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diff --git a/30290-0.txt b/30290-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fe0e326 --- /dev/null +++ b/30290-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3933 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30290 *** + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the numerous original illustrations. + See 30290-h.htm or 30290-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/30290/30290-h/30290-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/30290/30290-h.zip) + + + + + +_The Homeland Handbooks_--No. 55. + +OUR HOMELAND CHURCHES AND HOW TO STUDY THEM. + +by + +SIDNEY HEATH +(Author of "Some Dorset Manor Houses," etc.) + +Illustrated by the Author and Ethel M. Heath + +And by Photographs. + +Published under the General Editorship +of Prescott Row and Arthur Henry Anderson, +by the Homeland Association for the +Encouragement of Touring in Great Britain. + + + + + + + + [Illustration: The Foundations of a Romano-British Church. + Uncovered at Silchester. _Photograph S. Victor White & Co._] + + + +London: +The Homeland Association Ltd., +22, Bride Lane, Fleet Street, E.C. + +First Edition. +1907. + + + + +EDITORIAL NOTE. + + +With a view to making future Editions of this Handbook as accurate and +comprehensive as possible, suggestions for its improvement are cordially +invited. If sent to THE EDITORS, The Homeland Association, Association +House, 22, Bride Lane, Fleet Street, E.C., they will be gratefully +acknowledged. + + +COPYRIGHT. + +This Book as a whole, with its contents, both Literary and Pictorial, is +Copyrighted in Great Britain. + + +ADVERTISING. + +LOCAL.--Terms for Advertising in future issues of this Handbook + will be forwarded on application to the General Manager of the + Homeland Association, at the above address. + +GENERAL.--Contracts for the insertion of Advertisements through + the whole series of Homeland Handbooks, more than fifty volumes, + circulating through the country, can be arranged on application to + the General Manager. + + + + + _CONTENTS._ + + + _Author's Preface_ 7 + _Dedication_ 8 + _Introduction_ 9 + + _I.--Early British Churches_ 19 + _II.--Early Church Architecture_ 26 + _III.--The Saxon and Norman Styles_ 31 + _IV.--The Early English Style_ 47 + _V.--The Decorated Style_ 57 + _VI.--The Perpendicular Style_ 64 + _VII.--The Renaissance and Later_ 74 + _VIII.--Church Furniture and Ornaments_ 80 + _IX.--Bells and Belfries_ 95 + _X.--The Spire: Its Origin and Development_ 99 + _XI.--Stained Glass_ 104 + _XII.--Crypts_ 109 + _XIII.--How to describe an Old Church_ 111 + + _Appendix--A Glossary of the Principal Terms + used in Ecclesiastical Architecture_ 115 + _Bibliography_ 123 + _Index_ 124 + + + + +_LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS._ + +PLATES. + + 1 _Foundations of a Romano-British Church_ _Frontispiece_ + 2 _The Church of St. Margaret, Lynn_ 52 + 3 _A Fine Perpendicular Tower, St. Mary, Taunton_ 72 + 4 _Sedilia and Chantry, Luton_ 88 + * * * * * + _The Various Forms of Arches_ 10 + _Plan of a Typical Gothic Cruciform Parish Church, Luton_ 12 + _Examples of Gothic Windows_ 15 + _Examples of Buttresses_ 17 + _A Rood Screen, with a Restoration of the Rood_ 20 + _The Church of S. Martin, Canterbury_ 22 + _Window Built with Roman Brick, Swanscombe_ 24 + _A Reputed Saxon Doorway, Bishopstone_ 30 + _Tower of Earls' Barton Church_ 33 + _An Example of Norman Tower, Bishopstone_ 34 + _A Norman Pier Arcade, Abbots Langley_ 36 + _Examples of Norman Mouldings_ 37 + _A Late Norman Parish Church, Castle Rising_ 38 + _West Doorway, Rochester Cathedral_ 40 + _Tympanum of Norman Doorway, Fordington St. George_ 41 + _Examples of Norman Capitals_ 42 + _A Curious Norman Capital, Seaford_ 43 + _Norman and Early English Doorways, Dunstable Priory Church_ 45 + _Windows, Showing the Origin of Tracery_ 47 + _An Early English Arch, Rochester Cathedral_ 48 + _Wall Arcading, Showing Junction of Norman and Early English + Masonry, Dunstable Priory Church_ 50 + _An Early English Doorway, Huntingdon_ 51 + _A Group of Thirteenth Century Lancet Windows, Ockham_ 53 + _Salisbury Cathedral_ 55 + _Examples of Early English Capitals and Ornament_ 56 + _A Late Decorated Window in a Parish Church, East Sutton_ 59 + _Examples of Decorated Ornament_ 61 + _Examples of Perpendicular Ornament_ 64 + _Early Perpendicular Parish Church, Yeovil_ 65 + _A Fine Parish Church, Showing Rich Perpendicular Work, + Terrington St. Clement, Norfolk_ 67 + _A Perpendicular Doorway, Merton College_ 68 + _A Perpendicular Porch, King's Lynn_ 71 + _An English Renaissance Church, S. Stephen, Walbrook_ 78 + _A Typical Cornish Font_ 80 + _The Sanctuary Knocker, Durham Cathedral_ 82 + _The Baptistery in Luton Church_ 83 + _An Example of a Leaden Font of the Late Norman Period_ 85 + _A Reputed Saxon Font, Shaldon_ 86 + _A Detached Holy-Water Stoup of Unusual Design_ 87 + _A Typical Somerset Bench-End, Spaxton_ 89 + _A Richly-Carved Pulpit and Canopy, Edlesborough_ 91 + _Screen with Rood Loft, Kenton_ 93 + _The Carved Oak Balustrade in Compton Church_ 94 + _Bell Turret for Three Bells, Radipole_ 98 + _The Best Example of a Saxon Spire or Pyramidal Roof, Sompting_ 100 + _Leighton Buzzard Church, with Early English Tower and Spire_ 102 + _A Parish Church with a Shingle Broach Spire, Edenbridge_ 105 + _Interior Elevation of a Bay of a Church_ 114 + + + + +_STYLES OF ENGLISH ARCHITECTURE._ + + +The following periods of architectural style may be of use for the +purpose of reference, but it must be borne in mind that they are more or +less approximate, as each style merged by slow degrees into the next. + + + _Norman._--William I. to Stephen. 1066-1154. + _Transition Norman._--Henry II. 1154-1189. + _Early English Gothic._--Richard I. to Henry III. 1189-1272 + _Decorated._--Edward I., II., III. 1272-1377. + _Perpendicular._--Richard II. to Henry VII. 1377-1485. + _Tudor._--Henry VIII. to Elizabeth. 1485-1600. + + +Mr. Edmund Sharpe gives seven periods of English architecture up to the +time of the Reformation, and dates them as follows:-- + + + _ROMANESQUE._ + + I. _Saxon_ from ---- to 1066 + II. _Norman_ " 1066 " 1145 79 years + III. _Transitional_ " 1145 " 1190 45 " + + + _GOTHIC._ + + IV. _Lancet_ from 1190 to 1245 55 years + V. _Geometrical_ " 1245 " 1315 70 " + VI. _Curvilinear_ " 1315 " 1360 45 " + VII. _Rectilinear_ " 1360 " 1550 190 " + + + + +PREFACE. + + +It is a truism that the history of building is the history of the +civilized world, for of all the arts practised by man, there is none +which conveys to us a clearer conception of the religion, history, +manners, customs, ideals and follies of past ages, than the art of +building. This applies in a special sense to cathedrals and churches, +which glorious relics reflect and perpetuate the noble aim, the delicate +thought, the refined and exquisite taste, the patient and painstaking +toil which have been expended upon them by the devout and earnest +craftsmen of the past. + +There are very few of our ancient churches in village, town or city +which do not offer some feature of interest to the visitor, and in the +absence of anything more important, there is sure to be some door, +window, font, screen, or other detail which will amply repay him for the +small amount of time spent in seeing it. + +The aim of the author of this little volume has been to indicate the +symbolism and meaning attaching to the various portions of our churches +and cathedrals, and to endeavour briefly to describe, in language as +simple as the subject will allow, the various styles of ecclesiastical +architecture with their distinctive characteristics in such a way as +will enable the reader to assign each portion and detail of a church to +its respective period with an approximate degree of accuracy. + +He does not claim to be original, but endeavours to be useful and +interesting. The best authorities have been consulted and freely drawn +upon, but with the object in view of writing a book at once thus useful +and interesting, no attempt has been made to deal with the subject in a +strictly architectural, or a purely scientific manner. + +Weymouth, 1906. + + + + +DEDICATION. + + +To all those who love old buildings--cathedrals, abbeys, and village +churches, which breathe the spirit of an age with which we have entirely +broken--and who would fain hand down to posterity, unmutilated, the +great building achievements of our forefathers, which we, with all our +science, wealth, and means of curtailing labour, can no more imitate +than we can reproduce the language of a Chaucer or a Shakespeare; this +book is respectfully dedicated. + +S. H. + + + "_Firm was their faith, the ancient bands, + The wise of heart in wood and stone, + Who reared with stern and trusting hands + Those dark grey towers of days unknown; + They filled the aisles with many a thought, + They bade each nook some truth recall + The pillared arch its legend