in its utmost perfection.
A lighter form of pillar was also used, called the
Ionic, and supposed to have been introduced by the
Ionians from some West Asiatic source, probably
Persian. It was employed in smaller buildings than
suited the Doric order, and is found in the interiors
of temples, the exteriors of which display Doric
forms and proportions. The
capital here shown (Fig. 10),
with its spiral projections or
volutes, will be somewhat
familiar. A third form of pillar,
the capital of which is
sketched opposite, is still
more slender than the last,
and was used in the most
gorgeous buildings; it be
longs to what is known as
the Corinthian order.
The Romans in every case borrowed their art from
foreign countries, and this is readily traceable in
their architecture. The first people with whom
they came in contact were the Etruscans, from whom
they borrowed a plain style, which came to be
applied to buildings of a simple and massive cha
racter, being very sturdy in its proportions. This

Fig. 10.

20

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

style, as adapted by the Romans, and known as
the Tuscan order, is here depicted (Fig. 11) ; and
the sketch will serve as a means for pointing out the
names of the principal parts of the pillar and the
superstructure which it supported.
The spreading foot of the pillar (which rested
generally either on a plinth or pedestal) is called
the base, the one here illustrated being the form of
base peculiar to this order. The shaft of the pillar
is not really cylindrical, but its diameter is dimin
ished from base to capital so as
to present a curved profile, some
what in the manner of an old-
fashioned kitchen rolling-pin,
but so proportioned as to pro
duce an appearance of strength
without detracting from the
vertical character of the column.
This swelling of the shaft, known
as the enthasis, was one of the
refinements introduced by the
Greeks, and is to be found in
the greatest perfection in the
work of that highly cultured
people.
^^^ 1^- The ring-like moulding around
the neck of the pillar, just below the capital, is
called the neck-mould ; and the square slab forming
the topmost part of the capital is called the abacus,
by which the weight of the lintel above is trans
ferred to the pillar.
The lintel, or beam, resting immediately upon

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

21

the abacus is called the architrave, or chief beam,
as it serves to carry all the other beams or rafters
of the building. The plain portion above the archi
trave is called the frieze, and in this style cannot
be said to represent any part of the construction,
unless it be simply wood or stone slabs set up on
edge to conceal the ends of the joists which rest
ou the architrave, and which would otherwise show
on the outside, presenting the open spaces between
them unprotected.
By referring to the sketch of the Doric order it
will be seen that the Greeks allowed the ends of
these joists or beams to show, and ornamented them,
filling up the intervening spaces with slabs carved
in various ways. Above the
frieze comes the cornice, repre
senting the overhanging roof,
but this was so modified by
the Romans that we must refer
again to the Doric order for
the purpose of making the
construction more clear. The
accompanying section (Fig.
12), taken from Rosengarten's
" Architectural Styles," shows
how the overhanging roof,
which in Greece was inclined at a very flat pitch,
forms the cornice, each rafter being arranged im
mediately over a ceiling beam, and adorned in a
similar manner. Over the ends of the ceiling
beams comes what is called the bed-mould of the
cornice, and represents a longitudinal beam upon

Fig. 12.

22 THE OLD CHUECHES OF OUR LAND.
which the rafters rest, and serving to keep both
ceiling beams and rafters in position.
Thus the various details of the Greek Doric order
were directly derived from a very simple form of
post and lintel construction, as evolved by a really
artistic people, whose architecture thus became
what true architecture always is — the graceful and
appropriate decoration of necessary constructive
features. How the Greeks would have dealt with
the very complicated and many storied buildings
of modern days we have, alas, no means of judging,
for the edifices erected by them of which we have
been able to study the details all show an exceed
ingly simple and uniform arrangement. They are
principally rectangular temples, comprising only
one or two apartments, adorned at each end with
a large portico, supported on many columns, and
fianked on either side with a single or double row
of similar columns.
We will now resume our examination of the
Roman orders as applied to a great variety of
buildings erected for almost every conceivable
purpose. The plainest of these orders, known as
the Tuscan, has already been referred to and
illustrated. The sketches here following (Fig. 13) represent
the Roman adaptations of the Doric and Ionic
orders, and it will be seen that they differ consider
ably in character from the Greek styles.
The Romans also made large use of the Corin
thian order, which they also modified, but not to so
great an extent, as it was already rich enough in

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

23

its decoration even for their gorgeous taste. They
were a much less artistic people than the Greeks,
but, on the other hand, they surpassed them far as
engineers. Their taste led them to delight in
great size and magnificence, while they failed
altogether to appreciate the studied and chaste
refinement of their neighbours.
Thus we find their buildings characterized by
their vastness, the richness of their embellishments,
and the engineering skill dis
played in their construction.
The remains of the great build
ings of Ancient Rome, among
which may be quoted the stu
pendous ruins of the Coliseum,
the Forum, the baths of Cara
calla and of Diocletian, illus
trate very fully the above-
mentioned characteristics.
The great difference, con
structively, between Roman
architecture and that of the
Greeks lay in the use of the arch by the Romans, who
merely applied the Greek forms of construction for
ornamental purposes, regardless of the fact that they
thereby did away with the great charm which
belongs only to real architecture — that is, its logical
significance. A form arising out of the necessities
of construction loses any meaning, however decora
tive it may be, when arbitrarily separated from such
construction. Thus the refined and beautiful archi
tecture of the Greeks became meaningless in the

Fig. 13.

24

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

hands of the Romans, who, in introducing it to
Italy, found it necessary to modify it largely in
order to work it in with the arch, a feature which,
probably borrowed from the Etruscans, they had
used extensively long before they came in contact
with the Greeks, and which their constructive genius
had so developed that it had become impossible for
them to abandon it.
The accompanying sketch (Fig. 14) shows the
usual method by which the
Romans sought to com
bine the two heterogeneous
systems of their own arch
and the Greek column.
As has been seen, in
glancing at the architec
ture of Egypt, a post and
lintel style necessitates
the columns being placed
very close to one another,
in order that the lintel
may reach from one to the other. This was the
case in Greek architecture, and formed a difficulty
which the Romans found a means of overcoming.
By omitting every alternate column they obtained
an interspace more than twice as wide as it would
be originally. Then, to carry the architrave, with
its frieze and cornice — together called the entabla
ture — across this wide space, they threw a semi
circular arch from pillar to pillar, the keystone of
which occupied the place and performed the work
of the pillar which they had omitted. This arch

Fig. 14.

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

25

y^Jl fcJ

sprang from a lesser order, or pier, built against the
side of the main pillars, as shown above.
It will be noticed that the entablature was thus
supported for its entire length, and that the archi
trave ceased, in point of fact, to be a lintel. It
thus became quite unnecessary to use long stones,
as had originally to be employed, for the architrave,
the constructive function of which thus disappeared ;
and, in fact, the whole entablature served merely as
an architectural finish or embellishment, the arch,
and the lesser order upon which it rested, really
performing all the work of supporting the super
structure. However illogical the arrangement, it remained
in vogue all through the
heyday of Roman magni
ficence, as it lent itself to
great splendour of appear
ance ; and it was not until
after the commencement
of the Christian era that
the main order, being
practically useless, was
discarded. In interiors of large
vaulted halls it was cus
tomary to let the lower
order carry the arches of
doorways and windows,
while the vaulting of the
ceiling sprang from the main order, the pillars of
which, sometimes round and sometimes square, were

Fig. 15.

26

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

generally elevated upon pedestals. After a time the
main entablature was discontinued, except immedi
ately over the main pillars, each of which retained
a portion of architectrave, frieze, and cornice, from
which the vaulting sprang.
The sketch on p. 25 (Fig. 15) shows this arrange
ment very clearly, and in it the uselessness of the
entablature is prominently apparent. However, not
being true artists, and desiring above all things
a magnificent appearance, the Romans for a long
time retained the fragment of entablature over the
= pillar, and not only when such
pillars were built against the
wall, as in the last example, but
sometimes also when the pillars
stood quite detached, forming
an arcade, as here shown (Fig.
16). Examples of this are to
be found reproduced in modern
times, as in several of the
London churches, built some
couple of centuries ago in the
Roman style.
Thus we see that the might and high civilization
of Rome was not sufficient to raise true artistic
instincts among her people, and they quite failed to
produce in the combination of the arch and the
column a real and homogeneous architectural style,
however vast, grand, and magnificent their build
ings certainly were. It was left for the barbarous
peoples, by whose hands the once all-powerful
empire was overthrown, and into whose hands her

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

27

splendid temples, baths, palaces, theatres, halls of
justice, and exchanges of commerce fell, to develop
out of their architecture a style as true and logical
as that of the Greeks, though in every other respect
utterly different.

CHAPTER IIL

AVING now taken a brief review of
Roman architecture, as it was during
the time of Rome's supremacy, we
may glance at one or two of the forms
that it assumed in the semi-barbarous times that
followed. Besides using the arch to span their openings,
the Romans developed to a wonderful extent the
science of vaulting over large spaces with brick
work and masonry. The Pantheon at Rome shows
what skill they possessed in the construction of
domes. They therefore left to their successors
abundant material from which to copy and adapt
in the design and erection of their own buildings.
It will be remembered that the Roman Empire
became divided into two separate empires, that of
the East and that of the West, the seat of the former
being Byzantium, now Constantinople, and that of
the latter Rome. Whilst Roman architecture de
veloped into a new style in the East, it passed into

THE OLD CHURCHES OP OUR LAND.

29

the hands of barbarians in the West ; and it is with
the changes that it passed through in the West that
we have to do in tracing the growth of that style,
-which was introduced into England by the Normans.
When the Christians first began to build churches
for themselves, they took as their model the Roman
Basilica, a building which was used for courts of
law, and also for commercial
purposes. It consisted
generally of a long quad
rangle, open to the sky,
and surrounded by colon
nades. At one end was the
main entrance, though it
could also be entered from
either side, and at the
opposite side was a semi
circular recess, or apse,
called the Tribune, the dia
meter of which was the
same as the width of the
central open space or court.
The name " basilica," mean
ing "kingly hall," was re
tained by the Christians ; aud their early basilicas
differed from their models only in having the central
soace roofed over. By the end of the fourth century
of the Christian era the form of basilica in vogue
was as here shown (Fig. 17), and this plan was
followed for several centuries. It consisted of A,
the body or nave, its sides enclosed by two rows of
pillars, supporting either a continuous entablature

Fig. 17.

30 THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.
or a range of arches (without any entablature), above
which rose the walls of the upper part of the nave.
On each side of the nave was a side aisle B, the roof
of which leaned against the nave walls above the
arcade or colonnade, as the case might be. The
upper part of the nave- walls was pierced with round-
headed windows, looking out over the aisle roofs,
and the outer walls of the aisles had similar
windows. '
At one end of the nave was the porch, in front of
which was generally an outer court, surrounded
with colonnades, or porticoes, for the use of such
penitents as were not yet suffered to enter the
church. The porch was called the Narthex, and
extended across the entire width of the building ;
it was for penitents who were about to be received
into the communion of the Church.
At the opposite end of the building was the
tribune C, containing seats for the bishop and
the higher clergy. The altar was placed just in
front of the tribune, and was frequently covered by
a " baldachino," a canopy carried upon four
pillars. In front of this were arranged the seats
for the choir, facing each other, as in our modern
churches. Sometimes the basilica had two aisles on each
side of the nave, and sometimes a transept or short
cross-nave was introduced immediately in front of
the tribune. This was the case in the great churches
of St. Peter and St. Paul at Rome, erected in the
fourth century. The former was demolished to
make way for the present St. Peter's; and the

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

31

latter, after suffering much alteration and moderni
zation, was destroyed by fire in 1822, and was
rebuilt upon the old lines.
In erecting their basilicas, the early Christians
often availed themselves of the ruins of the pagan
temples of Rome, from whence they took the
columns that they required, and set them up in
their own buildings, even using pillars of different
size and design, and placing them side by side.
In cases where Roman columns were not lying
ready to their hand, they were obliged to make
rude attempts at copying
them, generally selecting
those of the Corinthian
order. In the Church of
St. Paul, just referred to, are
pillars taken from temples,
and supplemented with
others copied from them
by the Christian builders,
the difference between the
two being readily detected
by any observant visitor.
Internally their churches
were decorated with paintings and mosaics, pre
senting rude and gigantic figures of the Saviour
and the Apostles. In these the background was
generally of gold ; and though the drawing was
absurdly stiff and incorrect, there is manifest in
these pictures, combined with excellent workman
ship and skilful arrangement of colour, an intense
feeling of earnestness and piety, which produces a

Fig. 18.

32 THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.
wonderful impression upon the beholder, even in
this critical and unsentimental age.
The exteriors were absolutely devoid of archi
tecture, presenting nothing but bare walls, generally
of brickwork, the door and window openings being
entirely without any mouldings or other ornamen
tation. The roofs were perfectly plain, and of flat
pitch, the timbers showing from inside the building,
and decorated with painted patterns.
Two features peculiar to the Christian basilicas,
and not to be found in those of heathen Rome, were
the crypt and the tower.
The crypt was a vault wherein to deposit the
bones of the saint to whose honour the church was
erected. Sometimes it was no more than sufficient
for the purpose of burial, but generally it formed a
large subterranean apartment, and was always placed
beneath the high altar, in front of the tribune, the
fioor of that part of the church being raised for this
purpose several steps above that of the nave, and
supported by the pillars and vaulting of the crypt.
It is thought that the ancient catacombs of Rome,
in which the persecuted Christians used to assemble
for worship, and in which they buried their dead,
gave rise to the idea of forming these crypts be
neath the floors of their churches.
It has never been definitely discovered for what
purpose towers were erected in connection with
these basilicas, as many of them were built long
before the use of bells became general, for the re
ception of which it is often supposed that they were
intended. It may be that they were for the purpose

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

33

of adding an appearance of dignity to the sacred
building ; in any case, they soon came to be
regarded as indispensable adjuncts thereto, and
this has continued to be the case through all suc
ceeding ages down to the present day.

CHAPTER IV.
|T was a long time before the rude early
builders of the Christian churches ven
tured to copy the Roman vaulting, and
they naturally confined their first efforts
to very small or narrow spaces, such as the side
aisles of the basilicas, while the central nave re
tained its timber roof. It will be a fitting place
here to say a few words as to vaulting, which we
have seen that the Romans practised extensively,
so as to cover in very large and wide spaces.
The arch is, of course, the origin of all vaulting.
A tunnel is familiar to us all, and is an arch pro
longed to a great length. This is the simplest kind
of vaulting, and is known as a plain " barrel " vault.
Ornamented with panels sunk into its surface, and
richly decorated, the barrel vault has a very hand
some effect, and was used by the Romans in many
of their important buildings.
The first complication in a barrel vault ai-i.^es
when it is necessary to form openings, say for lioht

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

35

in the sides of the vault. These openings are them
selves covered with a prolonged arch or vault, which
intersects at right angles with the main vault. The
curved line of intersection is called the groin, and
is shown in the sketch (Fig. 19). The side openings
are in this case so small that the upper part of the
main vault is left uninterrupted.
Let the reader now imagine two tunnels, alike
in size and shape, cutting
across one another at riglit
angles ; and as the Roman
arch was always a semi
circle, he must assume the
tunnels to be of that form.
At the point of crossing,
where the two semi-circular
vaults cut into one another,
there would be intersecting
lines, or groins, as in the
last example, but this time
involving the entire vault,
instead of only part of it.
Now, suppose that the four
arms of the tunnels were
cut off, leaving only the
square space where they
cross one another. This
space would be covered by a groined vault of the
simplest kind.
It may be pointed out that the curved lines
formed by the intersection of the two tunnels —
in other words, the shape of the lines of groining

Fig. 19.

36

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

— is fixed and governed by the section of the
tunnels. If the reader imagines himself standing at one
corner of this vaulted apartment, looking across to
the corner diagonally opposite, say, from a to c, the
arch formed by the groin from h to d would be a
semi-ellipse, as would also the arch a — e, in the
direction of which he is look
ing. This is because a cylinder,
if cut through in a slanting
direction, presents an ellipse
at the section. This will be
readily seen by cutting in a
slanting direction through a
reed or bamboo. In the same
way, of course, a semi-cylinder
intersected diagonally will
show a semi-ellipse.
Now, at first the construc
tors of vaults confined their
efforts to turning plain barrel-
vaults across narrow passages
or aisles, which was easy jinough, requiring only
sufficient " centreing." This is the rough timber-
work erected in the opening, or space across which
an arch, or vault, has to be thrown, to support the
separate stones or bricks of such arch or vault,
until the whole have been placed in position, and
can support one another, when the centreing can be
removed. The necessity for the cross-vault, or groined vault,
arose whenever one passage or aisle was required to

Fig. 20.

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

37

to

intersect another. In the aisle of a basilica this
necessity arose in each " bay," or compartment
formed by the arches separating the aisle from the
nave ; for the aisle itself formed a passage running
the long way of the church, while a cross-passage
was formed by the nave arch on the one side and
the aisle window on the other.
This sketch-plan of a bay of the aisle (Fig. 21) will
show this clearly
enough ; and will also
serve to point out the
fact that, unlike a
barrel -vault, which
rests continuously on
the walls on either
side, a cross- vault rests
only on the four
corners, which are here
represented by the two
pillars a and h, and the
two half-pillars, c and
d, built against the
outer wall. A — 6 is a
semi-circular arch
looking into the nave ;
a. — d and h — e are
arches across the aisle,
and e—d is a " wall-arch" over the aisle- window.
The perspective sketch of the interior of part
of such a vaulted side-aisle will perhaps explain
better than the plan how each bay is groined or
orossed-vaulted. In arranging these aisles they

Fig 21.

38

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

were generally contrived so that each bay formed a
perfect square on plan. By this means the four
arches were all equal and the vault easy of con
struction. But when it was necessary for any reason
to form the bay oblong in shape, a difficulty in the
vaulting arose. The arches a—h and c — d in the
subjoined sketch (Fig. 22), being wider than the
arches a — d and 6 — c, and all them being semi
circles, the two former must necessarily be also
higher than the two latter, as
they all spring from capitals
at the same level.
Now, one way has already
been noticed by which a
lower and smaller vault may
intersect a higher and a
larger one, namely, by
leaving the upper part of
the larger vault uninter
rupted. But for reasons
which will be pointed out,
this arrangement would not suit the side-aisle of a
church. In the first place, the bay of the aisle would
probably be longer in the direction of the length of
the church than it would be in the direction of its
width; that is, the arches looking into the nave would
be larger, and therefore higher, than those crossing
the aisle. We should therefore have the main vault
of the aisle intersecting a series of larger cross-
vaults, instead of, as in the former instance, a series
of smaller cross-vaults intersecting a larger main
vault. This would be an unsightly arrangement,

Fig. 22.

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

89

and it happily did not commend itself to the
basilican architects.
Moreover, by the time that vaulting had so far
come into vogue, it had become usual to strengthen
and accentuate the groins, or lines of intersection,
by forming them of projecting ribs, sometimes plaiu
and square-edged, and sometimes moulded; being,
in fact, arches
thrown diagonally
across from corner
to corner of the
bay. It was there
fore necessary that
they should be
carried uninter
ruptedly from pillar
to pillar, and this,
with the arrange
ment beforequoted,
would be impos
sible. I have now en
deavoured to show
that some other
arrangement was therefore necessary, and one where
by the groining ribs of the lesser semi-circular arch
should be made to intersect at the crown of the
vault with those of the greater arch. In this
diagram (Fig. 23) the difference in height of the
two arches is made apparent.
There are two ways whereby this could be effected.
One way was to make the crown of the lesser vault

Fig. 23.

40

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

Fig. 2t.

slope upwards towards the centre of the bay, so as
to reach the level of the crown of the larger vault.
Thus the, crown of the
aisle vault would rise
and fall with every
bay for its entire
length,an arrangement
little less objection
able than the case of
the cross-vaults rising
clear above the crown of the main vault of the
aisle, referred to just now for the sake of illustration.
The method generally, if
not universally, adopted was
to "stilt" the lesser arch,
that is to say, to make its
sides vertical for a short dis
tance above the capital from
which it should spring, and
commence the curve at such
a height as should bring its
crown level with that of the
larger arch. To make the
matter perfectly plain, let us
have recourse to a sketch
(Fig. 24), showing the lesser
arch " stilted," and having its
crown thus brought to a level
with that of the larger arch.
By this means the crown
of the vault was kept level
for its entire length, and thereby the greater of
two evils was avoided.

Fig. 25.

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

41

The lesser evil, which remained, was the twist in
the groin, occasioned by the lower part of the
lesser vault being a vertical straight line instead of
a curve, and having to intersect with the curve of
the larger vault. The annexed diagram (Fig. 25)
shows the twist as it appears on plan, and below it
is represented its appearance in reality.
To avoid this difficulty a new development was
attained. The groining ribs were not made to follow
the natural lines of intersection of the two vaults,
but were made of even curvature throughout, form
ing arches of the same height as the cross-arches
of the vault, but of wider span, the diagonal of
a rectangle being longer
than either of its sides.
The form of these arched
ribs was therefore a seg
ment of a circle as here
indicated (Fig. 26) ; and
the six arches of each bay Fig. 26.
being erected in position, the rest of the vault was
filled in between them, and was made to follow the
contour which they provided.
In spite, however, of all that could be done, the
semi-circular arch remained a difficulty, and its pro
portions refused to adapt themselves in a really
satisfactory manner to any vault, even to that erected
over a perfectly square compartment.

CHAPTER V.
[EF ERRING to the usual form and de
tails of an early Christian basilica, such
as has been briefly described in Chapter
III., Rosengarten, in his " Architectural
Styles," says : — " The form of the Italian basilica,
which has been described, was retained for several
centuries in Italy, and especially at Rome. So true
did the architects remain to the oldest models, that
the buildings of the twelfth century are hardly to
be distinguished from those which have been erected
since the fourth."
From Rome this idea of a church spread itself
over Western and Northern Europe, varying in
detail according to the genius of the different races
amongst whom it was introduced, but forming in
reality one great style of architecture, which, to
distinguish it from the Roman style, from the ashes
of which it sprung, has been named the Romanesque.
It will be remembered that the Normans, or
Northmen, were a Teutonic race, who, after a career

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND. 43
of piracy and rapine, obtained from the French
king a large and fertile district in the nortiiern
portion of his dominions, wherein they settled down
to cultivate the more peaceful arts, amongst them
that of building. There is no doubt that they took
their ideas in the first place from the Romanesque,
or round-arched styles, which they had seen in the
neighbouring countries, visited by them in their
piratical excursions ; but so much of their own indi
viduality did they stamp upon their buildings that
it requires no profound study of their work to enable
the student to distinguish it from that of Southern
France, Germany, or Italy, and their architecture
is, therefore, entitled to be regarded as forming a
separate division or sub-style of the Romanesque.
This sub-style, then, is called the Norman, and
it may be said to have lasted from the middle of
the eleventh to the middle of the twelfth century.
The shortness of this period is an eloquent testimony
to the vigour of the Normans in improving and
developing the rude ideas which they brought with
them into their French home.
The few alterations which had occurred in the
architecture of the basilican church since the fourth
century can be very briefly summarized. The side
aisles, instead of being covered merely with wooden
roofs, which also formed their internal ceiling, were
generally covered with some kind of stone vaulting.
All signs of the Roman entablature, employed either
with or without arches, had disappeared even in
Italy, beyond which country, indeed, it never
travelled. The nave was now invariably divided

44 THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.
from its side aisles by arcades, the arches springing
directly from the capitals of the pillars. These
pillars, moreover, were no longer Corinthian or
Ionic columns taken from the heathen buildings of
Rome, which quarry had long been exhausted by
the fourth and fifth century builders ; nor were they
any longer mere copies of Roman work. The vault
ing of the side aisles had exercised an influence
in modifying their form, as had also the lack of
models to work from, and the lack of skill of the
workmen. They had now become more sturdy in
their proportions, and had generally assumed a
quadrangular instead of a circular shape, especially
where vaulting, as well as the arcade arches, sprang
from their capitals, which were of a design better
adapted than of old to support an arcuated, as
opposed to a trabeated, superstructure.
The use of stone as the principal building material
instead of Roman bricks had also had its influence.
There was some sign of a desire for more adornment
in doorways and window openings ; and, altogether,
the exteriors were beginning to be something more
than bare walls pierced with plain openings. Towers
had become universal as adjuncts to the church, and
were used to contain the bells for calling the congre
gation together for worship. Large churches had
generally two or more towers, grouped so as to
enhance very considerably the outward dignity and
picturesqueness of the building.
Out of Italy we find no traces of the use of mosaic
as an internal surface decoration, its place being
supplied entirely by painting, representing sacred

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND. 45
figures or subjects, and the symbols of the Christian
faith, displayed upon the stone piers and plastered
wall surfaces.
With all these changes, the buildings erected
prior to the Norman period were still, more or less,
rude and clumsy pieces of work, their interest, which
is great, being unquestionably derived from their
archaic appearance and the feeling of earnestness
and vigour which characterizes them.
More minutely than this we cannot enter into the
forms and details which were prevalent at this period
among the various nations of Western Europe.
Each province differed in some respect from those
around it, and the study of these varieties of treat
ment, as illustrated by countless churches erected
all over Italy, Germany, and France, is one of pro
found interest. But as it was from Normandy that
the style arose from which was developed the so-
called Gothic architecture of Western Christendom,
including our own country, it is to the Romanesque
style of Normandy that we have to confine our
attention. The most important advance made during Norman
times — that is, as we have said, from about the
middle of the eleventh to the middle of the twelfth
century — was in the vaulting of their churches,
which superseded the previous ceiling of wood.
Not only was this the case with the side aisles, but
also with the central aisle or nave ; and the style of
vault adopted was the intersecting, groined, or cross-
vault, which has been described in a previous
chapter.

46

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

This exercised an immediate influence upon the
design of the pillars— or rather piers— of the main
arcade, which became more and more perfectly

Fig. 27.
adapted to the work they had to perform. The
plain square mass of masonry represented by a in
the above sketch (Fig. 27) was not only adorned,
but also rendered more
suited to the super
structure by having a
cylindrical half-pillar
projecting from each
face, as shown at h.
Each of these projec
tions has its proper
Fig. 28. "^ function. Nos. 1 and 3
carry the arches of the nave arcade. No. 2 carries
the vaulting arches or ribs of the nave, and No. 4
carries those of the side aisle. Then followed further

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND. 47
variations and refinements, as sliown in diagram c
and d, until at last a beautiful moulded pier took
the place of the plain cylinder, and the plain,
square pier of the unvaulted basilica.
Corresponding with the projections and recesses
of the pier were those of the arch, and probably
the latter influenced the former. The plain, square-
edged arch became the chamfered arch e, or the
recessed arch /, the double-recessed and moulded
arch g, and the cylindrical-edged arch h (Fig. 28).
Then these varieties become combined in one arch,
and here we have the original of the mouldings we
find in the arches of the more ornate of our country
churches. The following sketch (Fig. 29), representing one
of the more simple forms of pier
and arch, shows how admirably
the pier reflects, as it were, the
work which it supports above,
each part being sufficient, and
no more, for the discharge of its
own particular function.
It must not be supposed that
the practice of vaulting over the
centre aisles of churches, and
the development of arches and Fig. 29.
piers resulting therefrom, was confined to the
Normans. The Church of St. Michele at Pavia, the
Cathedral of Spires in Germany, and many other
well-known buildings of Western Europe,are vaulted
throughout with cross- vaulting, and the piers indi
cate, at least to some extent, the work above. The

48

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUE LAND.

Normans, however, may certainly be credited with
having developed the system to its greatest com
pleteness ; and, as has already been said, it was the
Norman style, not that of the rest of France, nor
that of Germany, or of Italy, which became the
parent of the great Gothic or pointed-arched style.
A feature not found in the earlier basilicas, al
though by no means unknown in contemporary work
in the countries just referred to,
and very usual in the larger
churches of Normandy, is the tri
forium, with its arcade. In some
instances this consists merely of
the space above the vaulting of
the side aisle and the wooden roof
over it, communicating with the
nave by means of arches, forming
' an arcade over the main arches of
the nave and beneath the clerestory
range of windows. In the fully
developed triforium, however, the
side aisle wall is carried up con
siderably above its vault, so as to
form a gallery over it, lighted by
windows of its own, and covered by its own vaultiog,
thus making a two-storied side aisle, with two tiers
of arches, windows, and vaults. Above this triforium,
and clear of its roof, comes the upper range of win
dows, or clerestory, of the nave, similar to those of
the early basilicas. The entire arrangement is here
illustrated (Fig. 30), the sketch representing one
bay of the Abbey of St. Stephen, at Caen, built by

Fig. 30.

THE OLD CHURCHES OP OUR LAND.

49

William I. in commemoration of his victory at
Hastings ; and, with the exception of the vaulting,
which is of later date, may be taken as a type of the
arrangement and detail of a large church, such as
was developed by the Normans in Normandy and in
England. The following sketch gives an idea of its
external appearance. It will be seen that the west
front, which, with the Normans, was always the
principal entrance, is flanked by two similar towers,
a very usual arrangement, whereby increased height
and dignity were given to this
part of the building. The wood
roofs over the internal ceiling
are of high pitch, the better to
throw off the wet, and present
a lofty gable between the towers.
The transepts project boldly,
and are of the same height and
width as the nave, presenting
similar gables to the north and
south. The intersection of nave and
transepts in the large churches
of Normandy is generally
carried up in the form of a
central tower, of less elevation
than those at the west end. Beyond the intersec
tion or crossing, the nave is prolonged two or three
bays, and then terminates in a semicircular apse,
like the ancient tribune. The side aisles are also
prolonged beyond the crossing, and terminate E

Fig. 31.

50 THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.
generally with square ends, but are sometimes
continued round behind the main apse.
The foregoing briefly describes the state at which
the round -arched style had arrived in the hands of
the Normans at the time of the full establishment
of their power in this country. The review of this
and the previous phases of architecture in distant
ages and countries has been as brief as possible, in
order not to tire the student, and to enable him to
arrive as early as he could properly do so at the
actual commencement of his study of the old
churches of our own land. Now that this stage
has been attained, all haste can be laid aside, and
he may proceed at leisure.

CHAPTER VL
jOW, before pursuing the subject of
Norman architecture in England, it
will be well to pause for a moment to
glance at the buildings which they
found here on their arrival. No remains whatever
of any Anglo-Saxon buildings, except those of about
a hundred small churches, are to be met with, and
these are of the plainest and rudest description,
scarcely meriting to be regarded as works of archi
tecture. With the exception of a small chapel at
Bradford -on -Avon, no one entire Saxon church
exists anywhere; only a window here and a tower
there, a chancel arch, or doorway, or a piece of
walling. One or two curious characteristics of Saxon wcrk
may be mentioned. One is a peculiar arrangement
of the masonry at the angles or quoins of buildings,
known as "long and short work," and consisting of
long stones placed alternately upright and length*
wise. Another is the baluster-like little pillars or
shafts with which they divided their windows into

52

THE OLD CHURCHES OP OUR LAND.

two or more lights. Other details need scarcely be
specified; and if any very rude semicircular or
triangular-headed arch or doorway be met with,
which our knowledge refuses to allow us to recognize
as Norman work, it may, with much probability of
correctness, be regarded as Saxon.
This sketch (Fig. 32) repre
sents the Tower of Earl's Barton
Church, in Northamptonshire,
in which several Saxon cha
racteristics are combined. With
this we may leave the subject,
and proceed to see to what ex
tent Saxon traditions and Saxon
unskilfulness infiuenced Nor
man architecture in this country.
In the first place, before the
traditions had time to assert'
themselves, the want of skill of
the Saxon workmen forbade the
use of vaulting, except
X. «„ <p. across narrow side aisles
Fig 32. Ji> and passages. Conse-
quentl)', we do not find a single instance of a Norman
cathedral in this country with its central aisle or nave
covered with a groined vault, except in cases where
the vault has been added at a later period. The
cathedral of Durham is the nearest approach to an
exception to this rule, having been begun in 1093,
and plainly sliowing by its design and arrangement of
piers that it was intended to support a groined vault,
which lack of funds or courage prevented from being

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND. 53
carried out. The existing vault was constructed in
1233, and is of a kind not originally contemplated.
In German work of the eleventh century the nave,
being twice the width of the aisles, and, therefore,
twice as wide as the length of one bay (the aisles
being perfectly square), was divided for the purposes
of vaulting into square compartments, each com
prising two bays of the aisle. It was, therefore,
from every alternate pier that the main vaultintj
sprang, leaving the intermediate piers with no part
to play in the design of the nave, though, of course,
evenj pier was necessary
for the aisle vaults. The ^^^^'tff^^fF^^lF^^^^^
intermediate piers were, iL-;^:.."/'-^!^''''-'! •-''¦• jL"\'i.:
therefore, made smaller, "T"'""; "",-"*¦:"' —Jlf;---^-
and took the form of i; '\:' ji -i;;' ;i M-
cylindrical pillars, the '¦}./' ; '•.,¦!..¦' i'-, ^' .•'' i
main piers being so de- T-v-*'V.- . ".'•f''-""*',/'?^
was carried up above the
arcade and triforium to ^''' ' ^
take the large vault. At Durham the piers and
pillars are thus alternated, and probably indicate
some German-Saxon infiuence which, in this case,
was strong enough to prevail over Norman methods.
The above sketch (Fig. 33) will serve to explain
what has been said, and also a method of vaulting
which is found in late Norman work, notably at
St. Stephen's, at Caen (see Fig. 30), and at Canter
bury Cathedral (to be illustrated later on).
It will be observed that each compartment of the
main vault is, in Fig. 33, divided by a rib crossing

54

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

from pillar to pillar, thus making it a six-celled, or
" sexpartite," vault instead of the usual four-celled,
or "quadripartite" vault. It must be understood
that in the German system just described no such
minor rib existed ; but the Normans evidently dis
liked the plan of lesser intermediate piers with no
part to perform in carrying the main vault. In order
not to leave these piers
out of the design, as it
were, an arch or rib was
thrown across the nave
from one pier to its op
posite neighbour, thus
dividing two quarters,
or cells, of each com
partment of the vault,
into two, and making
six cells instead of four.
Most of our Norman
Fig. 34. -"'" , ,
churches were con
structed to carry wooden ceilings over the central
area, and this led to the use of cylindrical and
octagonal pillars instead of composite piers to carry
the nave arcades. Owing, however, to the less logical
methods in vogue among the Saxons we sometimes
find composite piers, and even piers and pillars
alternated, in cases where no vaulted roof was ever
intended. In the above sketch (Fig. 34) the circular pillar,
adorned with zigzag groovings, is in Waltham
Abbey Church, Essex, and the octagon pillar in Ely
Cathedral. The capitals are of a type known as the

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

55

TSI3

Fig. 35.