brought, + A doctrine came with roof and wall._" + --HAWKER OF MORWENSTOW. + + + + +OUR HOMELAND CHURCHES AND HOW TO STUDY THEM. + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +However much we may admire, considered purely as art, the Pagan temples +of the Greeks and Romans, we must confess that they are lacking in those +high ideals and those sustained and inspired motives which seem to +penetrate and permeate the buildings and churches of the Christian era. +Perfect as is Greek art within its somewhat narrow limits, it is, +nevertheless, cold, precise and lifeless. The Gothic buildings on the +contrary are pregnant with the very spirit of life. + +Prompted by a deep and fervent faith in their religion, the Gothic +builders and sculptors unconsciously wove into the humblest of their +architectural enrichments some portion of their daily life and +personality. The slave-built temples of the Greeks offered no scope for +the exercise of individual expression--such, in fact, would have been +strongly resented--whereas the early Christian craftsman, revelling in +his freedom, seized every opportunity of expressing in his work his joy, +fear and hope of immortality. + +This is made apparent in the study of an old church, whereof every +portion--door, window, bench-end, carving, gargoyle--has hidden about it +some suggestion of beautiful thought, or some distinct and appropriate +symbolism. The fact that symbolism underlies almost every such +indication of mediæval thought is made abundantly manifest in the study +of mediæval literature. Open any 12th century treatise on morals, +science or history, and you become aware of the fact at once. The +main-spring of this symbolism, of all Christian symbolism, turns on the +parabolic meaning in the scheme of Creation. The early writers were far +less concerned with recording the plain objective facts of history, than +in pursuing the allegory and the love of the marvellous, and showing +all those characteristics of what we now term an unscientific attitude +of mind. + + [Illustration: The Various Forms of Arches. + + Norman. Stilted. Horse Shoe. + Equilateral. Lancet. Drop. + Trefoil. Trefoil. Cinquefoil. + Ogee. Four Centered. Tudor.] + +In its widest sense, symbolism means the expression of belief, and if we +would interpret history aright, we must grasp the fact that the key to +the character and disposition of peoples of all ages lies in the +knowledge of their beliefs; for out of the beliefs of one age most +surely grow the beliefs of its successors, and in no work of man's hand +are the beliefs held by various peoples in past ages more clearly +defined than in our cathedrals and churches, which noble buildings in +every civilized country indicate principles as well as facts, influences +as well as results; and while presenting the finest materials for +æsthetic study, are no less useful as indicating the psychological +peculiarities of those builders of old to whose condition they bear +witness. + +In our grand specimens of ecclesiastical architecture, we may read the +world's later history, and to-day they breathe the sombre reverential +influence of a faith which sought to satisfy itself with the visible +symbolizing of those half-poetical, half-superstitious conceptions with +which the religion of the Middle Ages was so deeply imbued. + +An early development of decorative symbolic art, known as Celtic, of +which we have examples on old Irish crosses, and particularly on +illuminated MSS. was wrought by the Christian monks of the 7th and 8th +centuries, but what is generally understood as Christian symbolic art +had its finest development about the 13th century. Gothic art is +essentially symbolic and in many instances, its individual forms have +specific significance. Thus the common equilateral triangle was used to +symbolize the Holy Trinity, as are the two entwined triangles. Other +symbols employed at this period setting forth the mystery of the Unity +of the Trinity, without beginning and without end, are three interlaced +circles, and a very curious one is that in which three faces are so +combined as to form an ornamental figure. Baptism under the immediate +sanction of the Divine Trinity was represented by three fishes placed +together in the form of a triangle. So numerous, indeed were such +Christian symbols after the 9th century that a mere enumeration of them +would occupy considerable space. Every trefoil symbolized the Holy +Trinity; every quatrefoil the four Evangelists; every cross the +Crucifixion, or the martyrdom of some saint; and in Gothic ornament and +decoration, we find the Chalice, the Crown of Thorns, the Dice, the Sop, +the Hammer and Nails, the Flagellum and other symbols of our Lord's +Passion. + + [Illustration: Plan of a Typical Gothic Cruciform Parish Church. + (St. Mary, Luton, fully described in No. 47 of this Series). + _Drawn by Ed. Craven Lee._] + +Although presenting the same characteristics in their external design, +our town and village churches are very various. The simplest form, and +the one most commonly found, is that of a nave and chancel, with a tower +at the west end; to which plan may be added aisles and transepts, the +latter often being wrongly called "cross-aisles." When the walls of the +nave above the arcade rise above those of the aisles and are pierced +with windows, the upper portion is called the clerestory, the meaning +of which word is not free from obscurity; it seems probable that it +indicates the clear story--the story which rises clear of the nave and +aisles. In large buildings, they are important both for utility and +beauty, but in small and early churches, they are of less importance. + +It is a well-known fact that the chancel and nave of a church generally +stand east and west. This arrangement, called the orientation, is +symbolic of the teaching that to the east we are to look for assistance +and protection against the power of our enemy, and that as we pray we +may look for the day-spring, symbolized to us in the rising sun that +sheds light and warmth all over the earth. + +The public entrance to a church is generally at the west end (the priest +usually had a door in the chancel for his own use). Through this door we +enter the house of prayer, for as in the east we see the emblem of the +Lord of Life and Light, so the west represents the seat of darkness and +of the powers of evil. + +The earliest porches were those of the early Christian basilica churches; +they were long and arcaded and were called "narthex." In later times, +they assumed two forms, one the projecting erection, covering the +entrance and divided into three or more doorways, and the other a kind +of covered chamber open at the end and having small windows at the +sides. These latter are generally found on the north and south sides +of the nave. Formerly, when church government was more rigorous in +discipline than is now the case, the porch was the appointed place for +those who were under censure. Those also who were unbaptised, or who had +not yet received the sacrament of regeneration, were not allowed beyond +the porch, not quite excluded from the church and yet not permitted +to enter fully. The porch also served as a path of admission for all +Christians into the body of the church, so that they passed through the +assembly of penitents and catechumens, who were wont to ask the prayers +of the more highly privileged for their full restoration or admission to +the communion of the faithful. + +With reference to our Lord's word, "I am the Door," we frequently find +the tympana of church doors, particularly those of Norman date, adorned +with representations of events from his life, but they often also depict +the monsters, dragons and devils, that formed so strong an article in +the faith of the early Christians. + +A more detailed account of these tympana will be found in a following +chapter. + +Passing through the porch we enter the nave, which word is derived from +the Latin _navis_, a ship. Its symbolic teaching is that of the Church +riding triumphantly and buoyantly on the troubled and dark waters of the +world. The first thing noticed on entering the nave is the font, which +was formerly placed outside the church, in a separate building called +the baptistery; a few of our churches have retained these little +buildings which now form part of the churches proper. + +The reason in early days for placing the font outside the church was +that the Christian was not admitted into the nave until he had been +baptised and confirmed, the latter rite being administered immediately +after baptism. + +From the western door there is a clear passage through the centre of +the nave, called the aisle, signifying the straight and narrow way from +the seat of darkness to immortal life. On each side of this aisle are +seats for the laity, with room for standing and kneeling. The nave was +usually divided from the chancel by an open screen of wood