" scalloped " capital, the most usual form of all in
work of the first half of the twelfth century. Here
is given (Fig. 35) a smaller capital
from the crypt of Canterbury Cathe
dral of the plain " cushion " type, and
also a similar capital ornamented with
carving in the rude and grotesque
style of the time. This belongs to a
"nook shaft," such as those in the
recesses of the jambs in the Norman
doorway described in Chapter I.
The accompanying figure (Fig. 36)
depicts a simple form of Norman
doorway, with nook-shafts, at Wyken Churcli in
Warwickshire. The doorways are almost always the
most richly orna
mented portions of
a Norman Church,
especially in Eng
land, and after the
style had become
well settled. The
style of ornament
most usual has been
shown . in the old
tower doorway ; but
besides the zigzag
or chevron, which
occurs in several
forms, there are to
be found numerous other embellisliments made up
of combinations of simple figures, circles, and lines.

Fig 3G.

56

THE OLD CHURCHES OP OUR LAND.

such as the embattled, the lozenge, the cable, the
alternate billet, the double cone, and the star (Figs.
37 ahd 38).

Fig. 37. ^? » >^ F^a. 33.
We rarely find carved foliage used as an adorn
ment to the mouldings of arches, but grotesque heads
of birds and animals are of frequent occurrence (Fig.
38), as are also oval
medallions, containine:
small carved figures of
men and beasts. There
are several doorways in
various parts of the
country each of which
displays nearly the
whole of the ornaments
here mentioned, the
arch being recessed
four, five, six, or even
more times, into the
thick wall, and each recessing showing a different
ornament. The above sketch (Fig. 39) represents a

I'lG. 39.

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

57

doorway at Ely Cathedral, the nave of which is a
noted example of Norman architecture ; it displays
ornamental forms not previously illustrated, applied
to the pillars and jambs as well as to the arch. The
doorway itself is square-headed, the solid masonry
or " tympanum " under the arch being adorned with
symbolical carving.
Windows were similar to the doorways, but less
embellished (Fig. 40). They often possessed nook

c^-

J§) ' up- -»21

Fig. 10.
shafts both externally and internally. The open
ing on the outside was generally small and narrow,
but increased considerably in width and height on
the inside, the jambs and sill being splayed, or
sloped, to admit the light more fully.
Sometimes both doorways and windows were
absolutely plain, so as only to be distinguished by
their semicircular arched heads; but where a

58

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUB LAND.

Norman arch, other than in an arcade, has been left
undisturbed to the present day, it is, as a rule, more
or less ornate.
The same is the case with Norman chancel arches.
These are, as we know, the arches separating the
nave, or part of the church used by the congregation,
from the chancel, or part occupied by the choir and
clergy. The chancel, or choir, as it is called in
abbey and cathedral churches, is the descendant of
the old tribune of the basilica, the front of which
formed a large arch facing
the nave, as at St. Paul's,
Rome (see Fig. 41 ; also
plan of Basilica, p. 29).
The Normans, in order to
provide more room for
the choir and clergy,
moved the semicircular
tribune together with the
altar further eastward, in
terposing a bay or two
between the great arch
and the commencement of the curve of the apse, as
described in the case of St. Stephen's at Caen, and
thus produced the chancel, or structural choir, the
arch being retained to mark the division between
the two parts of the church.
In the case of large churches and cathedrals, in
which transepts were introduced, they occur imme
diately westward of the choir arch, which is not
then called a chancel arch. But in parish churches
without transepts, in which the chancel arch is-

Fig. 41.

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

59

much smaller, it is often lavishly ornamented, as in
the accompanying sketch of that at Stoneleigh
Church, in Warwickshire (Fig. 42).

Fig. 42.
The same ornaments as were used to decorate
arches were also used in the somewhat rare instances
where vaulting occurs, to adorn the ribs and trans
verse arches of the vault. This occurs in the crypt
and the choir of Canterbury Cathedral, dating from
1175 to 1184; in the nave of Durham Cathedral,

FrG. 4S.

1233, and a few other instances of very late Norman,
or rather transitional Norman work. In other cases,
the vaulting ribs are either quite plain or simply
and boldly moulded, as in this sketch of two of the
ribs in the vault of the crypt at Gloucester Cathe
dral (Fig. 43).

60

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

The same ornaments were also used to embellish
tlie vertical jambs of openings, and the horizontal
mouldings, or string courses, which were frequently
introduced to relieve
flat wall surfaces, both
externally and inter
nally. Fig. 44 gives
examples of plain
moulded string courses
of this period, together
with one in which
carved ornament sup
plements the moulding.
The foregoing ex
amples of characteristic
Norman detail will be sufficient, probably, to enable
the student to recognize the actual work when he
sees it, and we will now proceed to particulars of
construction, arrangement, and proportions.

Fig. 44.

CHAPTER VII.

HE construction of all Norman buildings
was of a very solid character, their walls
being immensely thick, and their piers
and pillars of great bulk. In compar
ing their Avork with the Anglo-Saxon examples yet
remaining in various parts of the couutry, we cannot
help perceiving its great superiority, both in point
of construction and of appearance. But there is no
doubt that they were builders of no very great skill,
even in their own country, while here, the employ
ment of so mauy Saxon masons, even under Norman
tuition and superintendence, led to some very
inferior construction, such as to fairly challenge
comparison with our own nineteenth century jerry-
building. The massive walls of many of our
Norman cathedrals and churches have been found
to consist only of the very slightest veneer of
squared masonry, the interior of the work being
nothing better than rubbish — small stones and
weak mortar — which was apparently poured in from
time to time in a liquid state, as the outer shell of

62

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

masonry was raised to receive it. When this con
struction was applied to piers carrying heavy towers,
such as those erected at the intersection of nave
and transepts of a large church, the result, after a
time, was always invariably disastrous, the usual
fate of a Norman central tower being to fall down,
and bring a large part of the church along with it.
Walls, being less heavily weighted in proportion
to their bulk, and the ordinary pillars of arcades
- being, on account

of their smaller
size, necessarily
constructed with a
larger proportion of
good external ma
sonry, have fared
better, and have
remained sound
enough to this day,
though the outward
thrust exercised by
the roofs and other causes have pushed them out of
the perpendicular.
Above is a sketch of a Norman chancel arch at
Elkstone Church, in Gloucestershire (Fig. 45),
which arrived at this form through sheer bad build
ing. In spite of the thickness of the walls, the
outward thrust of the vaulting was too much for
them. More scientific constructors would have built the
walls less thick, but of solid masonry throughout,
and would have increased the thickness only at those

Fig, 45.

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND. 63
points upon which weights or strains were concen
trated. The Normans built their walls of the same
thickness throughout, their use of buttresses being
comparatively rare, and the projection of them very
slight. In justice to our Norman friends, it should be
explained that they were not less skilful than
their contemporaries elsewhere in Europe — at least
in that western portion of Europe which inherited
from the Romans its art of building. The Romans
built walls of immense thickness, to carry immense
vaults ; and made extensive use of concrete, with
which they filled the interior of their walls. But
the Roman concrete was such that it hardened into
a solid mass, actually harder than the masonry or
brickwork with which they encased it. Thus we
find huge masses of concrete standing to this day
alone, the encasing material having been removed
in later times for use in other buildings. So we
see that the Normans built in the Roman manner,
but not with the Roman skill.
The proportions of Norman structures are not, as
a rule, lofty as compared with those of later work.
This applies also to their towers, which, as a rule,
rise but little above the roofs of the churches to
which they are attached. Sturdiness and breadth
are their characteristics rather than height.
The crypts, which have been mentioned in an
earlier chapter as a feature of the Italian basilica,
were frequently built by the Normans beneath the
eastern portion of their larger churches and
cathedrals. Many remain to the present day

64

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

beneath choirs which have since been entirely
reconstructed, not only in a later style of archi
tecture, but of greatly increased dimensions and
totally different form. The crypts thus proclaim
the original plan of the church above, and show to
what extent it has been altered or enlarged. The
sketch (Fig. 46) represents part of the crypt at
Worcester Cathedral. The pillars of the choir above
are supported by massive piers, the small shafts and

Fig. 46.
their arches and vaulting serving merely to carry
the fioor over them.
This crypt has a semicircular east end, which
was, doubtless, the case with the Norman choir
above, though the present choir extends a long way
to the eastward of the crypt and has a square
termination. This latter is a thoroughly English
feature, as will be seen later on, the usual Norman
choir or chancel, both in England and in Normandy,

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

65

terminating eastwards in a semicircular apse, like
the tribune of the early basilicas, and like the choir
of St. Stephen's at Caen, but with a further de
velopment, inasmuch as the side aisles were con
tinued round at the back of the apse, separated
therefrom by a semicircular arcade, as shown in
the annexed sketch (Fig.
47), giving the plan of the
Cathedral of Norwich, which
retains its Norman arrange
ments to a great extent un
altered.* The English preference
for length, as opposed to the
other two dimensions, is
very marked at Norwich,
the nave of which is one of
the longest in this country.
The French, on the other
hand, built their churches
of greater height, vt^hile in
the matter of width the two
countries do not differ
largely, beyond the fact
that in French churches
there are very often two side
aisles on each side, which is
not the case with us.
Another English peculiarity lies in the erection
of the tower, or the principal tower where there are
more than one, at the intersection of the nave and
* The chapels marked a and h no longer exist. F

Fig. 47.

66- THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.
transepts rather than at the west end, as was the
case in Normandy. Many great Anglo-Norman
churches have but one tower, and its position is at
the crossing. Where three towers occur, the two
at the west end are smaller than the central tower,
whereas on the Continent the reverse is the case.
The usual ceiling of a Norman church in England
was, as has already been stated, constructed of
wood, owing tp the perishable nature of which
hardly any Norman ceilings have survived to this
day, and we consequently know very little about
them. Over the nave of Peterborough Cathedral,
however, is a wooden ceiling, which is doubtless
the original one, put up in very late Norman times,
that is, about a.d. 1190, when the Norman style
had elsewhere entered the transition stage which
heralded the very different style that followed.
This ceiling is slightly sloped at the two sides and
flat in the middle, and is painted with black and
red and white in large diamond-shaped patterns.
It is not supposed that any other church retains its
original Norman covering, except in those rare
instances where such covering was a groined vault.
This brings us back once more to the subject of
vaulting. It will be remembered that in Chapter
IV. were described various difficulties encountered
by the early builders in constructing their vaults so
as to be satisfactory, not only from the builder's
point of view, but also from that of the architect or
artist. These difficulties mainly arose from the fact that
in a semicircular arch the height bears a fixed

THE OLD CHURCHES OP OUE LAND.

67

relation to the span, and that, therefore, in dealing
with a cross-vault in which at least two, if not
three, different sizes of
arch have to be adapted
to one another, it was
necessary either to stilt
the narrower arch to make
it of the same height as
the other, or to make the
wider arch segmental in
stead of a complete semi
circle. The accompanying
diagrams (Fig. 48) will
explain this very clearly,
the top figure showing the
plan of a square bay of
vaulting, and the lower
figures giving the two
alternative methods of dealing with the case. Both
these methods are to be found in the side aisles
of large churches, where
the awkwardness resulting
from either is very appa
rent at the springing of
the vault.
But where the bay or
compartment was oblong,
and three different sizes
of arch had to be forced
iuto unison, both the
above-mentioned methods were adopted, and the
difficulty was much increased. Fig. 49 shows the

®

68

THE OLD CHUECHES OP OTJE LAND.

smallest of the three arches stilted, and the largest
— the diagonal arch — segmental in form, while the
third was semicircular.
Now, the old Roman cross vault shows a way out
of the difficulty, which, however, seems never to
have been adopted. In the cross-tunnel vault the
diagonal groins are elliptical, and result from the
intersection of two semicircular vaults. Here there
were no ribs, nor is any case known, in which
groining ribs were introduced, of those ribs being
constructed to an elliptical curve. The form must
.d have been regarded as un
sightly; and if the diagonal
ribs of a vault were not
on this account allowed to
follow their natural curve,
still less could it be ex
pected that Norman archi
tects would form the side
or cross arches of their
vaults to an elliptic
contour.
The introduction of the pointed arch, such as we
are accustomed to call the " Gothic " arch, formed
by two segments of a circle meeting in a point at
the apex, supplied the means whereby every
difficulty hitherto experienced in dealing -ndth the
various ribs of a bay or compartment of vaulting
was solved in a truly admirable and satisfactory
manner. The diagram (Fig. 50) is sufficient to show
clearly that a pointed arch can be of almost any
required height, regardless of its width. Thus the

Fig. 50.

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND. 69
longitudinal, the diagonal, and the transverse ribs
or arches in an'y bay of vaulting can all be of the
same height without any dodging or straining
whatever, and all the ribs can start uniformly and
gracefully from the capital, entirely free from any
twist or awkwardness.

CHAPTER VIIL
|T has never been definitely settled how
the pointed arch came to be introduced
into the West. The most probable sug
gestion is that it was seen and admired
by the Crusaders during their sojourn in the East
amongst the Arabs and the Saracens, and introduced
by them on their return home. Another idea is
that its form was
suggested by the
interlacing wall-
arcades, such as
were much used
by the Normans
as a decorative
feature both inside
and outside of
their buildings. It
will be seen from
the sketch (Fig. 51)
that the form of a pointed arch is produced where
two of the semicircular arches intersect one another.

THE OLD CHURCHES OP OUR LAND.

71

From the earliest times of the Christian Church
the form of a pointed oval, derived from the shape
of a fish — the Greek word for which contains the
initials of the title of the Saviour — was used as
a sacred symbol, and its form is often introduced
as a frame for carved representations of the Deity
in the head of Norman doorways, as in the sketch
(Fig. 52). Whether this had anything to do with
suggesting the new form of
arch, must remain a subject
for conjecture.
Be this as it may, the
pointed arch came to be
applied to the purposes of
the vault, to which its adapta
bility became at once mani
fest. The impetus which it
imparted to the development
of vaulting, especially in this
country, where the art had
hitherto been but shyly culti
vated, was very great. We
find that pointed ribs and
adopted in vaulting to the exclusion of the round
arch, whereas the latter survived for a long time in
use in those parts of a building, such as arcades,
doorways, and windows, which are unconnected
with the vault.
It is impossible to fix an exact date to the intro
duction of the pointed arch, as in some parts of the
country round-arched work was being erected simul
taneously with, or even subsequently to, the building

Fig. 52.
arches were at once

72

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

of pointed-arched churches elsewhere. But we
may roughly divide the periods thus: — Work
erected during the eleventh century — say, during
the reigns of the first two Williams — may be
described as Early Norman. During the xeigns
of Henry I. and Stephen, the style became less
rude and heavy and increased in richness of decora
tion; while late Norman and Transition, that is,
pointed-arched Norman, were the styles which
characterized the architecture of the reign of
Henry II.
The accompanying sketch (Fig. 53) represents
a wall arcade at

Stoneleigh Church,
Warwickshire. It
will be seen that
the usual Norman
capitals and style
of ornament are
retained, although
the arches are
pointed in form and

Fig. 53.
not semicircular.
Canterbury Cathedral Choir is the greatest work,
in this country, of the Transition-Norman style;
it was commenced in 1175 and finished in 1184.
Now the nave of Peterborough Cathedral, begun
in 1175 and not finished until 1193, was carried
out in pure round-arched Norman. It is probable
that this was so in order that the nave should
correspond in style with the choir and transepts,
which were erected earlier ; but it is rarely that

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

73

such regard for conformity was shown in mediaeval
times. Fig. 54 shows a capital from the choir of Canter
bury Cathedral. It will be noticed that in later
Norman work foliage was introduced as ornament
in Capitals. That here shown is well executed,
and its arrangement suggests a rough imitation of
the Roman Corinthian capital. The abacus is
square, while the column itself and the lower part
of the capital are cir- r-
cular. Attention is '
called to this, not
because it is by any
means a peculiarity
— quite the reverse
— but because just
about this period the
English practice
began to differ from
that of all other
countries in making
the abacus circular.
Although we find now
and then a square abacus in post-Norman times in
England, and frequently an octagonal one, it may
be set down, as a rule, that the thirteenth-century
abacus is circular; and this would also apply, but to
a less degree, to the plinth or lowest part of the base
of a column or shaft. On the other hand, a circular
abacus or plinth is probably not to be found on the
Continent; if it is, it is far rarer there even than
the square abacus in England. As time went on, the

Fig. 51.

74 THE OLD CHUECHES OF OUE LAND.
differences between English and Continental work
increased, and, once fairly at the end of the Norman
period, it is not difficult to distinguish between the
detail of French or German work and that of our
own country. The divergence began, in the first
place, as has been seen, through the want of skill,
taste, and science of our Saxon workmen ; but ere
long this cause ceased, and a new one arose — their
confidence in their work and native characteristic
independence. During this period of transition
from a round-arched to a pointed-arched style, a
great change came over the character of our archi
tecture. The facilities afforded to the construction
and development of the vault by the use of the
pointed arch, have already been referred to. This
removal of difficulties which had pressed heavily
upon that very important part of the construction
of a church or other large building, gave an impetus,
not only to the science of vaulting, but also to
that of the builder generally, with the result that
greatly increased skill is manifest in the design and
workmanship of this period.
Thus, in addition to great superiority in the
vaults over those of Norman date, we notice a very
marked decrease in the bulk of piers and columns,
accompanied by a greater elegance of form generally.
Instead of the huge cylindrical pillars and massive
piers of Norman times, we find comparatively slender
columns and piers, composed of clustered shafts of
only a few inches diameter, such as shown in the
accompanying sketch (Fig. 55), in the choir of
Canterbury Cathedral. Here we have also the

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

75

pointed vault with ornate ribs, the light column with
finely carved capital, still having a square abacus,
and the circular-arched triforium with slender shafts.
This illustration serves to show how far Norman
work had become refined and the skill of the mason
increased; it will also introduce us to the next

Fig. 55.

stage, or fully developed pointed style, known
among architects as Early English.
The tendency towards increased lightness and
slenderness of proportion is visible not only in
columns and piers, but in every other detail of a
building. The windows, without increasing in

76

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

width, but rather the contrary, became long, narrow ^
openings with acutely pointed heads, sometimes
placed singly, and sometimes in groups of two, three,
or even five. Doorways and arches generally ob
tained loftier proportions, and the pointed form
gradually superseded
the semicircular in
every part of the
building, being,
doubtless, preferred,
not only for its con
venience, but also for
its more aspiring
character. Buttresses
were made narrower
and of much greater
projection than here
tofore, and were thus
far better suited to
resist the outward
thrust of the vault;
while the rest of the
wall was diminished
in thickness, as bear
ing no strain beyond
its own weight and
that of the roof im
mediately over it.
Gables were made lofty and of steep pitch. Towers
became less stunted, rising well above the adjoining
roof, and being frequently, if not always, surmounted
by a steep, octagonal roof or spire, constructed

Fig. 56,

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUE LAND. 77
sometimes of stone and sometimes of timber work,
with a covering of lead. The annexed sketch (Fig.
56) represents the stone spire of Oxford Cathedral,
one of the earliest, previous to its recent rebuilding,
to be found in this country. It will be observed that
there are lofty projecting windows in the spire,
capped with gablets ; also that at each angle of the
tower there rises a turret, carried up and terminated
in a small spire. The part of the turret rising above
the tower is called a pinnacle ; this becomes a very
favourite feature, not only on towers, but also on
buttresses and the flanks of gables, adding greatly
to the soaring character of the building.

CHAPTER IX.
IE have now arrived at the completely
developed stage of the " Pointed " style
of architecture, for which the name of
" Gothic " has long been accepted as the
recognized designation, although in the first instance
bestowed in contempt by those who, in the seven
teenth century, when Gothic art had ceased to exist,
were unable to appreciate its logic or its beauty.
By the students of our own day this first phase of
Gothic architecture is known either as the " Early
English " or " First Pointed " style. As th,e latter
term would embrace the early pointed architecture
of AVestern Christendom generally, and as it is
intended to limit these observations to that of our
own country, it is preferable to make use of the
former designation of " Early English."
The work of this period, embracing the reigns of
Richard I., John, and Henry IIL, is by many
regarded as the purest and noblest in the whole era
of Gothic architecture. We possess in the cathedral
at Salisbury a great and splendid example of this

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

79

style, the entire building, with the exception of the
upper part of the tower with its wondrous spire,
being of this date, and remaining to our own time
in all respects unaltered. Nearly all our cathedrals
possess portions, some very extensive, of Early
English work ; but the number of country parish
churches exhibiting architecture of this period is,
unfortunately, comparatively small, owing to the
vigorous rebuilding
that went on at a
subsequent date.
Here we have a
sketch (Fig. 57) of
a very characteristic
capital from Lincoln
Cathedral, executed
about the middle of
the thirteenth cen
tury. It will be
noticed that the
carved foliage with
which it is adorned
is of a conventional
style, not closely-
copied from Nature,
yet very pleasing
and graceful, and
well adapted to its position. Sometimes the capitals
are simply moulded and not enriched with any
carving, in which case the student will at first
not so readily identify them; but as soon as he
becomes at all familiar with the carved capitals he
will find little difficulty in recognizing those which

Fig. 57.

80

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

are not carved, the mouldings being always charac
teristic. In fact, next to Norman work, there is no
style so easily to be recognized as the Early English.
Its narrow and acutely pointed windows — called
from their shape "lancet" windows — with their
jambs widely splayed towards the interior, so as to
obtain the maximum of light for the size of the
opening, are to be mistaken
for no other windows, either
of earlier or of later date.
They are frequently, in
larger churches, adorned on
the inside with slender
shafts, with their caps and
bases, the arch above being
moulded, as in the annexed
sketch (Fig. 58), from Bake-
well Church, Derbyshire.
A very characteristic
ornament is that known as
the " Dog-tooth," resembling
a star with four rays, the
centre boldly projecting in
sharp point outwards.
It is generally to be found
lavishly introduced in the largest hollows of the
mouldings of arches, but it occurs also in horizontal
moulded courses and cornices, and in the vertical
interspaces between the clustered shafts of richly
adorned doorways.
Early English mouldings may be described as
generally consisting of a series of rounds and

"•HBP™"'

" - ¦" ¦'iilill\l,TM1lffliUi\> ¦
Fig. 58.

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

81

hollows, boldly cut, and showing strongly marked
lines of light and deep shadow. Here is an example
from Haseley Church,
Oxfordshire (Fig. 59),
showing the " Dog
tooth" ornament which
has just been described.
Now, it sometimes
happens that arches of
a semicircular shape
are to be met with,
which are adorned
with fine mouldings of
the character that is
indicated inthe sketch. Fig. 59.
and even bearing the distinctive Dogtooth ornament.
The student will not confound such arches with

Fig. go.
Norman work, bearing in mind that semicircular
arches wer^ retained in use some considerable time
G

82

THE OLD CHURCHES OP OUE LAND.

after the pointed arch had come to be adopted for
the purposes of vaulting.
A form of arch much in use for small doorways
and arcading during this period was the trefoil arch,
of the shape shown in the accompanying illustration
(Fig. 60), which represents the sedilia in Uffington
Church, Berkshire. The sedilia are stone seats for
the clergy, formed in arched recesses in the south
wall of the chancel, and are to be found in many
churches, both small and great, but very rarely of
earlier date than
the time of which
we are now speak
ing. The three
seats here shown
are those for the
priest, the deacon,
and the sub-
deacon ; but in
some small
churches there is
only one seat, in
others only two,
while larger churches have as many as four and
five. In the earlier days of the Church the priest
was accommodated with a wooden seat.
Another form of the trefoil arch, in which the
head is circular instead of pointed, as in the last
example, is here given ; it is the piscina in Rushden
Church, Northamptonshire (Fig. 61). The piscina
is a small stone basin, with a drain for conveying
away the water, situated on the south side of the

'Fig. 61.

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND. 83
altar, and generally within a niche or recess, as in
the present example. It was used for the purpose
of washing the hands and of rinsing out the altar
vessels. In large churches double piscinas are often
found, and sometimes they are very elaborate and
ornate. As in the case of the sedilia, piscinas are
very rarely to be met with of earlier date than the
thirteenth century, although the custom of washing
the hands before administering the Sacrament was
of very high antiquity. A stone shelf above the
basin, though not a necessary adjunct to a piscina,
is frequently to be found in connection therewith.
It is called the credence, and supplies the place of
a small table, upon which the bread and wine to bo
used in the Sacrament were placed prior to their
being consecrated. In St. Cross Church, near Win
chester, is a very flne specimen of a stone credence
table, but of considerably later date than the time
now under discussion.
The piscina must not be confounded with the
stoup, or basin for holy water, which is placed near
the entrance-door of a church, so that the worship
pers entering might sprinkle themselves, emble
matical of the washing away of sins. The stoup is
often of very similar design to the piscina, being
generally placed in a niche, with an arch or pro
jecting canopy over it ; but it has no drain for
carrying off the water like the piscina.
Nor must we mistake for either the piscina or
the credence the small niche or cupboard called the
aumbry, or almery, situated by the side of the altar,
for the purpose of containing the sacred vessels.

84

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUE LAND.

In the Priory Church of St. John, Brecon, are to
be seen unusually fine examples of several of the
details just mentioned, in the purest Early English
style, worthy of our best attention and study, viz.
the lancet windows of the chancel, the beautiful
triple sedilia, the exceedingly fine triple piscina,
and the two aumbries, all with their graceful slender
shafts and moulded arches, forming as complete and
perfect an example of an Early English chancel as
is to be found anywhere in this country. It will always be

found that the altar
itself, or Communion
table, is of modern
date, the ancient stone
altars of our old
churches having been
universally destroyed
by the Puritans in
the sixteenth century.
But besides the high
altar, situated at the

Fig. 62.

east end of the church, there had been introduced
since the very early days of the Christian Church
other or minor altars, used for private masses
for the souls of benefactors, and each dedicated
to its particular saint. These were situated at
the east end of the aisles, in the eastern aisle of
the transepts of large churches, or in chapels
attached to the aisles and transepts, as in the
cathedrals of Lincoln, Norwich, Gloucester, and
Canterbury. Some few of these minor altars re-

The OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND. 85
main, and generally consist of stone slabs, supported
either on brackets or stone legs. At Bengeworth
Church, Worcestershire, is an altar of solid stone,
with the top projecting in front and boldly moulded,
and by the side of it is a very beautiful piscina, in
a trefoiled recess, and with a moulded credence
shelf above it (Fig. 62).
Stone altars were introduced at the beginning of
the sixth century, previous to which they had been
of wood. They were often used to contain the bones
of the saints, and in some cases were actually their
tombs, erected on the site of martyrdom, the
churches being subsequently raised to contain and
protect them.

CHAPTER X.
jE now come to the origin and develop
ment of what is called the "tracery"
of Gothic windows — a term so well
known that any further definition is
needless, especially as the following remarks, in
dealing with the subject, will make its meaning
clear even to those who have never yet met with
the term.
So far, we have found that windows have been
simple, narrow openings, with heads formed either
with semicircular, pointed, or trefoil arches.
It was usual, even in Norman times, to combine
a couple of window openings into one design by
including them under one large arch, and spacing
them so close together that only a small shaft, with
its cap and base, separated them, as in the triforium.
Fig. 55. This arrangement may be regarded as the
first step in the direction of window-tracery, as
will presently be seen.
In Early English times this grouping together of

THE OLD CHtrilCHES OF OUR tAJfD. 87
single window openings was much in vogue, two,
three, and even five being arranged together under
one main arch, so as to form a large compound
window. Where more than two single openings,
or " lights," as they are called, are thus combined,
they vary in height, so as better to fill up the
main arch, the centre light or lights being higher
than those on either side. In the case of two lights
only, they are, of course, of equal height, and a
larger blank space is thus left over them, and under
the combining arch. It was found desirable to deal
with this blank space in some way, so as to lighten
its otherwise somewhat heavy appearance. To this
end it was pierced with a small opening, sometimes
the shape of a plain circle, but generally "foiled"
three, four, or more times. The belfry windows.
Fig. 56, will serve to explain how this was done, and
what is meant by the term " foiled." The present
instance is one of a quatrefoil or four-foiled open
ing, the foils being the four hollow bays round the
central portion of the opening. The four projecting
points between the foils are called cusps. An open
ing with three such bays and three cusps is called
a trefoil, and one with five bays and cusps a cinque
foil. This arrangement formed the second and most
important step, and required but one more to reach
what is actually nothing short of actual " tracery."
The remaining spaces, on each side of and below the
quatrefoil, dissatisfied the architects of the time, and
these were ornamented by having small triangular
perforations or sinkings formed in them, their edges

88

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

being sloped off, or chamfered, in the same way as
those of the quatrefoil.
A very refined and perfect example of this stage
in the development of window tracery is illustrated
in the annexed sketch
(Fig. 63) from Ely
Cathedral. The stu
dent will notice here
the increased richness
of effect obtained by
recessing the foliations,
both of the two arched
lights and of the
quatrefoil above them,
behind the face of the
^'i"*- ^3. rest of the stonework.
Moreover, in each cusp is a small triangular sinking
similar to those introduced on each side of the
quatrefoil. These adornments, together with the
elegant shafts on each side
of the lights, and the pro
jecting moulding, or "label,"
over the main arch, com
bine to produce a very
beautiful, though compara
tively simple, design.
The way to deal artistic
ally with a compound window
being thus shown, nothing
was easier or more natural
than to vary it in a hundred different ways. Dor
chester Church, Oxfordshire, provides an excellent

Fig. Cl.

TUE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND. 89
example of a further development of the arrangement
adopted at Ely (Fig. 64). Here are three lights of
equal height, divided from one another by plain
chamfered mullions, and the space above them filled
in with three foiled circles, the whole of the inter
spaces between which are pierced with triangular
eyelets, which leave no bare surface whatever and
serve to accurately define both the arched heads of
the main lights and the three circles. This window,
in having three lights instead of two only, and in
having all its interspaces pierced, instead of beiug
merely sunk, is an advance on the Ely window,
when regarded from the point of view of tracery,
and is, without doubt, though still somewhat heavy
and crude, a completely developed traceried window.
Thus far, then, had matters arrived by the middle
of the thirteenth century.
The art of vaulting, as already remarked, received
a mighty impulse through the introduction of the
pointed arch in place of the unaccommodating semi
circular arch of the Normans. In the Early English
period which followed, and with which we are now
dealing, not only were the ribs of the groining very
beautifully moulded, but a great addition both to
the appearance and to the stability of the vault was
effected by the introduction of the ridge-rib, or, to
call it more correctly, the ridge-band, a moulded
band of stone carried along the ridges of the vault
ing, and thus connecting and binding together the
apexes of both diagonal and transverse ribs. This
innovation immediately led to another, and inter
mediate ribs were introduced between the diagonal

90

THE OLD CHURCHES OP OUE LAND.

rib and transverse ribs on either side, meeting in
the ridge-band, without the aid of which it would
have been impossible to construct them. The
vaulting of the nave of Westminster Abbey is a
most noble and beautiful example of this arrange
ment, which was also seen in the tower of our old
village church (Fig. 6), although that piece of
work was executed at a somewhat later date.
This introduction of the ridge-
band and the intermediate ribs
in the latter part of the thirteenth
century brings Gothic vaulting
to its full perfection; for, although
in subsequent times more and
more ribs were crowded in, and
an appearance of increased rich
ness and intricacy thereby ob
tained, no greater artistic beauty
or scientific skill was ever
attained. It is doubtless the one im
portant point in which our Eng
lish churches are architecturally
inferior to those of France that,
' although often imitating from
'f>iithe latter those features which
were necessary to, and involved
in, the erection of a vaulted ceiling, they most fre
quently lack the vaulted ceiling itself. They thus
suffer both through the inferiority of their roofs
and through the aimlessness of some of their
architectural features.

THE OLD CHURCHES OP OUR LAND. 91
One of these features, and a very beautiful and
eminently scientific one, is the flying buttress. An
ordinary buttress is a pier-like projection introduced
in a wall at a point where some extra weight or
pressure exists which the unassisted wall could not
safely be relied upon to sustain. Buttresses have
often been built against walls which have shown
signs of failure through insufficient strength in
the first instance.
The accompanying sketch (Fig. 65) shows a flying
buttress of this period at Hartlepool Church, Dur
ham, interesting as showing how the desire to lighten
a solid buttress without diminishing its strength
led to the adoption of the arched strut, or flying
buttress, as illustrated in the upper part of this
example ; the lower part possibly indicating what
was intended at first for the whole buttress, until
its heavy appearance, when partly built, dictated a
lighter form of construction for the upper part.

CHAPTER XI.
|EFORE proceeding with the further de
velopment of the Pointed, or Gothic,
architecture of our old churches, it will
be well to pause here to examine certain
details of construction, utility, and ornament, which
have been hitherto hardly touched upon. Some of
them, indeed, were not, to the best of our knowledge,
in vogue before the thirteenth century.
Those who have had the advantage of visiting
some of our great cathedrals will doubtless have
seen the beautiful and interesting cloisters which
are attached to some of them ; and, although it is
here intended to deal more with parish churches
than with the grander ecclesiastical edifices of our
land, it will not be amiss to say a word or two con
cerning their cloisters.
These were the covered passages or corridors
which communicated between the church and the
other buildings of a monastery, and in which the
monks were enabled to take exercise in unfavour
able weather. The accompanying sketch (Fig. 66)

THE OLD CHUECHES OF OUR LAND.

93

gives a block plan of Durham Cathedral, which was
originally the monastery of St. Cuthbert, showing
the great church, with the rest of the monastic

Colilce • T'oreh

Garden

Fig. 66.