or stone, +signifying that although the Christian might have some insight into the +mysteries of the priest's office, at the same time these were to be +partly concealed from his view. The rood screen was so called from the +fact that the great Rood, or Crucifix, stood above it, not always on the +screen itself, but on a separate beam, to which was often attached a +rood loft or chamber. In early days, the lessons were read from the top +of the rood screen, and in many of our churches the stairways leading +thither have been retained. + + [Illustration: Examples of Gothic Windows. + Early English. Decorated. Perpendicular. + See also page 59.] + +In churches where the screen has vanished, the division of the nave +from the rest of the church is plainly marked by the chancel arch. +The chancel is emblematic of the Christian perfection, of the Church +triumphant in heaven. + +In an old church, a piscina is nearly always found in the chancel, and +here, too, were the sedilia or seats for the officiating clergy, the +prior, sub-prior, and the deacon, the last-named occupying the lowest +seat. + +Founders' tombs also nearly always occupy positions in the chancel, and +these tombs differ from all others in that they form an integral part +of the structure, and could not have been added after the church was +completed. + +Another thing sometimes to be seen is the ambery, or aumbry, a small +cupboard let into the chancel wall, in which were kept the communion +vessels, the chalice, paten, etc. + +The great object of interest, however, in the chancel, is the altar, +which Archbishop Laud directed should be enclosed by rails, so that +although the people may draw near, they cannot touch the holy table, but +must accept from the hands of the priest those gifts of which he is the +minister from God. + +Altars are fully described in a following chapter, but we may here note +that the reredos, so universally found in our cathedrals, abbeys, and +in many of our churches, forms no part of the altar, and the Court of +Arches has decided that there are no altars in the Church of England, +but only communion tables. + +Prominent among the external enrichments of our churches is the +gargoyle, a word derived from the French, "gargouille," which in its +turn comes from the Latin "gurgulio"--a water-spout. The earliest +gargoyles are merely orifices with a lip to shoot the water well away +from the fabric. The true gargoyle, however, was quickly evolved from +this primitive form, and consists of two parts, the lower one forming +the channel, the upper one being the cover. The full significance of the +skill displayed by the old masons in the rare opportunity the gargoyle +afforded them of representing the dragons, serpents, etc., in which +their fancy revelled, is made apparent when we view the futile attempts +of modern architects to introduce this feature in their churches, for +modern gargoyles are generally grotesque caricatures, and anything but +happy appendages to the buildings to which they are attached. + + [Illustration: Examples of Buttresses. + _Norman_ _Decorated_ + _Flying Buttress_ + _Early English_ _Perpendicular_ + _Drawn by E. M. Heath._] + +The churchyard, so pleasing an adjunct to the House of God placed within +it, is frequently approached through a lych-gate, which word is derived +from the Saxon _lich_, a corpse. These gates in our country churchyards +are often very picturesque little structures, and under them the corpse +at a funeral awaited the officiating priest before being taken into the +church. The churchyard is commonly regarded as a mere dependency of the +church, and as having a history very inferior in interest to that of the +temple to which it is the court. The truth is that many of our churchyards +have an antiquity far greater than that of the churches, as many of them +constituted the open-air meeting-places of our Saxon forefathers long +before the erection of parish churches. In the common meeting-place a +cross was set up, either of wood or stone, to mark and hallow the spot, +and when a church was subsequently built it was usually in the immediate +vicinity of the cross, which accounts for the fact that many churchyard +crosses are of older date than the churches themselves. + +Wells of water are often found in old churchyards, and as the +regulations of the Saxon church required immersion and not sprinkling, +it is possible that these were the Saxon fonts. + +Such then is the necessarily brief attempt to describe the main lines on +which our old churches were planned, and the motives and ideals which +animated their builders, who, being impressed with the dignity and +mystery of the works of God, made their churches symbolical of the +portions of the Christian life; the porch signifying baptism, the nave +the life militant on earth, and the chancel the life eternal; while +every little ornament, piece of sculpture and enrichment was designed to +remind the worshippers of their faith, of its hopes, blessed promises +and rewards. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +EARLY BRITISH CHURCHES. + + +In dealing with the introduction of church architecture into our own +land, the task would be much simplified if one could state with +certainty when the first church was built on British soil. Some +historians assert that the Church of England as it is constituted to-day +dates no further back than the moment when S. Augustine and his +followers landed on the shores of Kent in the year 596, yet one is +probably justified in assuming that a church existed in these islands +for centuries previous to the arrival of the Roman missionaries. +Unfortunately we have no records to guide us as to the date of this +earlier settlement, and the name of the first Christian missionary to +heathen Britain has still to be discovered. "We see," says the quaint +old historian, Thomas Fuller, "the light of the word shined here, but +see not who kindled it." The first Christian building of which we have +any record was probably that erected at Glastonbury before the year 300, +but that this was the first Christian settlement cannot be alleged with +certainty. + +There are many traditions concerning the introduction of Christianity +into Britain, some of which may probably have some bearing on the truth, +but the whole subject is involved in considerable obscurity. One of +these numerous traditions is to the effect that the British King +Caradoc, after being taken prisoner to Rome, was allowed to return, on +condition that several members of his family remained as hostages; and +whilst serving in this capacity, his mother, son, and daughter are +stated to have become converts to Christianity, the doctrines of which +faith they spread in their native land on their return thereto. Another +tradition is to the effect that S. Paul himself visited Britain and laid +the foundation of the Christian faith. We are also told by eminent +church historians that the father and grandfather of S. Patrick were +Christians, in which case S. Patrick himself would from a very early age +have been brought up in the tenets of their faith. He is said to have +been seized by pirates in the Clyde and taken to the north of Ireland, +and eventually to Gaul. He was subsequently restored to his friends, +whom he wished to convert to the Christian faith, and for this purpose +his father sent him to be taught in the schools of Tours, Auxerre and +Lerins. Eventually he was consecrated Bishop of the Irish and organized +an efficient ecclesiastical system in Ireland. + + [Illustration: A Rood Screen with a Restoration of the Rood. + Kenn, Devon. _Photograph by Chapman._] + +Before the coming of the Anglo-Saxons the church seems to have +established a firm hold on the people, who held tenaciously to their +possessions, both secular and religious, which were only wrested from +them after a severe struggle. Their enthusiastic love of Christianity +led them to make a heroic defence of the churches, rather than see them +fall into the hands of the heathen Anglo-Saxons. The historian Bede +tells us that all their buildings were destroyed, the priests' blood was +spilt upon the altars, prelates and people were slain with the sword, +and all the cities and churches were burnt to the ground. When all was +lost and there was no longer a church or home to defend, the Britons +retired to the country of their fellow-Christians, the secluded and +almost impenetrable hills and forests of the west. The Anglo-Saxon love +of gold was quickly recognised by the people of West Wales who saved +their property and bought the right of worshipping after the manner of +their fathers by the payment of an annual tribute to their conquerors. + + [Side note: Church of S. Piran, Perranporth.] + +So ruthlessly indeed did the Anglo-Saxons rase to the ground the early +churches, that, until a few years ago, but few traces of these early +buildings were thought to exist. An accidental discovery, however, in +the year 1835, brought to light an undoubted relic of an early British +church in the west, this being the remains of a little church which had +been until the date above mentioned completely buried in the sand +on the sea coast near Perranporth in Cornwall. They are thought by +ecclesiologists to be the remains of the original church erected to the +memory of S. Piran, a Cornish missionary and a friend of S. Patrick, who +was buried within its walls before the year 500 A.D. On removing the +sand, the accumulated deposit of centuries, the church was found to have +consisted of a nave and chancel containing a stone altar. + + [Illustration: The Church of S. Martin, Canterbury.] + +The building measured 29 feet in length, 16-1/3 feet in width and 19 +feet from the floor to the roof, and probably shares with S. Mary's +Church in Dover Castle, and S. Martin's, Canterbury, the honour of being +one of the earliest links we possess with the ancient British Church. S. +Mary's, Dover, appears to have been built of Roman bricks and cement, a +combination which antiquaries consider is found only in those buildings +which were erected during the Roman occupation. + + [Side note: S. Martin's Canterbury.] + +S. Martin's Church, Canterbury has many claims to be considered one of +our most interesting churches, no less on account of its associations +than for its structural interest. The date of its building has been a +source of endless controversy, as it contains many features attributable +to either Roman or Saxon architecture. It is thought that it may +possibly have been used for worship by the Christian soldiers of the +Roman army. Be this as it may, it is established beyond doubt that it +was the oratory of Queen Bertha, the first English Christian queen, who +here worshipped, with her chaplain Liudhard, long before the advent of +S. Augustine, who himself in later times preached here; and within the +walls of this cradle of English Christianity, Ethelbert, King of Kent, +the husband of Queen Bertha was baptized. The Venerable Bede, writing +within a hundred years of the death of S. Augustine states that there +was in 597 A.D. in Canterbury, a church "dedicated to the honour of S. +Martin and built while the Romans still occupied Britain." On the +departure of the Romans it is probable that the church was still used by +a small band of Christian worshippers until the heathen Jutes overran +the Isle of Thanet in 449. + +Little is known of the progress of Christianity on this island from that +date until the landing of S. Augustine in 597, and the first fruits of +his mission, as we have seen, was the conversion and baptism of King +Ethelbert. As one would naturally expect, the aspect of the structure +to-day, though suggestive of antiquity, is lacking in uniformity of +treatment. The brick courses in the nave are at irregular intervals, +varying from nine to twenty inches apart, the spaces being filled with +Kentish rag-stone and occasional blocks of chalk. The chancel extends +eighteen or twenty feet east of the arch and is composed of Roman +bricks, evenly laid and averaging four bricks to a foot. + + [Illustration: An Ancient Window built with Roman Brickwork. + Swanscombe, Kent. _Photograph Mr. G. H. Smith._] + +The chancel was lengthened at the beginning of the thirteenth century +and again at a more recent date, so that its architecture to-day is +of three distinct periods. Outside may be seen five flat pilaster +buttresses and one semi-circular one, a square-headed Roman doorway, a +Saxon doorway and two Early English porches; and there is also a nearly +circular panel on the south side of the nave, and a Norman squint at the +west end. There are many other features of interest which bear evidences +of a great antiquity, and the only question which is seriously disputed +is whether the earliest portion of the present nave was built about the +end of the Roman occupation of Britain or during the mission of S. +Augustine. The Rev. Charles F. Routledge, M.A., F.S.A., Hon. Canon of +Canterbury Cathedral, writes: "Whatever may finally be determined to be +the date of the church's foundation, it can never lose its unique +association with S. Augustine, King Ethelbert and Queen Bertha, nor its +undisputed claim to be the oldest existing church in England. From it +flowed the tiny spring of English Christianity, which has since widened +out into a mighty river, and penetrated the remotest parts of the +civilized and uncivilized world." + + [Side note: Other Early Churches.] + +Among other churches which show signs of having been built during the +Roman occupation are those of Reculver, Richborough and Lyminge, while +the foundations of an undoubted early church have been discovered in +the old Roman city of Silchester, in Hampshire. _See frontispiece._ The +old church at Reculver stood originally within the Roman castrum, the +fortress which guarded the northern mouth of the Wantsume, now a small +stream, but once an arm of the sea dividing the Isle of Thanet from the +mainland. The greater part of this church was pulled down in 1809, but +the western towers, known as "the sisters" were repaired by Trinity +House, as they constitute a useful landmark for mariners, being visible +at a great distance. + +Reculver church was built about A.D. 670, and from the existing walls +and foundations it is clear that its plan was basilican. The church +is now a ruin, but some stone pillars which supported the arches are +preserved in the Cathedral Close at Canterbury. + +As Reculver guarded the northern mouth of the watercourse, so +Richborough protected the south, and here traces of a chapel in the +form of a cross are plainly discernible amongst ruins known to be of +Roman workmanship. The old church at Lyminge in the same county is thus +described by Canon Jenkyns, in his "_History of Lyminge_":--"The Roman +foundations discoverable at the south-east angle of the chancel, together +with the remarkable half-arch that intervenes, marked the site of the +_aquilonalis porticus_--the title of basilica already given to it in the +seventh century establishes its claim to great antiquity." + +We thus see that although remains of the actual buildings in which the +British Christians worshipped are few in number, yet enough are left us +to prove conclusively that there was a very active and zealous Christian +community established in these islands during at least the period +immediately preceding that in which Rome withdrew her legions from +Britain in order to defend Italy against the Goths, and abandoned our +island to the mercy of her foes. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +EARLY CHURCH ARCHITECTURE. + + +In the early years of the Christian Church, when its members became +sufficiently free from persecution to erect buildings for the purpose of +worship, they were naturally anxious to avoid any of the forms peculiar +to either heathen or Jewish temples. Some model, however, was necessary, +and their choice being limited, they appear to have adopted the +simple style of the Roman basilica, or court of justice. There was an +adaptability about the general plan of such a building which rendered +its selection natural and not inappropriate, while the dignified +simplicity of its construction and the object for which it was primarily +founded--the dispensation of justice--commended it no doubt in the first +instance as a model for the primitive Christian church. These basilicæ +were usually enclosures surrounded by a colonnade, sometimes roofed, but +more often open to the air, and designedly built for the purpose of +being accessible to all members of the community at all times of the +day. They appear occasionally to have been used for the transaction of +ordinary business in which they would closely resemble our exchanges. Be +this as it may, this form of architecture has left its impress on many +Christian buildings, and the name of basilica, for a church, is still +used in many parts of Italy. + +The Roman basilica was usually in the form of a parallelogram, with a +seat for the judges at one end, and in their adaptation of this form of +building, the early Christians devoted this place to the purposes of an +altar. This, by an easy and natural transition, is thought to have given +rise to the formation of the semi-circular recess at one end of the +building, known as the apse (from the Latin _apsis_, a bow or arch), +which is still to be found in some of our older churches. + +Being thus Roman in the nature of their ground plan, it is not +surprising to find that other portions of the early Christian buildings +show decided characteristics of a Roman style. On the destruction of the +Pagan temples by order of the Emperor Constantine about the year 330, +much of their material was built into the earliest Christian churches, +and the Roman character of their design being prevalent, they formed a +style of architecture which has been