Ajtrvy'O

ffi

buildings so arranged as to enclose a quadrangle,
around which runs the cloister, forming a passage
of communication with all parts of the establish
ment. The central space was laid out as a garden

94 THE OLD CHUECHES OF OXJE LAND.
or greensward, and frequently contained the well,
or fountain, which supplied the monastery with
water. This arrangement somewhat resembles
the quadrangle enclosed by the porticoes and
narthex erected at the main front of the early
Christian basilicas, from which, however, it does
not appear to be derived.
No Norman cloisters now remain, though there
can be little doubt that such existed, for at Bristol,
Gloucester, and Worcester Cathedrals are fine
examples of Norman chapter-houses (of which we
shall speak presently), which were, no doubt,
entered from Norman cloisters. The very fine
Early English cloisters attached to Salisbury
Cathedral (which was never the church of a monas
tery) are amongst the earliest examples now re
maining in this country.
Now, the fact that a secular church — that is, a
church erected iox public worship, as distinguished
from the private church of an abbey or monastery —
should have attached to it a very perfect cloister
without the buildings necessitating such an appen
dage, clearly shows that at that time the cloister
was already a well-established institution, and that,
therefore, there must have been cloisters in connec
tion with Norman monasteries, even were no other
proof of this to be obtained.
Whilst some of our cathedrals, such as Salisbury,
York, Chichester, Winchester, and Exeter, were
built as the cathedral churches of their dioceses,
others, such as Gloucester, Ely, Peterborough,
Durham, and Chester, were originally the churches

THE OLD CHUECHES OF OUR LAND. 95
of monasteries, there being in earlier times, when
the population was sparser, fewer episcopal sees
than were required later on.
While on this subject it may be explained that
the name " minster," attached to some of our great
churches and also to several towns, means a
" monastery," as in the case of Minster, in the Isles
of Sheppey and Thanet, Westminster, Southwell
Minster, Leominster, and others ; but that in the
case of York and Lincoln the title " minster " is a
curious misnomer, neither of these cathedrals having
ever been a monastery church. The latter, however,
possesses the monastic adjunct of cloisters, as do
also the secular foundations of Norwich, Chichester,
Wells, and Hereford.
The chapter- house, which, as has been remarked,
is generally entered from the cloisters, is an impor
tant and necessary adjunct to a cathedral. Instead
of the bishop and his clergy sitting round the apse
of the cathedral itself to hold their deliberations,
as in the early basilican churches, the English
Churchmen dispensed with the apse and erected a
separate building wherein to hold their local
parliaments. Thus the chapter-house is an institu
tion peculiar to this native land of parliaments, and
possesses an architectural importance which fre
quently rivals that of the cathedral to which it is
attached. That at Salisbury, of which a plan (Fig. 67) is
here given, is a building of extreme grace and
beauty, of the same style and date as the cloisters,
and may be quoted as an example of the polygonal

96

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

type of chapter-house, such as is found — no two being
alike — at Worcester (Norman, circular), Lincoln
(ten-sided), Lichfield (elongated octagon), Southwell,
Westminster, Wells, and York (octagons), the last-
named differing from the others in having no central
column. The other chapter-houses are mostly
parallelograms, of varying size and architectural
treatment, while many, alas ! have been destroyed,
as at Peterborough and Hereford. When attached
to an abbey the chapter-house served a similar
purpose to that
of a cathedral
chapter - house,
and was often of
equal architec
tural import
ance, such as
that at South
well Minster —
a perfect gem
of art — and
those at Glou
cester and Bristol Cathedrals (both originally abbey
churches), Much Wenlock Priory and Buildwas
Abbey, the two latter of which are in a state of
ruin, and many others.
There yet remains to speak of the font, which,
in some shape or form, is to be found in every parish
church in the land. The early Christian basilicas
generally had a special building, sometimes quite
detached, of a circular or polygonal form, called
the baptistry, which contained the large basin, or

Fig. 67.

THE OLD CHURCHES OP OUE LAND.

97

well, in which baptism by total immersion was per
formed. The well-known cathedral of Pisa, noted
for its celebrated leaning bell-tower, possesses a
gorgeous building of this description, containing a
magnificent marble basin, wherein several persons
could be baptised at the same time. Except the
circular baptistry at Canterbury Cathedral, part of
which retains its original Norman walls, and one at
Luton Church, in Bedfordshire, there is probably
no example of a separate

building, now remaining,
being erected for the pur
pose of baptism in our
country, nor were such
common among the Nor
mans across the Channel.
On the other hand, Norman
fonts are of very usual oc
currence to this day, many
beino; found in churches of
which no other vestige of
Norman work remains.
They are frequently very
richly ornamented, and""
assume a variety of forms,
some being square on plan,
while others are circular or polygonal. In the year
1236, in the Early English period, it was enacted
that a stone font, large enough for the total immersion
of an infant, should be placed in every church. The
accompanying sketch (Fig. 68) is that of a font of
this period in Lackford Church, Suffolk ; and by a

Fig. 68.

98 THE OLD CHUECHES OF OUE LAND.
glance at it one may see that it is not only in the
building itself that we can trace the architectural
style of the period in which it was erected. Churches
and their fonts remain ia abundance to our day to
testify how men designed and wrought in earlier
times. Their dwellings, on the other hand, less sub
stantially constructed than were the churches, and
less adapted to modern requirements, have for the
most part passed away, together with their furniture
and utensils. Where such remain they show us that
there was not one style of architecture for churches
and another for men's dwellings, but that every
thing that was built and everything that was made
for any purpose whatever was designed in the same
spirit, although that which was for the use of the
church was larger and more costly — not necessarily
more beautiful for that reason — than that which was
intended for secular purposes. Yet how often, when
a house nowadays is designed with Gothic doorways,
lofty gables, and traceried windows filled with
stained glass, do we hear the ignorant criticism,
" That house is too churchy ! "

CHAPTER XII.

jMONGST the ornamental details, which,
as far as is known, were first introduced
in the Early English period, are the
crosses and the crockets vvith which the
gables of churches were adorned. In the subjoined
sketch (Fig. 69) is depicted a fine specimen of an early
gable cross at Warkton Church. It will be noticed the
gable is further
ornamented with
moulded cusps
formed just under
the apex of the
coping, and with
a fleur-de-lis-like
finial worked in
the base of the
cross. The two
crook-like members of this finial resemble the little
crooks, or crockets, which are often to be found
running up the sloping sides of gables and in other
similar situations. Next to the sketch of the gable

Fig. 69.

100

THE OLD CHUECHES OF OUR LAND.

cross is one of a beautiful early crocket from Salisbury
Cathedral, showing the conventional and very
graceful foliage which is characteristic of Early
English work.
Let us now see how the piers and arches of the
main arcades in churches of large size and architec
tural importance had developed since Norman times.
Instead of half-columns attached to the faces of a
square or octagonal pier,
we have, as already noticed
in Transition times, slender
detached shafts arranged
round a central pier or
column, as in the annexed
sketch (Fig. 70), which
serves also to illustrate a
type of base very usual at
that period. This use of
detached shafts became
almost universal in ornate
buildings of the Early
English period, polished
^:~"' Purbeck marble being very
often employed for the
purpose, as in Salisbury,
Worcester, and other cathedrals of that date. When
the pillars were too high for one piece or length of
marble to reach from base to capital, it was neces
sary to use two or more such lengths to form one
shaft of the full height of the pillar. At the
junction of any two lengths moulded "annulets"
were formed "on solid" with the central pier or

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND. 101
column (which was built of freestone), and project
ing from it far enough to form a sort of socket for
the detached marble shaft, as in Fig. 70. Some
times, as in the vast arches at the west front of
Peterborough Cathedral, there are, in addition to
the annulets, strong iron holdfasts or stays to secure
the shafts to the maih piers. The use of detached
shafts is one of the characteristics of Early English
work, to which style, indeed, it is practically con
fined. It may be regarded as having given rise to
the "clustered column," so frequently to be found
at subsequent periods, in which, however, the small
shafts arranged round the main pier are not de
tached, but " on solid " with it, and, consequently,
of the same stone.
In ordinary parish churches we find plain circular
or octagonal pillars, their capitals and bases beiug
the only means by which to ascertain their date.
The arches of this period are generally of an acutely
pointed form, and either merely chamfered, recessed
and chamfered, or moulded, the mouldings always
unmistakably indicating the style.
Sometimes, when a pillar can be dispensed with,
as where an arcade abuts against the end wall of
a church, the arch springs from what is called a
"corbel," built out from the wall, as shown in Fig.
71. The variety of design in corbels is infinite, and
sometimes the arch, or vaulting rib, as the case may
be, springs from the corbel direct, and at other times
from a shaft, or set of shafts, the base of which either
rests upon a corbel or is the corbel itself.
Corbels are also used to support a parapet where

102

THE OLD CHURCHES OP OUR LAND.

it overhangs the wall below. They are then set in
the walls at close intervals, and carry either a con
tinuous lintel or a range of small rouud or trefoil
arches, upon which the parapet rests. Such a row
of corbels is called a corbel-table, and is a charac
teristic of Norman aud Early English work. In
Norman and Transition corbel-tables, each corbel
differs in design from
its neighbour, repre
senting either a gro
tesque human face, an
animal, or a piece of
conventional foliage,
while others are per
fectly plain projecting
stones, with merely
the lower front edge
rounded off or moulded.
The reason for pro
jecting the parapet
was to obtain as wide
a space as possible
between it and the
roof, in order, not only
that workmen might conveniently approach to repair
the roof, but also that, in case of need, men-at-arms
might man the walls for the purpose of defence.
Behind the parapet was, of course, the gutter or
channel for receiving the rain-water from the roof.
At convenient intervalis spouts conveyed the water
from the gutter through the parapet, and projected
far enough to throw it off clear of the walls below.

Fig 71.

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

103

These spouts were called " gurgoyles," and were of
stone, lined with lead, and generally carved to repre
sent some monster, man, or animal, leaning out from
the parapet in a grotesque attitude, and delivering
the water through its widely extended jaws.
The wall-arcade is to be found in nearly all
churches of much architectural pretensions erected
in late Norman, Transition, and Early English
times. Another name for this is the " blind " arcade,
and it consists of a series of small arches recessed in
the thickness of
the wall, and carried
upon slendershafts.
Two sketches of
wall-arcades, one of
Norman date, with
the arches inter
secting one another,
and the other of
Transition charac
ter, have already Fig. 72.
been given in Chapter VIIL The present illustra-
tion, of an Early English example, is taken from the
tower of Haddenham Church, Buckinghamshire,
and shows the corbel-table and parapet above
(Fig. 72).
The arrangement here shown, iu which every
second or third arch is pierced for a window, is a
very usual one in work of this period, especially in
towers and clerestories. The west front of Lincoln
Cathedral is the most extensive example of the
use of this form of embellishment in this country.

104

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

presenting an enormous wall almost completely
covered with Norman intersecting and Early English
blind arcading.
In the same cathedral, and in the west porch at
Ely, are very elaborate and beautiful double wall-
arcades, consisting of two rows of most ornate and
graceful arches, the one within or behind the other,
and with its slender
shafts placed opposite
to the centre of the
arches of the outer or
front row, somewhat
after the fashion of the
intersecting arcades of
the Normans.
Somewhat similar to
single arches of a blind
arcade are the arched
recessesknown as niches.
The purpose of a niche
is not merely to relieve
the plain surface of the
wall, but to contain the
statue or statuette of a
1'"^ saint, a bishop, or other
worthy, as many of
them do to this day, although, owing to Puri
tanical horror of "graven images," most of the
original figures have been destroyed. The gable of
the porch, just above the entrance arch, or to the
right or left of it, is a very usual place for a niche
in an ordinary country church. Norman niches are

MiiT
Fig. 73.

THE OLD CHUECHES OF OXJE LAND. 105
shallow, semicircular-headed recesses, either quite
plain or adorned with the usual zigzag ornament.
Those of Early English date are somewhat deeper,
and in the more ambitious examples there is a shelf
or bracket, more or less ornate, upon which the
statue is placed, and a projecting canopy above, in
the form of a trefoil arch supporting a gablet, as in
the sketch (Fig. 73) from Wells Cathedral. As skill
in the sculptor's art increased, so did also the number
and richness of niches for statuary, until, in the
succeeding period, they became most elaborate and
magnificent tabernacles.

CHAPTER XIIL
10 WARDS the close of the thirteenth
century the Gothic architecture of
England entered upon a new phase,
the "lancet," or "Early English"
style merging into that which, from its general
character, has been named the "Decorated."
We have now no longer the narrow, undivided
" lancet " windows of the early part of the century,
but considerably wider openings divided into two
or more lights by moulded mullions, and the arched
heads filled in with foliated circles, forming that
kind of tracery which is known as " geometrical,"
and of which one or two early examples have already
been noticed. ' •
Owing to the greatly increased skill attained by
the artists in stained glass, and the growing popu
larity of this splendid means of decoration, windows
were now universally made much larger than
hitherto, not only for the purpose of displaying the
rich colours of their " storied panes," but also to
compensate for the diminished intensity of the

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

107

light which found its way through them. Other
geometrical forms beside that of the circle were in
troduced into the tracery and blended together
into graceful designs with great artistic skill, and
much elaboration was displayed in the cusping.
All appearance or reminiscence of holes cut in the
tympanum of the window entirely disappeared,
giving place to the opposite idea of filling in the
open arch with elegant geometrical forms of stone
work. To distinguish between these two phases of
tracery, the ' " i'j' ".^-^^IPi," i|,.
nameof"plate" |ll|-:^((IUi^^^S^"//o
tracery — open- -.j \\\\\\\ [
ings pierced
through a slab
or plate of stone
— has been ap-\V
plied to the first,
and that of
"bar" tracery —
formed of curved
bars of stone^
work — to the
second. S'ra- 7*.
Another designation for Decorated architecture is
the " Edwardian," from the fact that it prevailed
during the reigns of the first three Edwards, or
from the last quarter of the thirteenth to the last
quarter of the fourteenth century.
We have here a sketch of a window at Dunchurch,
in Warwickshire, exhibiting Decorated (a.d. 1320)
tracery, composed of triangular forms to the

108

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

Fig. 75.

exclusion of the circle (Fig. 74). About forty years
later than the Dorchester window (illustrated in
Chapter X.), the character of the work has greatly
advanced, so as to leave behind every vestige of
Early English feeling.
About thirty years
further on brings us
to the subject of the
following sketch, one
of the windows of
Shenstone Church,
Staffordshire, a very
fine example of the
style (Fig. 75). In
this window, as in
the previous example, the circle is absent from the
tracery, and although it must not be concluded that
the circle had by this time entirely fallen into
disuse, it had cer
tainly given way to a
very great extent to
other forms in the
designs of tracery,
and is rarely found
An windows of as late
a date as this.
Another type of
Decorated tracery,
arising from the simplest possible arrangement of
two or more lights under a main arch, must now
be referred to. An early example of it occurs in
St. Albans Cathedral, and dates from the very

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

109

beginning of the fourteenth century (Fig. 76). It
consists of three lights, of which the centre one is
carried up so that its point reaches the apex of
the main arch of the window, the other two rising
as high as the curve of the arch permits, and fitting
closely to it. Thus nothing beyond two triangular
spaces, one on each side of the centre light, is left,
and these spaces, together with the arched heads
of the lights, are perfectly plain and without
foliations. There is a very elegant example of this type of
tracery, of the year 1320, at Bloxham Church, in
Oxfordshire (Fig. 77).
The heads of the lights
and the triangular
spaces between them
are cusped, forming a
most graceful though
extremely simple
design. A complica
tion of this arrange
ment arises when the
lights are all of the ^'"^ "7.
same height and the curve of the mullions in their
heads is continued so that they intersect one
another, thus forming a sort of net-like pattern in
the head of the window. A fine example of this
occurs at Grantham Church, Lincolnshire, which
dates about the same time as the Bloxham window,
and of which a sketch is here given (Fig. 78).
It will be well to refer here to a detail which is
indicated in the last two illustrations, and which

110 THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.
is as characteristic of Decorated work as the dog
tooth ornament is of Early English. This is the
" ball-flower " ornament, with which the mouldings,
mullions, and tracery of work of the middle half of
the fourteenth century are lavishly adorned. It
takes the form of a small ball contained within a
larger one, which is cut open to reveal it ; or it may
be likened to the outer petals of a globular bud

Fig. 78.
opening and exhibiting the inner part still tightly
closed in ball-like form.
At the middle of the fourteenth century our
national architecture may be said to have attained
its utmost perfection. By this time the design of
window tracery had escaped from hard and fast
geometrical forms, and. had assumed an easy and
flowing character, from which the term "flowing
tracery," by which the work of this period is desig
nated, has been suggested. Of this flowing tracery

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

Ill

there are two types, which appear to be derived
respectively from the two previous types, illustrated
in Figs. 75 and 76. Taking the second type
first, the ramifications of the tracery of which formed
a net-like pattern in the head of the window, let us
now examine that very beautiful development of
this which is known as reticulated, or net-work,
tracery par excellence. It is generally found in
windows of a moderate size, such as those of aisles
and clerestories, and rarely in the very large win
dows which occur at the west, east, and transept
ends of our cathe
drals; but in order
to show in the
clearest manner
its peculiar cha
racter, the large
window, now re
stored, in Readin g
Priory has been
selected as an*!
illustration (Fig.
79). Itmust,how-
ever, be borne in mind that the student may never
meet with such an example as this, but only with
windows of two or three lights, in which the net
work character is much less striking. Sometimes
tracery of the same kind and date is entirely without
cusps, and in this respect also it takes after its
prototypes at St. Albans and Grantham; this in
creases its net-like appearance.
In connection with the reticulated tracery we

Fig. 79.

112

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUE LAND.

often find a peculiar form of arch forming the
window head. In this, which is called the ogee
arch, the curve, instead of continuing uniform from
the springing to the apex, is reversed as it ap
proaches the latter, like the point of an elder leaf.
This form is rarely, if ever, met with except in
work of this period — about the middle of the four
teenth century — and in connection with this class
of tracery.
The next figure (Fig. 80) illustrates a very fine ex
ample of the other
and more usual
type of flowing
tracery, a large
window of the date
1350, in Austin
Friars, London, by
which the differ
ence between this
P" and reticulated
Fig. 80. tracery will be at
once perceived. A more beautiful window it would
be difficult to imagine ; yet there are very many
throughout the country as fine as this, while the
circular window in the south transept at Lincoln,
the west window at York, and the unequalled east
window at Carlisle, are acknowledged to rank high
among the architectural glories of the world.
It often occurs in rich work of this period that
the external arch of the window is enclosed within
a triangular gablet formed of mouldings standing
out from the wall, lavishly adorned with crockets,

THE OLD CHURCHES OP OUR LAND. 113
and terminating at the apex in a finial of rich and
aspiring character, which sometimes overtops the
wall in which the window is formed. The triangu
lar space over the window head is filled with
tracery, similar to that of the window, worked upon
the surface of the masonry.