designated Romanesque, of which the +later styles, known here as Saxon and Norman were largely modifications. +There is no reason to doubt that the earliest Christian churches were +very unpretentious in form and that some time elapsed before there was +anything which could be called a definite church architecture, beyond +that to which we have alluded. Nevertheless, as the Church strengthened +her position and grew in security, more attention was devoted to the +subject of its edifices, and the departure in time from the original +ground plan furnished an opportunity for the introduction of a more +symbolical and appropriate design. The plan of the old basilica was +abandoned for one in the form of the cross, the accepted symbol of the +Christian religion, which departure, however, did not involve any very +great alteration from the old ground plan. + +We come then to the time when one or other of the forms known as the +Latin or the Greek cross--whichever was most convenient--was usually +employed in a building designed for Christian worship, and these forms +are universally found in the most elaborate structures of which the +Christian Church can boast. + +As time passed, these cruciform churches were surmounted with a dome, +steeple, or tower at the point where the members of the cross +intersected each other. At first the most prominent of these external +adornments was the dome; a characteristic of the architecture of Eastern +Europe, which acquired the name Byzantine, from its having been carried +to great perfection in Byzantium (Constantinople), the capital of the +Eastern Empire. + +The church of S. Sophia, which was built, much as it now exists, early +in the sixth century, and was afterwards converted into a mosque, is an +almost perfect example of the Byzantine style. In this building we find +the Roman arch used in a variety of ways, while the dome itself is +formed entirely of this arch used as the crowning work of the edifice. +Eastern churches in this style usually took the form of the Greek cross, +this form being better calculated to support the weight of the cupola. +In Western Europe, however, where the flat squat tower afterwards +developed into the steeple, as we shall see in a later chapter, the +Latin cross was mostly used, and this, with a few notable exceptions, is +the plan of most western churches. + +With writers of about fifty years ago, it was a favourite theory that +the Christians converted the old basilicæ into churches, and that the +"Halls of Justice" erected by the Romans in this country were also +converted into Christian churches, and some authorities point to the +walls and arches of Brixworth church in confirmation of this theory. The +late Mr. J. W. Brewer, however, stated that unfortunately for this +theory, no single example of a basilica being converted into a church +has been found in this country and he himself held the theory that the +word basilica was used by the Romans to describe any building which was +supported by internal columns, and in that way the name came to be +applied to Christian churches. + +As we have seen, the early Christians, after a short time, became +dissatisfied with these buildings adapted from Pagan types, and the +Byzantine form of church arose, the first people who practised this +style of building being the Greeks. The style spread with rapidity all +over the East, the great church of S. Sophia being its largest example +and the smaller, but more perfect, church of S. Mark at Venice giving us +the best idea of this form of church architecture. Largely modelled on +this style, also, are the circular baptisteries of Italy and the round +churches of England, France and Germany, the modern Russian churches and +all the Mohammedan mosques. The Latin churches did not greatly favour +this style and their use of it was confined, with few exceptions, to +baptisteries, monumental chapels and the like, but for parochial, +cathedral and monastic churches, the oblong plan was retained and +ultimately developed into the Gothic church with its nave, transepts and +chancel. + +The changes which the Christian basilica at first underwent were simple, +_viz._, the use of the arch instead of the straight lintel, or the +placing of an entablature between the columns; a little later, about the +tenth century, the old wooden roof of the basilica gave place to the +arched roof or vaulting, so called from its being composed of a series +of vaults. The styles called Romanesque and Lombardic are but +geographical varieties of the same architecture and from these the Saxon +and Norman styles were soon to be developed. The vaulted basilica church +soon became common over the north of Europe, the two most important and +practically unaltered examples being the cathedrals of Speyer and Worms, +in Germany, although our Anglo-Saxon cathedrals of Peterborough, Ely and +Norwich may, so far as regards their naves, be justly regarded as the +offspring of the vaulted basilica style of building. + +When the old basilica style of church with its heavy beam roof and its +innumerable columns had ceased to satisfy the lofty aspirations of Latin +Christianity, and when the Greeks had inaugurated a new style of church +architecture, only two courses were left to the Latins, either to adopt +the Greek style in its entirety, or to improve upon the basilica type. +Fortunately, although after considerable hesitation, they chose the +latter alternative, the result being the genesis of our glorious +cathedrals with their long naves and aisles, deep transepts and +beautiful variety of form and outline. + + [Illustration: A Reputed Saxon Doorway. + Bishopstone, Sussex. _Photograph Mr. W. Hodgson._] + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE SAXON AND NORMAN STYLES. + + +As we have seen in the previous chapter, the whole subject of pre-Saxon +church building is still very obscure, and for some considerable time +after the Anglo-Saxon invasion little is known concerning church +architecture, nor has it yet been fully ascertained whether any +buildings of this period exist. By the year 588 the Saxons were in +complete possession of the land. Christianity was to all appearance +wiped out and the Church, to the superficial observer was dead. In his +"_History of English Church Architecture_," Scott expresses the opinion +that the oldest English churches may be divided into three groups. +First, those which preceded the Danish invasion; secondly, those from +the above epoch to the invasion of Sweyn; and thirdly, those onward to +the Norman Conquest. + + [Side note: Saxon Architecture.] + +What exactly constituted Saxon architecture has long been a +controversial point and one which will probably never be definitely +settled. Parker, in his "_Glossary of Architecture_," says:-- + + "For a considerable time, after they (the Anglo-Saxons) had + established themselves in this country, their buildings were + of wood, and this appears to have been the prevailing material + employed at the time of the Conquest, although stone had been + occasionally used several centuries earlier.... No timber-work + of Saxon date can be in existence at the present time, but it is + contended by some antiquaries that several of our churches exhibit + specimens of Saxon masonry; the truth of this theory, however, is + not fully established, nor has the subject of Saxon architecture + been yet sufficiently investigated to clear away the obscurity in + which it is involved." + +Probably few of our so-called Saxon churches were built earlier than +thirty or forty years before the Norman Conquest, and it seems certain +that for some years after they had settled in England, the Normans +employed Saxon masons to build in the Saxon manner, as is seen by the +tower of S. Michael's Church, Oxford, which, although showing all the +characteristics of reputed Saxon masonry was built many years after the +Battle of Hastings. Certain it is that these pre-Norman buildings in +England were singularly rude and rough and show how much our Saxon +ancestors were, at that period, behind the Italians, French and Germans +in architectural skill. + + [Side note: Saxon Churches.] + +Our best examples containing Saxon work are possibly the churches at +Sompting and Bishopstone, Sussex; Bradford-on-Avon; Wootton Wawen +(sub-structure of tower); Wing; Brixworth, and Barnack, Northants; +Greenstead in Essex; and S. Martin's at Wareham, Dorset. Of towers of +this date the best are possibly those of S. Mary's and S. Peter's, +Lincoln and S. Benet's, Cambridge. Of crypts, the finest examples are +at Ripon Cathedral, York Minster (part) and S. Mary's Church, York. In +addition to these, many other churches have chancel arches, doorways or +some other less important features which are considered to be of Saxon +origin. + +These early buildings generally show the semi-circular arch on the +doorways, but the windows usually have a triangular head; at Sompting +church, however, the windows have the semi-circular arch. It is +necessary to say a few words in detail about the more important churches +of this era. + + [Side note: S. Lawrence, Bradford-on-Avon.] + +The church of S. Lawrence at Bradford-on-Avon is one of the oldest +unaltered churches in England, and it seems to be beyond question that +it is the actual church built by Ealdhelm at the beginning of the eighth +century and dedicated by him to S. Lawrence. It consists of a chancel, +nave and north porch, and among its remarkable features is its great +height and the extreme narrowness of the round-headed arch between the +nave and the chancel, a feature it has in common with the Saxon church +of S. Martin at Wareham; the ground-plan measurements of both these +churches are identical. At S. Lawrence's church, an incised arcade is +seen outside the walls, and on either side of the west aspect of the +chancel arch are two sculptured figures of angels, which are thought to +represent the earliest extant fragments of church carving in England. + + [Side note: Brixworth, Earls' Barton and Barnack.] + +Brixworth church is possibly older than S. Lawrence's and it is said to +have been in continuous use for Divine Service ever since it was +erected. The tower appears to be of rather later date than the nave and +rests upon the walls of a "narthex" or portico, which may have extended +along the whole breadth of the front, as is still to be seen in churches +at Rome and Ravenna. The curious pile of masonry built up against the +tower may have been added for defence, as it could hardly have formed +part of the original design. + + [Illustration: Tower of Earls' Barton Church. + Generally considered to show characteristics of Saxon masonry.] + +Earls' Barton and Barnack churches both have towers so covered with +narrow projecting strips of stonework that the surface of the walls +appears divided into rudely formed panels. The west doorways of both +show primitive imitations of Roman mouldings in the imposts and +architraves. The tower of Earls' Barton consists of four stages, each +of which is slightly smaller than the one below. In that of Barnack +church, the upper stages of the tower represent the period of transition +from Norman to Early English. + + [Illustration: An Example of a Norman Tower. + Bishopstone, Sussex. _Homeland Copyright._] + +S. Michael's, Oxford, has a massive tower of solid masonry, unpierced in +its lowest stage by either door or window, the second stage shows but +one window and the highest is pierced by several windows of more +elaborate construction. + + [Side note: St. Michael's Church, Oxford.] + +Although generally consisting of rubble and stone, Saxon churches were +sometimes built of wood as we see from the existing nave of the parish +church of Greenstead, Essex. + + [Side note: Greenstead Church, Essex.] + +A brick chancel has been added at the east and a timber belfry at the +west end, but the old Saxon portion is composed of large chestnut trees +split asunder and set upright close to each other with the round side +outwards. The ends are roughly hewn so as to fit into a sill at the +bottom, and into a plate at the top, where they are fastened with wooden +pins. There are 16 logs on the south side where are two doorposts, and +on the north side twenty-one logs and two spaces now filled with rubble. +There is a tradition that this church was erected to receive the body of +S. Edmund, on its return from London to Bury, in 1013. + +The semi-circular arch has long been considered to be one of the most +distinctive marks of Norman architecture, but Mr. Rickman, who made an +exhaustive study of the early churches of France and England, says:-- + + "In various churches it has happened that a very plain arch + between nave and chancel has been left as the only Norman feature, + while both nave and chancel have been rebuilt at different times; + but each leaving the chancel arch standing. I am disposed to think + that some of these plain chancel arches, will, on minute + examination, turn out to be of Saxon origin." + +It would be tedious to enter into any more minute account of the +Anglo-Saxon ecclesiastical remains, and the reader whose enquiries +conduct him to the more elaborate works on the subject will be startled +by the contrary opinions that he will surely encounter. + +In concluding these brief remarks on early buildings, we must again +quote from Parker's work to which reference has already been made:-- + + "The class of buildings referred to as being considered to belong + to this style contain some rather unusual features, and they + require to be particularly described, both because they are in + themselves remarkable, and because there is a probability that + some of them may be Saxon." + + [Illustration: A Norman Pier Arcade. + Abbots Langley, Herts. _Photograph Mr. A. W. Anderson._] + +The Norman style of church architecture with its varied forms of +columns, moulded and recessed arches and vaulting, may be roughly stated +to have been introduced into England at the time of the Conquest. The +Saxon masons do not appear to have understood vaulting sufficiently well +to have roofed over any large space with stone, and for this reason +alone the Saxon form of building was bound to give way before the +Norman, which of all the earlier styles was the most advanced in this +respect. + + [Side note: Norman Architecture.] + +Generally speaking, Norman arches were semi-circular, but they were by +no means universally so, for a form frequently found is one in which the +spring of the arch does not take place from the abacus, or upper member +of the capital, but at some distance above it and when it assumes this +form it is called a "stilted" arch, suggested by some authorities to +have been unintentional and the result of imperfect construction or +planning. _See page 10._ + + [Illustration: Examples of Norman Mouldings. + Chevron or Zig-zag. Star. + Alternate Billet. Square Billet. + Double Cone. Lozenge. + Beak Head. Bird Head.] + +The main features in the ornamentation of this period are the sculptured +bands worked round the arches, which, although generally called +"mouldings," are more in the nature of decoration, and in some instances +they appear to be additions carved on the originally unadorned surface +of the masonry. + + [Side note: Ornament.] + +The earliest and most general ornament is the chevron or zig-zag, which +is frequently found doubled, trebled and quadrupled. The next most +common form is the beak-head, consisting of a hollow and large round. +In the hollow are placed heads of beasts or birds whose tongues or beaks +encircle the round. On the west doorway of Iffley church, Oxford, are +many of these beak-heads extending the whole length of the jamb down to +the base moulding. They also figure prominently among the ornamentations +of the hospital church of S. Cross, near Winchester. The zig-zag +moulding is very common on Norman churches and is so easily recognised +that no further description is needed here. The less prominent decorations +of Norman mouldings include the alternate billet, the double cone, and +the lozenge, together with an immense number of others less commonly +found. + + [Side note: Windows.] + +The Early Norman window was little better than a narrow slit finished +with a plain semi-circular head, and was generally only a few inches +wide. They were, it is believed, filled with oiled linen and the sides +of the aperture were splayed towards the interior. Later in the period, +the windows were enriched by the zig-zag and other mouldings and at a +still later period an improvement was made by inserting nook-shafts in +the jambs similar to those in doorways. + + [Illustration: A Late Norman Parish Church. + Castle Rising, Norfolk. _Drawn by Gordon Home._] + +The towers of Norman churches often show windows of two lights separated +by a central shaft, all enclosed under a large semi-circular arch, the +spandrel of which is rarely pierced. Plain circular windows of small +dimensions are sometimes found in other positions and in churches of +later date, and occasionally in gable walls. Larger windows of the same +form, with small shafts radiating from the centre and connected at the +circumference by semi-circular or trefoiled arches, are also found as at +Barfreston church, Kent, where there is a fine example. + + [Side note: Doorways.] + +Norman doorways are found in great numbers and variety, even in churches +which present no other features in this style. The most usual form +consists of a semi-circular-headed aperture with a hood-mould springing +from plain square-edged jambs. Frequently, however, the doorways are +recessed, having a nook-shaft in the angle formed by a recession from +the capital, in which case it presents two soffits and two faces, +besides the hood-moulds. The depth of these doorways is largely due to +the great thickness of the walls usual in buildings of this