CHAPTER XIV.

ilURING his examination of the character
istics of Decorated work, the reader will
notice that the interior side of windows
often differs in form and proportions
from the exterior side. This came about owing to
the splaying of the jambs, which was done for the
sake of more freely admitting the light; and as it
was not necessary to splay the arched head also —
the light coming doum from the window — the inside
of the opening became considerably wider, and
little if any higher, than the outside. Thus, the
outer arch may have an opening but four feet wide
to span, while six or seven feet may represent the
width to be embraced by the inner arch. So, in
order neither to raise the apex of the inner arch
above that of the outer, which would be unneces
sary, nor to place its springing at a lower level,
which would intercept light (while either would
be undesirable from an artistic point of view), the
apex and the springing were kept at about the

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

115

same respective levels in both arches, with the
result that the arch on the inside assumed a very
different shape from what appeared on the outside
of the window (Fig. 81.) The greater the proportion
of splay to the size of the opening, the greater the
difference between the shape of both arch and open
ing on the inside and
that on the outside.
The same causes
hardly operated in
Early English work,
owing to the very
narrow and lofty
proportions of the
windows. During the Deco
rated period the
inner arch is often
quite separate from
the outer one, and
actually descends
below the general
soffit of the window,
being variously known as a " drop arch," " sconsion
arch," "rear arch," or "curtain arch." To use the
last expression, which appears the most descriptive,
this curtain arch is sometimes adorned with cuspings,
hanging like a fringe, and giving a very rich appear
ance to the work.
Some circular windows, with four or six cusps,
known as quatrefoils or sexfoils, are often met with
in clerestories of this period. They assume a totally

illli' iiMII'
Fig. 81.

116 THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUE LAND.
different shape on the inside, as shown in the sketch
(Fig. 82), from the clerestory of Great Milton
Church, Oxon. Circular windows, though not pre
viously alluded to, are to be found in Norman, and
very frequently in Early English work, in which
latter style they sometimes attain very large pro
portions, and are divided into radiating lights by
shafts or mullions, suggesting the idea of spokes
in a wheel, from which the term " wheel-window "
is derived. A very fine circular window, filled with
"plate tracery,"
occurs in Lincoln
Cathedral, and later
examples, display
ing fully developed
tracery of Decorated
character, are to be
found in several of
our large churches,
culminating in the
splendid circle at
Lincoln previously
referred to. But
what we have

Fig. 82.

in

this country can compare neither in size, number,
nor design with the glorious wheel-windows which
adorn the western and transept ends of the great
churches of France, and with us the circular form
became practically extinct after the middle of the
fourteenth century.
Let us now turn to note what developments have
occurred in other details since the Early English

THE OLD CHURCPES OF OUR LAND.

117

work of the middle of the previous century. The
form of arches in the main arcades of churches
remains very much the same as before, and is no
criterion as to date. This is not so much the case,
however, with the archways of doorways and win
dows, as some very characteristic forms are often to
be seen, amongst them the ogee arch already men
tioned, as in Fig. 83, from Peterborough Cathedral.
Very often the arch
itself is of the usual
uniform curve, the label
or dripmould only as
suming the ogee form.
In large windows, both
inside and out, we some
times find an arch of
segmental form, such as
we see every day in
modern brickwork — a
flat curve without any
point — while absolutely
flat-headed windows are
by no means rare.
In plain country churches where the arches are
merely chamfered and rest on cylindrical or octan
gular pillars, it is difficult to distinguish Decorated
from Early English, or even from work of the sub
sequent period, and the buildings must be examined
for whatever further testimony they may have to
offer. Even clustered pillars of this date so closely
resemble those of Early English work, in which the
shafts are not detached from the main pier, that it

Fig. 83.

118

THE OLD CHURCHES OP OUE LAND.

requires an experienced eye to detect the difference,
which can, however, be discovered by a study of the
capitals and bases.
But where there are mouldings, the student can
unfailingly determine the period of the work.
These are of a distinctly different character from
those of Early English date, such, for instance, as
are found in that typical example of Early Eng
lish work — Salisbury Cathedral — which consist of
a series of boldly cut and almost equal rolls and
hollows arranged in alternate order, and producing

Fig, 84.
strong lines of light and shade. Decorated mould
ings are less deeply cut ; the rolls and hollows vary
considerably in size, some being subordinate to
others, and a greater proportion of square edges is
introduced amongst the rounded members, thereby
imparting a feeling of strength and repose. Of
course, it is quite impossible, without giving a

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND. 119
great number of examples, to adequately convey a
true idea of the feeling of mouldings ; and while
the sketch from Ely Cathedral (Fig. 84) illustrates
a fairly representative moulding of this period, the
student must be left to examine actual work for
himself, whereby alone he will be enabled thoroughly
to appreciate the gradual change by which the
mouldings of one style developed into those of
another. The small moulding in Fig. 84, known
as the " roll," is peculiar to the Decorated style,
and can be regarded as a sure criterion of work of
this period.
Very much easier to distinguish than the mould
ings is the carved foliage, with which they, together
with capitals, corbels, crockets, and finials, are often
enriched. The character of this is so varied, so
exuberant, and so true to nature as to render it
impossible to confound it with the carving of either
the preceding or the succeeding style. In rich
doorways there are often to be found large hollows
worked in the archmould entirely filled with beau
tiful carved leafage, so deeply under-cut that the
finger may be inserted behind it.
The corbels, which in Norman and Early English
days were arranged in a corbel-table to support a
parapet, gave place in Edwardian times to compact
masses or bosses of carved foliage, or grotesque
heads arranged at close intervals in the hollow of
a cornice, the upper members of which overhung
and supported the parapet. Fig. 85 is a sketch
of such a cornice, with the parapet above it, show
ing how, instead of a solid wall, or even a wall

120

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

pierced with quatrefoil openings, the coping is here
supported on what is nothing more nor less than
flowing tracery of the same character as is to be
found in the windows below. By this it will be
observed that the same character or feeling per
meates the entire work, and not only certain details
of its period. Thus, in a building having windows
filled with geometrical tracery, the parapet, unless
quite plain or of different date, will generally be
adorned with geometrical forms, probably quatrefoil
perforations. Buttresses had now become more massive, and,

Fig. 85.
in rich work, more ornate than those of Early
English date, while retaining the same boldness of
projection. Fig. 86 shows a plain characteristic
example from Brington Church, Northamptonshire,
capped by a gablet. A niche for a statue is often
found adorning the front of a buttress of this period.
The thrust of the upper vault is counteracted
by flying buttresses of graceful design, conveying
the pressure down to the solid buttresses of the
side-aisle, upon which, at the point of junction,

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND. 121
a tall pinnacle is erected, in order to add weight
aud give the pressure a downward direction, and
so steady the entire construction. This adds much
to the appearance, as well as to the strength of
the work. These pinnacles are generally square
on plan, and capped with a small steep pyramid or
spirelet, the angles of which are profusely adorned
with crockets of carved leafage, and the apex

AN^1f15^;*^i^f J^^fti^f^^ Fig. 87.
Fig. 86.
carried up in a finial of similar character. The
pinnacle is sometimes set diagonally upon the
buttress, one of its angles being to the front,
instead of one of its sides. Fig. 87 shows one
of the large octagonal pinnacles at the angles of
the tower of Caythorpe Church, Lincolnshire, and
the flying buttress connected with it, which is.

122 THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.
apparently, more for appearance than use, but serves
to show how a flying buttress of this period was
rendered light and ornamental like the parapet
below it. Pinnacles, both square and octagonal,
were a very favourite feature at the corners of
towers, whether the latter was capped with spires
or otherwise.

CHAPTER XV.
[S one of the principal objects of building,
as distinguished from engineering, is to
keep out the weather — an object, by-
the-by, remarkably lost sight of very
often — it is not to be wondered at that so many
architectural details owe, not only their form, but
their very existence, to the rains of Heaven.
That the roof has sloping sides in order to throw
off the wet is a statement which .need not be repeated ;
but it may not be so immediately evident that the
spire was originally only the pyramidal roof of a
tower, made steeper and taller, for the sake of
appearance, as time went on, until it assumed such
proportions as make it difficult to connect the idea
of a roof with it at all.
A sloping roof is required to protect the back of
a Gothic groined vault from the weather ; and this
necessity constitutes the one weak point or defect
of this otherwise admirable ceiling, which if exposed
to rain and frost would speedily perish. The outer

124

THE OLD CHURCHES OP OUR LAND.

roof, constructed of timber and covered with lead —
nowadays tiles or slates — is completely separate from
the stone vault beneath it, which is at no point
higher than the walls which support and contain it,
whereas the outer roof begins where the walls leave
off, and rises high above them, that is, if it be of
steep pitch. Thus the whole of the triangular gable
of a groined church is above the vaulting (Fig. 88),
and any window in such gable looks into the space
between the inner
ceiling and the
outer roof. In
the east gable of
Lincoln Cathedral
is a very mag
nificent tracery
window which is
solely for external
effect, being above
the vaulting, and
entirely invisible
from the interior.
Many ardent
admirers of Gothic architecture condemn the dome
of St. Paul's Cathedral as a sham, because the outer
cupola, of timber and lead, is totally distinct from
the one which is visible from the interior. These
critics either do not know, or forget, that a similar
sham is exhibited by every vaulted Gothic minster.
The coping of a wall or parapet has its upper
surface weathered so as to afford no lodgment for
the rain. So likewise a buttress, where it finishes

Fig. 88.

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND. 125
at the top, and at those points where its projection
or width is suddenly decreased, is sloped off, or
capped with a gablet of smooth freestone for the
same reason (Fig. 86). If the student examines the
weathering at the offset of a buttress, he will notice
that the slope does not finish level, or flush, with the
lower part, but projects a little, so as to overhang.
This projection is called a "nosing," or nose, and
throws the water off clear, instead of allowing it to
trickle down and stain the wall surface beneath.
For the same purpose, not only were the
eaves of the roof — there were no eaves troughs in
those days — made to project boldly, and parapet
copings formed with a nosing, but sometimes
cornices and bands of stonework called "string
courses" were introduced, running along and pro
jecting from the wall a few inches, and chamfered
or moulded, not only as an architectural embellish
ment, but also as a continuous nosing to throw off
the wet.
Where such a string-course runs along a wall
containing a row of windows, it is generally placed
at the level of the springing of their arches, over
which it leaps, following their curve, and forming
what is called a hood-mould, dripstone, or label.
This protects the window from the washings from
the wall above, which would otherwise run down
the glass and begrime it. Besides serving this
very useful purpose, the label very considerably
enhances the appearance of a window, and is
generally introduced, even in very plain buildings,
where there are no horizontal string-courses. In

126 THE OLD CHURCHES OP OUR LAND.

this case the two lower ends, or label terminations,
are flnished off in a great variety of ways, two of
which are here sketched (Fig. 89). In churches of
a more ornate character, a hood-mould often occurs
over the arches of the main arcade, where it is
introduced purely for orna
ment, as in such a position it
can of course be of no actual
utility. The third example given
below is called a " boss," which
term is applied to any rounded
mass of carved foliage in any
position. It is, however,
generally understood to mean
those with which the inter
sections of the ribs of groining
began to be ornamented about
the middle of the thirteenth
century. Allied with the string
courses of which mention has
just been made, but only as
purely architectural features,
are the plinths or projecting
bases upon which the walls of
the less humbleof our churches
are raised. The plinth gives to the wall what the
base gives to the column or pier — the appearance
of a firm, spreading foundation, such as is demanded
to satisfy the artistic eye (Fig. 90). It is finished at
the top with a simple splay, or weathering, or a

Fig. 89.

THE OLD CHURCHES OP OUR LAND. 127

more or less elaborate moulding, and is generally
carried round the buttresses and other projections
of the building. In small country churches the
plinth is often omitted, while its place is sometimes
supplied by the "spur-base," in which the lower
courses of the masonry project, and are built
"battering," or leaning inwards. This forms a very
bold and effective sort of plinth,
and avoids the necessity for a
moulding along the top, which was
a consideration, especially where
freestone was costly or difficult to
obtain. In the counties of Norfolk and
Suffolk are found a few round
towers attached to churches, chiefly
of Norman date. These towers
were at one time thought to be of
great antiquity, and were compared
with the curious and mysterious
buildings of this description in
Ireland, the precise purpose and
age of which are unknown. But
our present knowledge of Gothic
details enables us to fix the date of these English
round towers, and it is probable that they were so
constructed for the sake of economy, the only
building material available on the spot being flints,
which rendered it impossible to form the quoins
or angles of a square tower without sending to a
distance for the necessary stone.
Many a small parish church, having only one or

Fig. 90.

128

THE OLD CHUECHES OF OUR LAND.

two bells, possesses no tower at all, the bell being
hung in a small turret or in a bell-cot erected on
the west gable, and generally itself assuming the
form of a small gable or gablet. The accompanying
sketch (Fig. 91) shows a bell-cot at Glastonbury,
of the middle of the thirteenth century ; the ridge
finial, the niche with bracket
and flgure, and the chamfered
buttresses may be noticed.
Besides the bell used for
calling the congregation to
worship, there was also what
was called the Sanctus Bell,
which was rung at the cere
mony of the elevation of the
Host at the altar. This bell
was sometimes hung in a
gablet over the chancel arch,
the attendant being in full
view of the altar, and thus able to ring at the exact
moment of the elevation. In other cases, however,
the Sanctus Bell was hung in a cot situated upon
the porch, and the ringer was, therefore, stationed,
not only out of sight of the altar, but actually out
side the church itself. To meet this difficulty small
openings were formed in the several walls inter
vening between the ringer and the altar, sometimes
as many as three being found in a direct line,
through which it was possible to obtain a view of
the altar from the porch. These openings, which
vary somewhat in size, and are often narrower at
their east end than at the west, are nowadays called

Fig. 91.

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND. 129

" squints," from the oblique direction in which they
pierce the wall, but their ancient name is not
known. They are generally plain square openings,
but are sometimes made ornamental with arched
and cusped heads. Here is a sketch (Fig. 92) of a
squint in the wall next the chancel arch at Crawley
Church, Hampshire, which has a piscina formed in
it, thereby indicating a minor altar which must
formerly have stood close by. As has been already
seen, it was usual for
altars to be placed
against the east walls
of aisles and transepts;
and it was doubtless
to enable the priest ¦
officiating at this minor J
altar to elevate the
Host at the precise
moment, when the same
act was performed at the
High Altar, that this
squint was formed there.
Similar openings are to be found in side chapels
and various other positions in a church, but all
with the same object, viz. of enabling persons
stationed in such positions to view the elevation of
the Host.
A feature of considerably greater rarity than the
" squint " is the " low side window " occasionally to
be met with, generally on the south side of the
chancel, and placed low enough to admit of any
person standing outside looking into the church.
K

Fig. 92.

130 THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.
There are several opinions concerning its purpose,
some supposing it to have been for the benefit of
lepers and other outcasts, who might thus follow the
service, although unable to join the worshippers
within. Another belief is that a hand-bell was rung
through this window, which was unglazed, instead
of the Sanctus Bell previously described. It has
also been suggested that this opening was formed
as a window or " squint " to the small anchorite's
cell sometimes erected against the church wall, in
which the devotee caused himself to be immured,
therein to spend the rest of his days and nights in
prayer, fasting, and every other kind of self-abnega
tion, with the view to securing his ultimate bliss.
The most probable solution to the question is that
the low side window was that of a confessional.

CHAPTER XVL
[HE spires of the Decorated period are
more numerous than those of either the
preceding or the succeeding style, and
are, as a rule, finer and more ornate.
The earliest stone spire in this country was — previous
to its recent rebuilding — that of Oxford Cathedral,
dating from early in the thirteenth century. The
sketch (Fig. 56) shows a spire of comparatively low
pitch, such as we should expect to find at that early
period, when spires were yet little more than pyra
midal roofs. Those of the fourteenth century are
of considerably steeper pitch, the angle at the apex
rarely exceeding thirteen degrees : there are gene
rally two, three, or even more tiers of windows, or
spire-lights, capped with gablets, and the later and
richer examples have their angle-ribs adorned with
crockets (Fig. 87).
Spires may be divided into two classes, viz. those
which rise from within a parapet and those which
spring from the external cornice of the tower. The
former class is, perhaps, the more usual, and contains

132

THE OLD CHUECHES OF OUE LAND.

the finest examples that we have in this country,
including the cathedral spires of Salisbury, Norwich,
Chichester, and Lichfield. The latter class comprises
a great number of country church spires.
There can be no doubt that the early pyramidal
roofs of towers were square on plan like the towers
themselves ; but when they came to be constructed
of loftier proportions, and de
veloped into incipient spires, the
square shape became heavy and
clumsy in appearance. Thence
forward the angles were cut off,
or canted, and an octagon was
thus produced, the alternate sides
of which rested upon strong
arches, called "squinches," thrown
diagonally across the internal
angles of the tower. This left a
al^^^JUL- H triangular space externally at
' i*=is^i^a«»~ each corner, which, if not filled
up, would give the appearance
of too sudden a diminution in
bulk between the square tower
and the octagon spire, when
viewed from opposite any one of
its angles. One method of obviating this unpleasing
appearance was to carry up the angle-turrets, when
the tower possessed such, and in other cases to
introduce a pinnacle, or set of pinnacles at each
corner, and so disguise the suddenness of the break,
as at Burford Church, Oxfordshire (Fig. 93). This
object was often attained with consummate skill, as

Fig. 93.

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

133

at Salisbury and St. Mary's, Oxford. With the
second class of spires or " broaches," the difficulty
was got over by building a sort of semi-pyramid of
masonry against the canted sides of the spire, and
thus converting it from an octagon to a square at
the level of the eaves or cornice, as at Wandsford
Church (Fig. 94). This method
also occasionally adopted

was

instead of pinnacles, with spires
of the former class. It is probable
that a great many, if not all, of
the pinnacled towers which we
now see spireless were originally
capped with spires of timber
covered with leadwork, which
have since perished, leaving the
pinnacles alone in their gloryj
The three great towers at Lincoln
at one time possessed such spires,
and the old cathedral of St. Paul,
destroyed in the great fire of
London, was crowned with a
timber and lead spire rising 500
feet above the ground, the loftiest
building until recent years that ' Fig. 94.
was ever erected. Whether pinnacles upon towers
indicate former or intended spires or not, they are
an essentially English feature, whereby our towers
differ in character from those of the Continent.
It has been already noticed that the eastern ter
minations of English churches erected subsequent
to Norman times were square on plan, therein

134 THE OLD CHUECHES OF OUE LAND.
differing from the Continental custom, by which the
semi-circular form in use during the eleventh and
twelfth centuries, and derived from the tribune of
the Romans, gave place to the polygonal apses of
succeeding periods. How this came about can only
be explained by the assumption that the square form
was preferred as a matter of taste. At any rate, it
cannot be attributed to Anglo-Saxon influence, as
their churches, like those of Germany, almost invari
ably had semi-circular apses, often at the west end
as well as the east, and also to the side aisles and
transepts. Thus English individuality is shown in many
particulars of arrangement, proportion, and detail,
as in the square east ends, in length being the prin
cipal dimension instead of height, in the principal
tower being at the intersection of nave and transepts
instead of at the west end, in the use of wooden
ceilings instead of stone vaults, in the pinnacles
upon towers, in the circular abacus to the capitals of
shafts and columns, and in richer mouldings and
richer ribwork to vaults than on the Continent,
nearly all of which points have already been
referred to.
Few Norman apses remain in their original state,
as most of them have suffered alteration or rebuild
ing at subsequent times, when square ends invariably
took their place. Even in Norman times square
ends were by no means unknown.
It is hardly necessary to inform the student that
wooden ceilings — very often merely the underside
of the external roof— and not stone vaults, are the

THE OLD CHUECHES OP OUR LAND.

135

rule in our country churches. To see a groined
ceiling it will probably be necessary for him to
undertake a journey to some cathedral or abbey
church, and even in some of these he may find but
little, or none at all. The original wooden ceilings
of many churches of the period with which we are
now concerned remain intact; they are generally
plain and simple in character, and some are even rude
and rough in execution. Their date is sometimes
difficult to arrive
at, owing to absence
of mouldings, the
timbers being often
merely chamfered.
Without entering
into a disquisition
on the carpentry of
roofs,it will suffice to
call attention to two
kinds of roof most
often to be met with ^'«- ^^¦
in country churches. They are known respectively
as the trussed-principal and the trussed-rafter roofs.
A trussed-principal roof, in addition to the external
covering, consists of the rafters upon which the
external covering is laid, the horizontal timbers
which support the rafters, and the strong timber
framing which spans the church at intervals and
carries the horizontal timbers. In the accompany
ing sketch (Fig. 95), representing the roof of
Adderbury Church, Oxfordshire, the rafters, a, a, a,
are easily recognizable, resting against the ridge

186

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

piece, h, and upon the purlins, c, c, and wall-plate,
d, the three last-mentioned being the horizontal
timbers just referred to. Of these, the ridge piece
and purlins are carried by the framework or truss, e,
consisting of/,/, the principal rafters or principals, g,
the collar piece or tie, h, h, the curved braces, and
y, y, the struts, the whole mortised and tenoned
together, and forming a rigid gable resting on the
walls at both ends.
The chief variety in the design of these roofs
occurs in the trusses, except that between these
there are other tim
bers sometimes in
troduced to stiffen
the roof; these are
called wind-braces,
and serve, with the
purlins, to bind the
whole roof together
from end to end.
They are often
curved and cusped
for the sake of orna
ment, as are also the braces and struts of the truss,
fine rich effects being thus produced by very simple
means. The external covering consists of boards laid upon
the back of the rafters, the inner side forming the
ceiling, and the outer side carrying the tiles or lead-..
work of the roof.
The other class of roof has no purlins and no
principal trusses, each pair of rafters being so framed

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OT/R LAND. 137
together with braces and collar pieces as to constitute
a truss in itself. In these roofs there is but little
design, except when they are boarded on the under
side, as indicated by the thick line in the sketch
(Fig. 96), when a pattern of panels, more or less
elaborate, is formed by means of moulded ribs fixed
to the surface of the boarding, their intersections
being often adorned with carved bosses. In this case
the ceiling and the roof are distinct, with a clear
space between them. Sometimes the rafters in
this class of roof are formed or packed out with
curved pieces, so as to give a curved surface to the
boarding, and form what is known as a " waggon "
or " barrel " ceiling. At other times we find a
trussed-rafter roof of this form with no internal
boarding, and the circular ribs moulded, forming a
sort of skeleton barrel ceiling.
A greater amount of decoration will often be
noticed in the ceiling of the easternmost bay of the
chancel than in that of the rest of the church, as
befits the more sacred character of tliat part of the
building which immediately surrounds the altar.
Without entering further into the subject- of
timber roofs, the student may be left to examine
for himself the great variety of roofs which he will
encounter in his visits to country churches, as
sufficient has been pointed out to enable him to
understand their principles and glean a more
e.xtended knowledge of the subject.

CHAPTER XVIL

I liTHOUGH, as a rule, the chancel is
architecturally a separate structure
from the nave, in some churches the
two form but one building, with no
structural division and no chancel arch, the side
walls and roof being continued uninterruptedly from
end to end of the church. Sometimes, also, there
is no rise in the floor-level of the chancel to indicate
where this begins and the nave flnishes.
Originally, however, the chancel was always
separated from the rest of the church by a screen,
many fine examples of which have survived the eras
of Puritan destruction and Georgian neglect, and
remain to this day as the greatest ornaments of the
buildings in which they are found. The majority
of these chancel screens are of the fifteenth century ;
but there yet exist some very fine examples of the
best Decorated character, though earlier work than
of this period is a great rarity. Fig. 97 shows part
of the screen at Geddington Church, Northampton
shire, bearing date about 1360. The material is,

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

139

as a rule, oak, and the design generally consists of
close-boarded panelling in the lower part; the
upper part being of open work, with cusped-headed
lights divided by slender shafts or mullions, the
whole crowned 'with a
richly moulded and orna
mented top rail or cornice.
Such a screen is some
times surmounted by a
rood-loft, and is then called
a rood-screen. It was at
the end of the fourteenth
century that it first became
customary to place a large
crucifix or cross, bearing
the sculptured figure of
the Saviour, and called the
Holy Rood, over the en- *'i«- ^'^•
trance to the chancel. Sometimes the carved figures
of St. Mary and St. John stood one on either side of
the crucifix. The rood was supported upon a cross
beam, called the rood-beam ; or upon a loft or gallery
approached by narrow stairs formed in the thickness
of the adjoining wall. This was called the rood-loft,
and was used as a pulpit, from which to read the
Epistle and Gospel, so that the worshippers in the
nave could hear them with the greater distinctness.
Where a rood-loft was erected in an old church, it
was necessary to take down part of the side wall in
order to form the stair thereto; and it will be
noticed in Norman, Early English, and Early
Decorated churches possessing rood-lofts, that the

140 THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.
wall next the chancel arch has been re-built, in
cluding any window that it might contain, in a later
style. At the time of the Reformation, the rood
was everywhere taken down, and in most cases the
rood-loft also, the stair alone remaining, though
generally blocked up ; but there are yet to be found
in different parts, of the country, especially in the
counties of Somerset and Devon, very fine examples
of rood-lofts and rood-screens, though nearly all of
later date than the fourteenth century.
In certain rare instances an arched recess, some
times elaborately moulded, cusped, and crocketted,
is to be found in the north wall of the chancel,
opposite to the sedilia and the piscina. This was
the Holy Sepulchre, and was for the purpose of
containing a representation of the Entombment of
the Saviour, which it was the custom to set up in
the churches at Easter. On Good Friday the
crucifix was laid with great reverence and solemnity
in the sepulchre, and watched without ceasing until
Easter Day, when it was removed and carried back
to the altar during the singing of a special service
of rejoicing. The earliest examples of a structural
Holy Sepulchre are of Decorated date ; and doubt
less before that time the sepulchre was merely a
temporary wooden erection, as was the case also in
most churches then and subsequently.
Besides the Holy Sepulchre, and of much more
frequent occurrence, are the recessed tombs of
bishops, abbots, benefactors, and other worthies,
which are to be found in so many of our larger
churches. These must not be confounded with the

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND. 141

in

former, which is always placed within the sanctuary,
to the north side of the altar. The Decorated and
succeeding periods are very rich in sepulchral monu
ments, the architectural details of which clearly
indicate their age ; but as these form in themselves
a special and very extensive subject, we cannot
here enlarge upon them.
Niches for statues are very abundant and splendid
in the more ornate buildings of this period, and are
generally covered with projecting canopies of richly-
adorned and crocketted gablets, terminating
beautifully carved finials. The usual
name for a niche of this description
is a " tabernacle," and the expression
" tabernacle- work " serves to indicate
the magnificent canopies of wood
work in the choir-screens and stalls
which are the glory of many of our
cathedral churches. The subjoined
sketch (Fig. 98) represents a niche
; or tabernacle of Decorated work, but
of comparatively simple design, at
Walpole St. Andrew's Church, Nor
folk. They are frequently formed
with projecting canopies, and crowned
with pinnacles, producing an effect
of much intricacy and magnificence.
In the wooden choir-stalls just referred to, the
seats themselves merit attention. These are fixed
with hinges and so arranged as to turn up, and upon
the underside of each is a projecting bracket like
a very diminutive seat, sufficient only to afford a

142 THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAl^D.

slight rest to any one leaning upon it. The object
of this bracket, which was called a " Miserere," was
to give relief to the aged or infirm during those
parts of the service which required the congregation
to stand. The carving
beneath tho ledge is
generally of a curious
and grotesque charac
ter, and is always worth
careful examination.
During the Deco
rated period the art of
sculpture attained its
zenith, and many ex-
^^'^- ^9 amples yet remaining
are comparable with the noblest efforts of ancient
Greece. In the latter half of the fourteenth century, when
the desire for the dis
play of stained glass
was bringing about a
great increase in the
size of church windows,
it was found desirable
to adopt a stronger
construction for win
dow tracery than had
hitherto sufficed for
the purpose. To this
end the freely flowing
lines of stonework in the head of the window began
to assume a more rigid and vertical character, at first

Fig. 100.

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

143

almost imperceptibly, as in the above sketch ( Fig.
99), representing a window at Whissendine, Rutland,
in which the flowing character is well maintained,
and which the characteristic ball-flower ornament
would lead any one not on the look-out for any
peculiarity to pronounce pure Decorated. The date
of this window is 1350, after which time the change
becomes gradually more and more marked by the
number of vertical lines introduced into the tracery.
Ten years later gives us the accompanying
example (Fig. 100) from Norwich Cathedral, in which
a new feature timidly ' J hI
makes its first appear
ance — viz. the hori
zontal line connecting
the short perpendicular
bars or mullions in the
head of the window.
Here is but little of
the flowing character
left in the tracery,
while the small quatre
foils, thus arranged in
a band, suggest nothing
of the old geometrical
type. The tracery,
however, is not too
hard and stiff to be pleasing and graceful, while of a
form well adapted to secure rigidity of construction.
Towards the end of the century the Perpendicular
character is still further advanced, as shown in tho
annexed sketch (Fig. 101) from New College Chapel,

Fig. 101.

144 THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.
Oxford, of the year 1386. Here the horizontal line
which appears shyly in the Norwich window has de
veloped into a bold transome, which serves to strut
the mullions, and divides the lower part of the window
into two stories, each consisting of four lights, with
arched and cusped heads. In this window we have
an early example of the fully developed tracery of
that style, which, from its main peculiarity, just
referred to, is known as the Perpendicular.
In this style we, in this country, departed further
than ever from the path pursued by our architectural
compeers elsewhere; in addition to other diver
gencies, no work at all resembling our Perpendicular
tracery is to be found anywhere out of England and
Wales. We may, therefore, regard this as para-
mountly our national style ; it dawned, as has been
seen, in the last quarter of the fourteenth century,
and may be said to have prevailed in its various
stages, through the times of the Lancastrians, the
Yorkists, and the early Tudors, until the death of
Gothic art at the era of the Reformation.

CHAPTER XVIIL

I WING to the fact that during the long
period of the Perpendicular style very
many churches were built, and very
many others, erected in earlier times,
were altered and rebuilt, and that after it very little
church building was carried on, we have far more
examples of Perpendicular architecture than of any
other Gothic style. This circumstance, combined,
probably, with the fact that the Perpendicular is a
more modern and artistically inferior style, renders
it generally less interesting than work of earlier
periods. There are, however, among the multitude of
churches, small and great, by which the Perpen
dicular style is represented, many buildings of
exceptional nobility and magnificence, fit to compare
with the best work of any, age. The towers of
Canterbury, Gloucester, and Durham, the nave of
Winchester, the choir of York, besides many other
examples throughout the length and breadth of tho

146

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

land, are unsurpassed by any works of a similar
kind. The tracery of the windows is the principal
criterion of the date of a Gothic building, and in no
style is this more the case than with Perpendicular
work. Although several instances occur in which
something of the flowing character yet lingers,
the design of tracery had by the end of the four
teenth century become somewhat monotonous and
straight-lined. As
time went on, the
perpendicularitygrew more and more
pronounced, until the
design often consists
of little else than a
series of cusped-
headed lights, vary
ing only in size, en
closed by vertical and
horizontal bars.
This arrangement,
being easy alike of
design and execu
tion, led to its being largely employed as a surface
decoration, in which capacity it superseded the
wall-arcading of the preceding styles. Blind tracery
of this kind is called panelling, being, in fact,
nothing more ; and it occurs, not only on extensive
wall surfaces and buttresses, but also in positions
where arcading was not practicable, as on the jambs
and soffits of large arches, doorways, and windows.

Fig. 102.

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND. 147

as in Fig. 102, representing an arch in Sherborne
Minster, Dorsetshire, bearing date 1480.
In parapets of the fifteenth century sunk quatre
foils are employed, similar in form to the pierced
quatrefoils of early Decorated work, but distin
guishable from those, both in being unpierced and
in each being euclosed in a square panel, which
imparts a set character very different from that
of the work of the
thirteenth century. A
very usual parapet,
besides the perfectly
plain one with moulded
coping, is the em
battled, or battle
mented, which occurs
in two varieties, as
in the accompanying
sketch : the first in
which the moulding
is continuous, being
carried down the sides
of the battlement as
well as horizontally;
the second, in which
it is interrupted. Diminutive representations of
the latter sort of battlement occur as an ornament
on the transoms of windows, and in cornices (Fig.
97) — a curious and not by any means defensible
practice certainly, and one much quizzed by our
Continental neighbours. The third example is a
compromise between the two former.

FiG. 1U3.

148

THE OLD CHURCHES OP OUE LAND.

At the end of the fifteenth and during the six
teenth century, especially in the South-west of
England, towers were adorned with very splendid
crowns of pierced parapet and pinnacles, the whole
effect of which is produced by an exuberance of
similar parts, consisting of cusped-headed openings
like the lights of a late Perpendicular window. The
tower of Thornbury Church, Gloucestershire (Fig.
104), presents a good example of this type of
parapet. Observe the
toy buttresses placed /or
ornament against the
pierced turrets, and the
still more diminutive
ones against the pin
nacles. It has already
been pointed out that
the reproduction of con
structive features for
purely ornamental pur
poses is an artistic error,
so that where such a
practice is general, it
necessarily indicates an
Fig. 104. ^'' inferior class of archi
tecture. Thus, however intricate and splendid the
appearance of the work may be, this use of but
tresses and battlements as ornaments, during the
latter part of the Perpendicular style, is a sure sign
of the decadence of the art.
In the second half of the fifteenth and during
the sixteenth century, the arch had assumed a

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

149

flattened form, with a very obtuse angle at the
apex. The curve on either side was no longer
uniform as before, but was compounded of two
distinct curves, that at the springing being very
sharp, and that of the rest of the arch very flat,
approximating to, and, in some cases, actually, a
straight line. In doorways the label is generally
square, and the triangular spaces at the haunches
are filled in with
blind tracery or
carved leafage, as in
Fig. 105, showing
a doorway at Beck-
ley Church, Oxford
shire, of date 1450.
We do not in this
style find arches or
their labels formed
of double curves, as
in the preceding
period ; but, on the
other hand, the Fig. 105.
gablets which enclose the heads of doorways and
windows in rich work are always of this form,
instead of being straight-sided as in Decorated
work. In the west front of York Cathedral, the
two forms of gablet are illustrated; those over
the great west window and lower windows of the
towers being Decorated and straight-sided, while
those over the upper tower window show the
double-curved form, being of later date.
Perpendicular mouldings are of a harder and

150

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUE LAND.

leaner character than those of the Decorated style,
and have not their square and rounded members
so happily alternated. A number of sharp-edged
members placed together produce a lean effect, not
amended by the weak appearance in the same
series of mouldings of a collection of rounded
members succeeding one another without the inter
vention of any square edges. The main charac
teristic of Perpendicular mouldings is the large
hollow which so predominates over the other
members as to appear to divide the group into two
distinct parts. This large
hollow is never received upon
a capital, but is carried right
down the jamb or pillar,
while the other members
stop upon the abacus, which
in this style is almost in
variably octagonal, as is also
the rest of the capital above
the neck-mould, except when
carved. We often find large
arches with the greater part,
and sometimes the whole, of their mouldings carried
down the pier without any intervening capital, as
in Fig. 102, and the accompanying sketch from
Ludlow Church (Fig. 106).
Pillars are, as before, commonly of octagonal
form in small country churches, and also moulded,
their proportions being much leaner than in earlier
work. They often consist of small shafts, with
octagon caps and bases, alternated with shallow and

Fig. 106.