period, but +in many cases that portion of the wall in which the entrance is inserted +is made to project forward beyond the general face, which projection is +finished either with plain horizontal capping, or a high-pitched gable. + + [Illustration: _West Doorway Rochester Cathedral_ + Duncan Moul.] + +Norman porches thus have generally but little projection, and are +frequently so flat as to be little more than outer mouldings to the +inner door. They are, however, often richly ornamented and have rooms +above, which rooms are wrongly called "parvises." The shallow aperture +often follows the form of the arch, but is frequently square-headed, +having a semi-circular tympanum of masonry filling the space between the +lintel of the door and the intrados of the arch. + + [Illustration: Tympanum of Norman Doorway. + Fordington S. George, Dorset. _Drawn by E. M. Heath._] + +These tympana are usually sculptured in low relief with a representation +of some scriptural or traditional event, while the assertion of the +Apostle that "we must, through much tribulation, enter into the kingdom +of God," may account for the fondness of the Norman sculptors in +representing different stages of martyrdom on the tympana of their +doors. A very singular tympanum is that on the door of the church of +Fordington S. George, at Dorchester, whereon is represented some +incident in the life of S. George. The principal figure is on horseback +with a discus round his head. The other figures are in hauberks and +chausses, and generally bear, in point of costume, much resemblance to +the figures on the famous Bayeux tapestry. Barfreston church, Kent, has +an interesting tympanum, as also has Patrixbourne church in the same +county, where the sculpture shows the Saviour with dragons and at his +feet a dog. At Alveston church, Warwickshire, the sculpture shows two +quadrupeds with enormous tails, fighting, with between them a small +bird, possibly intended for a dove. Our best example of a Norman doorway +and tympanum is generally considered to be the west doorway of +Rochester Cathedral, where the sculpture is of a very advanced character +for its date, which is probably about 1130-40. + + [Side note: Piers.] + +A distinctive feature of the Norman style are the massive pillars, +usually circular, and with capitals either of the same form, or square; +occasionally in plain buildings the pillars themselves are square with +very little or no ornamentation. Towards the end of the period, an +octagonal pillar was often used, having a much lighter appearance than +the earlier forms. + + [Illustration: Examples of Capitals. + Norman. Transitional. Norman. + Crypt, Winchester. Christ Church, Oxford. Winchester Cathedral.] + +Besides these plain styles, compound or clustered piers are very +numerous, differing considerably in plan; the simplest consists of a +square having one or more rectangular recesses at each corner, but one +more frequently met with has a small circular shaft in each of the +recesses and a larger semi-circular one on each side of the square. + + [Side note: Capitals.] + +Norman capitals are very varied, having many different forms of +ornamentation; the commonest is one which resembles a bowl with the +sides truncated, reducing the upper part to a square; sometimes the +lower part is cut into round mouldings and ornamented, but it is +frequently left plain. The Norman capital in its earliest style was of +short proportions, but afterwards it became longer, with lighter +ornamentation, gradually merging into the Early English. + + [Illustration: A Curious Norman Capital. Seaford, Sussex.] + +The bishops and abbots of this period appear to have possessed +considerable skill in architecture, for no fewer than fifteen of our +English cathedrals contain some important Norman work, as the older +portions of the cathedrals of Canterbury, Durham, Winchester, +Gloucester, Peterborough, Ely, Norwich, Lincoln and Oxford. + + [Side note: Norman Buttresses.] + +The Norman buttress, better described by Mr. Sharpe as a pilaster strip, +unlike those of the later period, projects but very little from the +wall, and this is especially so in buildings of the earlier part of the +period. They are usually quite plain and are more used for finish than +actual support; the Norman builder relying principally upon the thickness +and weight of his walls to sustain any roof thrust (_see page 17_). + + [Side note: The Round Churches.] + +There are in England a few round churches which are thought to have been +built by the Knights Templars, a religious community banded together for +the purpose of wresting the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem from the +Saracens. Their object was to defend the Saviour's tomb and to guard +Palestine, for which purpose they built numerous monasteries throughout +the Holy Land and fortified them like castles. + +Another famous order which combined the religious instincts of the +cloister with the military ardour of the warrior was that of the Knights +of S. John Baptist or Knights Hospitallers, who, besides fighting, were +to tend the sick and provide for the welfare of all Christian travellers. +The churches belonging to the Templars were usually built in circular +form in imitation of the church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem. They +were capped with vaulted concave roofs said to be symbolical of the +vast circuit and concave of the heavens. Our best example is the Temple +Church, London, to which was added at a later period, a beautiful Early +English Gothic extension. Other round churches are those of S. Sepulchre, +Cambridge; S. Sepulchre, Northampton; Temple Balsall, Warwickshire, and +of Little Maplestead, Essex, which last, although the smallest, is by no +means the least interesting. It is attributed to the Hospitallers, an +order founded about the year 1092, and introduced into England in the +reign of Henry I. At Clerkenwell may still be seen the ancient gateway +leading to their hospital. The order was suppressed in 1545. The church +at Little Maplestead was built early in the 12th century, and in 1186 +the adjoining manor was given by Juliana Doisnel to this order, which +gift was confirmed by King John and Henry III. This church is thought to +reproduce with more fidelity than the others the original church of the +Holy Sepulchre. + + [Illustration: Norman and Early English Doorways. + Showing the transition from one style to another. + Dunstable Priory Church. _Drawn by Worthington G. Smith._] + +These famous Norman round-chancelled churches have much in common with +the old basilica form. + +It must be pointed out that the arbitrary divisions into which +architecture has been divided--Norman, Gothic, etc., are pure figures of +the imagination, as by a series of easy transitions, one style became +gradually merged into the next without any hard and fast dividing lines +whatever. The periods during which one style became gradually blended +into another are called the periods of transition. + + [Side note: The Transition.] + +Architecture being progressive, it was only by the gradual development +of one style from another that the art was enabled to advance with +social progress, the literature and other arts of the country. The +transition from the Norman to the Early English style may be ascribed to +a period somewhat earlier than the 12th century, when a great change in +the construction of the arch began to manifest itself. Alone, however, +the form of the arch is no real test, for many pure Norman works have +pointed arches. The square abacus may be taken as the best test. In its +incipient state the pointed arch exhibited a change of form only, whilst +the accessories and details remained the same as before; and although +this change gradually led to the Early Pointed style in a pure state, +with mouldings and features altogether distinct from those of the +Norman, and to the general disuse, in the 13th century, of the +semi-circular arch, it was for a while so intermixed as, from its first +appearance to the close of the 12th century, to constitute that state of +transition called the semi-Norman. + + + [Illustration: Windows showing the Origin of Tracery.] + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE EARLY ENGLISH STYLE. + + +The origin of what is loosely called Gothic architecture--which is +generally considered to include the styles, with their transitions, from +Early English to late Perpendicular, or Tudor-Gothic--is not free +from obscurity, but it is certain that it began to be employed in +ecclesiastical edifices about the time that the Goths settled in Italy, +although all the available evidence goes to prove that the style +originated and underwent its earliest developments in the north-west of +Europe, and penetrated by slow degrees to the south and east. + +England was somewhat later than France in introducing this style of +architecture, our earliest purely Gothic