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND. 151
broad mouldings, as in Fig. 106. It appears to
have been a matter for pride to reduce to the greatest
possible extent the stoutness of walls and piers, and
to increase at the same time the span of arches and
the size of windows in like ratio, with the result
that most late Perpendicular buildings exhibit a
weakness and leanness of appearance which is ex
ceedingly detrimental to the general effect.
Along with the fiattening of the arch there came
a flattening of the pitch of the roof, and, consequently,
of the gable also. Late Perpendicular roofs are
generally so flat that it is easy to walk about on
them, and are enclosed within parapets, generally
battlemented, which are carried up the slopes of the
gables as well as along the sides of the roof. The
covering for these roofs is, of course, lead, laid upon
boarding, the pitch being too flat for tiles or
similar materials to afford a weather-tight covering.

CHAPTER XIX.
[HE great desire already alluded to for
increased window space led to the
erecting of clerestories during the
fifteenth century, upon the existing
churches which had been built without them. Thus
we constantly find a Norman or Decorated arcade
supporting a clerestory, the windows of which are
unmistakably of Perpendicular character. This
alteration is often betrayed by marks indicating
the slope of the original roof remaining visible
within the building, either in the west or east gable-
wall, or the east face of the western tower, as in our
old village church, at the end of Chapter I. In
introducing these clerestories, it was rarely necessary
to increase the total height of the gable or ridge, as
the much steeper slope of the old roof allowed
plenty of height for the new work, covered, as it
was, by a roof of very flat pitch.
The most magnificent wooden roofs, that this
country or any other can show, are those of the

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND. 153
Perpendicular style; and especially of that class
known as the "hammer-beam" roof, which is most
frequently found in the churches of Norfolk. The
accompanying sketch (Fig. 107) illustrates in out
line the construction of a hammer-beam truss, the
most magnificent ex
ample of which class
of roof is that at
Westminster Hall.
Not only in its roofs,
but in the matter of
woodwork generally, ||
the Perpendicular
style clearly holds its
own against all other |
styles. Its choir- Fig. 107.
screens and stall tabernacle-work, its rood-screens
and rood-lofts, and its bench-ends are more numerous
and more magnificent than any similar woodwork of
an earlier age. Timber was used during this period
for the framework of houses to an enormously greater
extent than before, and timber porches and lych-
gates to churches occur in great abundance. From
this circumstance the style has been dubbed by its
critics the " Carpenter's Gothic."
Besides woodwork, there is a vast wealth of
magnificent fifteenth-century stone tabernacle-work
in screens, reredoses, tombs, and chantries. These
are mostly to be found in abbey churches and
cathedrals — the two former because rich establish
ments only could afford the great cost of them, the
two latter because the wealthy who erected them

154 THE OLD CHURCHES OP OUR LAND.
sought the honour of sepulture within the more
important fanes.
The founding and endowing of chantries had
become very general among the rich in the
Perpendicular period. Architecturally speaking, a
chantry is a chapel built for the purpose of
celebrating masses for the benefit of the soul of
the founder, over or near whose tomb it is generally
erected. They very frequently take the form of
magnificent screens of tracery, tabernacle-work
and pinnacles, erected between the piers of the
church, and enclosing the tomb of the founder.
Very fine examples of chantries are to be found in
Tewkesbury Abbey and Winchester and St. Albans
Cathedrals. The reredos is the wall or screen at the back of
the altar, usually adorned with arcading or
panelling, and sometimes lavishly enriched with
niches and statuary. At St. Albans and Winchester
Cathedrals, and at Christchurch Priory, Hampshire,
the reredos is an immense erection extending the
whole breadth of the chancel and towering up
nearly to the vault, a mass of splendid tabernacle-
work, and originally brilliantly coloured.
The carving of foliage during the fifteenth and
sixteenth centuries is marked ' by a return to
conventional forms, and is very sparsely employed
in comparison with the preceding periods. In
capitals it is very rarely found, the most usual
position for its display being in the hollows of
mouldings and on cornices, and the favourite device
either a very stiffly arranged vine, with continuous

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND.

155

wavy stem and solid bunches of grapes, or single
flowers of a stiff and formal character, often alter
nating with isolated leaves of a very square and
unnatural shape. These were arranged at regular
intervals in the large hollow of the moulding or
cornice, while the latter was frequently crowded
with a stiff diamond-shaped leaf standing upright
at very close intervals, and known as the Tudor
Flower. The accom
panying sketch (Fig.
108) represents some of
the more characteristic
Perpendicular carved
ornaments, including the
Rose and Portcullis, the
badges of the House of
Tudor. Thus the sculp
tured foliage, which was w
so prominent and beau- j ^ j^ j^ |_j
tiful an ornament during
the Decorated period,
gave way in the fifteenth
century to conventional
and heraldic devices, such as demanded for their
execution no more artistic ability than would be
possessed by a fairly skilled stonemason.
It has already been noticed, in Chapter X., dealing
with the subject of vaulting in the early Decorated
period, that in addition to the six ribs absolutely
necessary to carry one bay or compartment of the
plain quadripartite vault, there had been introduced
the two ridge-ribs and the eight short, intermediate

Fig. ids.

156

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUE LAND.

ribs which abut against them, forming the type of
vault shown in the ceiling of the lower stage of our
village church tower. Now, having thus produced,
probably without any direct intention of doing so,
a graceful pattern with the ribs of their groining,
nothing was more natural than that, perceiving the
beautiful effect thus created, the architects of that
day should seek to vary and improve upon it.
Thus, to the middle of the fourteenth century
belongs the accompanying design (Fig. 109) of ribs
in the vault of the
choir of Bristol
Cathedral. Here
the transverse ribs
are omitted, as are
also the longitudinal
ridge-rib and part
of the transverse
^ ridge-rib. The in-
^'**- ^•^'- termediate ribs, as
they approach the ridge, branch out into two, each
terminating in a boss situate in the line of ridge,
where it joins a fork of another such intermediate
rib. In this example the diagonal and wall-ribs
only are uninterrupted, the rest of the vault being
carried by short lengths of rib. Work of this class
is known as " lierne " vaulting.
During the century which followed, i.e. till the
middle of the fifteenth century, lierne vaulting was
the type generally followed, and was very exten
sively executed. Amongst the best examples are
those over the naves of Winchester and Canterbury

Fig. no.

THE OLD CHURCHES OP OUR LAND. 157
Cathedrals, the whole of tbe cathedral at Norwich,
and the choir at Gloucester, in which last the multi
plication of ribs and bosses produces an amazing
effect of richness and intricacy.
In the south porch of St. Mary Redcliffe, Bristol,
occurs a good example (Fig.
110), in which the wall-ribs
only are continuous, no other
being more than a few feet in
length before uniting with
others at a carved boss. The
square panels formed in this
ceiling are cusped, as in window
tracery, which considerably
enhances the effect.
At Gloucester Cathedral occurs the earliest ex
ample of a style of vaulting which, evolved from
the lierne type, is yet distinctly different from
everything that preceded it, nothing at all similar
existing out of England or of earlier date. There
is manifest in the later lierne vaults a tendency to
bend all the ribs to a uniform curvature as they
start from the capital of the vaulting-shaft, and this
is first attained in the new style of vaulting — tho
so-called " fan "-vaulting of the cloisters of Glouces
ter, St. George's Chapel at Windsor, King's College
Chapel at Cambridge, Henry VII.'s Chapel at
Westminster, Bath Abbey Church, and various
buildings of lesser note.
Of these, the earliest and perhaps the best known
is the first-named ; and it is not to be wondered at
that these cloisters call forth so much and such

158

THE OLD CHUECHES OF OUE LAND.

fervent admiration, for the scientific imperfections
of the vaulting would only strike the architect,
whereas the grace and richness of it cannot escape
the notice of even the most casual observer. From
the annexed illustration (Fig. Ill), it will be seen
that from each vaulting shaft there springs a series
of ribs of absolutely uniform spacing and curvature.

Fig. Ul.

forming an inverted semi-cone, something like a con
volvulus flower, the upper rim of which is a horizontal
rib, of semi-circular plan. Thus each cone touches
those on each side and that opposite to it at the
circumference, and thereby a square space is left
in the centre of each bay, which is very awkward
to deal with. In this case it is left perfectly flat,

THE OLD CHURCHES OF OUR LAND. 159
and disguised with tracery. The ribs of the vault
ing form, as it were, radiating mullions, which
branch out and form tracery, covering the entire
surface of each semi-cone in a manner quite peculiar
to this type of vaulting.
At King's College Chapel the circles cut into one
another by reason of the bay not being an exact
square as at Gloucester, and also with a view of
diminishing as far as possible the flat space in the
centre, which is almost filled by a large boss. In
other respects the boss is absent in fan-vaulting.

CHAPTER XX.
I HERE now remains only to trace the
decay which accompanied the lingering
death of our national architecture.
Already we have become aware of its
decline from the glorious perfection which it had
attained in the middle of the fourteenth century, a
decline so long and so gradual, and attended with
so much splendid work, that many refuse to regard
it as a decline at all, until the end of the fifteenth
century is reached, and the period of actual decay
sets in.
And even this period is by no means contem
poraneous in different parts of the country. In
some places the propriety of detail proclaims the
art to have been still living and even fairly vigorous,
when in other places it had quite ceased to exist,
and had given place entirely to the resuscitated
Roman orders, which the revival of classic learning
in the time of Henry VIIL, and his successors, had
brought into favour.
Although, however, it is impossible to name the

I'HE OLD Churches op our land.

161

exact time when the decay of Gothic art actually
set in, it may, generally speaking, be stated that
good work after the end of the fifteenth century is
an exceptional thing.
The square - headed
window shown in Fig.
112, from Duffield
Church, Derbyshire,
dating early in the six
teenth century, has semi
circular-headed lights,
and therein betrays a
departure from pure
Perpendicular forms. As ~
to whether any revival
or further development
would have arisen had no importation of Roman
details taken place, it is difficult to pronounce a
decided opinion. Pro
bably, however, it would
not. At no period earlier
than that of the climax
of the art had any general
decline manifested itself ;
and after that turning-
point was reached, no real
rally was made in the rout
which followed, although
many splendid individual
acts were performed.

Fig. \Vl.

li'\ vlllii ll" 111 ^
Fig. 113.

The depressed arch, growing flatter and flatter,
at last became a straight line, and windows became
M

162

the old churches op OUR LAND.

square-headed (Fig. 113). The lights between the
mullions lost their cusps;, afterwards the pointed
heads below the transom disappeared, and then
those in the upper part of the window. Thus Gothic
Tracery passed away.
The arches of arcades were much depressed and
straight-sided, but retained their points, and some
times rested upon pillars resembling those of the
Tuscan order. Mouldings became coarse and poor.
Rounded-headed windows are sometimes met with
containing clumsy attempts at tracery, as at St.
Mary Hall, Ox
ford, 1640 (Fig.
114). More and
more of ill-exe
cuted Roman

Fig. 114.

detail is intro
duced amongst
the Gothic forms
until it predomi
nates, merely
tinged with
Gothic feeling. This may be said to be the case
from the time of the Reformation to that of the
Commonwealth, after which Roman architecture
reigned supreme, and Roman details became the
vernacular as far as was possible with a style intro
duced from abroad.
Here, then, is completed the cycle. Roman archi
tecture flourishes and then declines, and goes like
a flower to seed. Then comes the decay of the seed
and the changes which follow, until a new and

the OLD churches OF OUR LAND. 163
living art springs up, grows, and flourishes. It in
its turn declines and dies; but here the parallel
ends. Gothic art, whether full of seed or not, fell
upon stony ground, for nothing living has ever
sprung up therefrom. The best that men.could do
was to set up copies of the full-grown Roman
architecture in its stead. Since then architecture
has been the study of the learned, not the living
handicraft of the artist worker.
At Oxford, and certain other places, are to be
found a number of buildings displaying the final
flare-up of the lamp of Gothic art and the curious
intermixture of styles which accompanied it, in
which the classic orders, somewhat distorted, stand
cheek-by-jowl with Gothic traceried windows and
ribbed vaulting. This phenomenon arises from the
fact that much building of new schools and colleges
accompanied the revival of learning which marked
that period. The reader will be aware that in the
days of Edward VI. and Queen Elizabeth it was
quite usual for the educated classes to write and
even to converse in Latin as well as in English ; this
led to a familiarity with much of classic art and lore.
Generally, churches of the mongrel architecture
of that day are rare, as church-building was not
carried on very briskly after the Reformation.
Indeed, many churches, especially those of monas
teries, were dismantled or destroyed, and fewer
buildings were found to be sufficient for the purposes
of worship. But many an old church contains either
a pulpit, a chest, or a monumental tomb which
exhibits the style, if such it may be called, of the

164 the old chueches OF OUB I^ANDi
Elizabethan or the Jacobean period. Th@ readef
is doubtless familiar with the huge bedstead-like
erections, under the arched canopies of which, repose
the lord and lady in stiffly-folded garments, their,
sons kneeling on one side of the tomb and their

Fig. 115.
daughters on the other, such as are to be seen in
so many of our old country churches.
Fig. 115 gives a view in St. John's Ohurchj
Leeds, which was consecrated in 1634, and is one
of the latest churches erected in which, with details

THE OLD CHURCHES OP OUR LAND. 165
thoroughly Jacobean, the old Gothic feeling
survives. Much more frequent than churches of Elizabethan
and Jacobean date are those of the long and, from
an architectural standpoint, dreary Georgian period,
evincing the utmost dullness of architectural design.
They are frequently constructed of brickwork, and
are known by their semicircular-headed doorways
and windows, plaster ceilings, vast pulpits, galleries,
and high box-like pews. What architectural details
they possess display the Roman orders totally un
mixed with any reminiscence of Gothic. In London
and large provincial towns, churches of this period
are often built of stone, and are more architectural
in treatment, some even attaining a certain dignity
by means of stately colonnades and porticoes.
In the early days of this present century the
study of our old churches and their architecture,
long utterly neglected, was taken up, first by
a handful of enthusiasts, and later by all the archi
tectural students in the land. Thenceforward,
Roman and Greek architecture was denounced as
unfit for ecclesiastical purposes ; and now every
church, with hardly an exception, is designed in
one or other of the Mediseval styles of Western
Europe. It has been seen that during the Gothic periods
men did not scruple to pull down older work aud
insert new in the current style, thereby writing
the histories of their buildings in stone, so that we
read them to-day with never flagging interest. This
continued to be the case, as our old village church

166 THE OLD CHURCHES OP OUR LAND.
tells us, down to Georgian times ; and although the
work then inserted was rarely of any artistic value,
the historical evidence which it affords should
make us pause long before we decide to remove it
for any reason whatever. Nowadays, alas ! we
handle Gothic art with such unconcern, that in
restoring ancient churches we have rooted out a
vast amount of later work of historic interest in
order to insert new work of an earlier style, which
we have thought would harmonise better with the
immediate surroundings. Thus good Perpendicular
windows have been needlessly destroyed in the
cathedrals of Oxford, Worcester, Southwell, St.
Albans, and a host of other churches, for the
purpose of substituting new Norman and Early
English work ; and by this means history has been
blotted out wholesale. Of late years the evil of
this too zealous restoration has been recognized, but
not until untold mischief has been done. It is now
devoutly to be hoped that nothing but the truest
and most sparing restoration will be carried out
in the few old buildings yet left which may
require it.
And now is finished this very sketchy outline of
a most interesting subject. To fill it in— a process
virtually inexhaustible — demands from the student
the most loving and diligent study of every old
building that comes in his way. Let him begin,
whenever practicable, by reading a trustworthy
history of the edifice, and then proceed to study
each part and detail referred to until he has
thoroughly mastered the subject. By this means

THE OLD CHURCHES OP OUR LAND. 167
his eyes will be opened to observe and deduce, where
no written account is procurable.
Let him bear in mind what has been said as to
the unequal advance in the development of archi
tecture in different parts of the country, and not fix
precise dates in too hard and fast a manner. The
great centres of wealth and intelligence in the
Middle Ages would naturally display architecture
of a more advanced type than outlying provinces ;
and in the same way country districts would cleave
to the latest phase of Gothic, while Londoners were
watching the erection of St. Paul's Cathedral.
Besides the difference just alluded to, there are
local peculiarities of detail, arising often from the
character of the building stone of the neighbourhood,
or circumstances of a similar nature ; sometimes also
from the individuality of architect or workman,. by
which his hand may be traced in the various build
ings, not always in close proximity one to another,
on which he may have been employed.
Therefore let the reader take up this hobby with
what is requisite to ensure success — love of his
subject, perseverance, and caution — and he will
add to his life a new intellectual pleasure and
resource.

THE END.

PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMlttD,
LONDON AND BECCLES.

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