building being Salisbury +Cathedral, begun in 1220, although the choirs of Rievaulx and Fountains +Abbey were commenced a few years earlier. The Early English style in its +earliest developments is nowhere seen to better advantage than in +Salisbury Cathedral, and in its very latest forms at Westminster Abbey, +the period of time being chronologically measured by the reigns of +Richard I., John and Henry III. + + [Illustration: An Early English Arch. + Rochester Cathedral. _Photograph Eastmead._] + +Most of our Gothic buildings were carried out under the supervision of a +master-mason, but the most subordinate workman was left plenty of scope +within reasonable limits for whatever artistic individuality he +possessed, and the enrichments and ornaments of the Gothic era point out +the noble aim, the delicate and graceful thought, the refined and +exquisite taste expended upon every portion of their buildings by these +Gothic masons. + + [Side note: The Pointed Arch.] + +One of the chief differences between pure Gothic and Norman +architecture is in the use of the pointed form of arch, yet in the study +of the early buildings of this date it is curious to notice how evenly +the balance is held between the pointed and the round arch, and how at +one time it was quite an open question whether the Gothic style would be +distinguished by a round or a pointed arch. In Germany and Italy the +round arch held its own and continued to be used right through the +Middle Ages. In England, however, the pointed arch soon gained a decided +victory over its rival. Many theories have been put forward concerning +the introduction of the pointed arch, one amongst them being that it was +the result of the intersection of two circular arches such as is very +commonly found in late Norman work; another theory is the poetical idea +that it was copied from an avenue of trees. Whether or not either of +these theories holds good, it is quite certain that this form of arch +was known in the East for centuries before it reached Europe, being +found in cisterns and tombs in Egypt and Arabia dating from long before +the Christian era. + +It has also been suggested that it was introduced from the East by the +Crusaders, in which case we should have found it making its first +appearance in Hungary, Poland, Bohemia and Russia, but it so happens +that these were the very last countries in Europe to adopt the pointed +arch. + + [Side note: The Transitional Period.] + +The first form of the pointed arch, known as the Early English, was used +from about 1180 to 1300, including part of the reigns of Henry II., +Richard I., John, Henry III. and Edward I. "Nothing," says the Rev. J. +M. Hutchinson, "could be more striking than the change from Norman to +Early English. The two styles were the complete opposites of each other; +the round arch was replaced by the pointed, often by the acute, lancet; +the massive piers by graceful clustered shafts; the grotesque and +rudely-sculptured capitals by foliage of the most exquisite character; +and the heavy cylindrical mouldings by bands of deeply undercut +members." + + [Illustration: Arcading showing the junction of the Norman + and Early English Masonry. Dunstable Priory Church. + _Photograph H. A. Strange._] + +Gothic architecture differs from all previous forms in the economical +use of material, and the small size of the stones used. Whereas in both +Roman and Norman buildings the arrangement of the materials depended +upon their strength in masses, the Gothic masons employed stones of +small size in the construction of edifices of equal strength and of far +greater magnificence; while in constructive properties the Gothic style +was a great advance on anything that had gone before, as the buildings +in this style did not depend for their stability on the vertical +pressure of columns, but on the correct adjustment of the bearings and +thrusts of different arches operating in various directions. Owing to +the fact, then, that each portion of a Gothic Church helps to support +something besides itself, it is obvious that such buildings could be +erected with a far smaller quantity of material than was previously +necessary. The various little shafts or columns are so disposed as to +distribute the weight of the superstructure and thus relieve the greater +columns or piers of some portion of the superincumbent weight; the +aisles help to support the nave; the walls of the side chapels act +as abutments against the walls of the aisles, while the towers are +generally placed so as to resist the accumulated thrust of all the +arches along the sides of the nave. + + [Illustration: An Early English Doorway. Huntingdon.] + +The enrichments and little ornaments attached to mouldings, and +particularly those placed in the hollows, are most characteristic of the +various styles of Gothic architecture. The zig-zag is peculiar to the +Norman, the nail head to the Transitional or semi-Norman, and the dog +tooth to the Early English. + + [Side note: Early English Ornament.] + +This last ornament represents a flower, looking like four sweet almonds +arranged pyramidically, and there is no other ornament so distinctive of +this period. Early English foliage is known by reason of the stalks +always being shown as growing upwards from the lower ring of the +capital, called the astrigal. These stalks are generally grouped +together and curve forward in a very graceful manner. The plants mostly +represented are the wild parsley, seakale and celery, and this foliage, +called stiff-leaved foliage, is found at no other period than the end of +the 12th century. + + [Side note: Early English Mouldings.] + +Early English mouldings are very complicated and yet very beautiful, and +consist of beads, keel and scroll patterns, separated by deep hollows +giving a rich effect of light and shade round the arch. These deeply-cut +hollows are also a distinctive mark of the style. + + [Side note: Early English Windows.] + +The earliest windows of this period are long and narrow, with acutely +pointed heads, the exterior angle being merely chamfered and the +interior widely splayed. Somewhat later the introduction of tracery gave +a highly beautiful appearance to the windows and from the character of +this feature the date of the window can be fairly accurately determined. +Where the tracery is formed by ornamental apertures pierced through a +plate of stone, it is called plate tracery, and is certain to be of not +later date than the earlier part of the 13th century. If it is bar +tracery, with the bars forming plain circles, the work is also Early +English, but if, on the other hand, the bars form other shapes filled in +with patterns, or consisting of a single trefoil or quatrefoil, they are +of later date. + + [Illustration: The Church of St. Margaret, Lynn. + West Front showing the Early English work in the base of the Tower. + _Photograph Dexter & Son._] + + [Illustration: Example of Group of Thirteenth Century Lancet Windows. + Ockham, Surrey. _Homeland Copyright._] + +The traceried window originated from the placing of a two-light narrow +lancet window under one dripstone having a plain head, the introduction +of tracery between the heads of the lancets and the dripstone +becoming necessary for beauty and lightness of the form (_see page 47_). + + [Side note: Early English Porches.] + +Early English porches project much further from the main walls than +do the Norman doorways, and in large and important buildings they +frequently have a room above. The gables are usually bold and high +pitched, and the interiors quite as rich in design as are the +exteriors. + + [Side note: Early English Doorways.] + +The doorways of this period are usually pointed, though occasionally +they have a semi-circular head. The mouldings are boldly cut and often +enriched with dog tooth ornament. The jambs frequently contain a shaft +or shafts with plain or foliated capitals (_see page 51_). + + [Side note: Early English Capitals and Piers.] + +Early English capitals are usually bell-shaped, and are, in the smaller +examples, quite devoid of ornament, with the exception of a necking and +one or two mouldings round the abacus. The bell is generally deeply +undercut, which, as in the mouldings, is a strong characteristic of the +style. The nail head and dog tooth ornaments sometimes appear in the +hollows between the mouldings. In the large examples the bell is covered +with foliage, which, springing direct from the necking, curls over most +gracefully beneath the abacus. In clustered piers the capitals follow +the form of the pier, and they also adopt the same form in the single +shaft, with the exception that multiangular shafts have often circular +capitals. The base consists of a series of mouldings and frequently +stands upon a double or single plinth, which in the earlier examples +is square, but in later examples assumes the form of the base, and is +either circular or polygonal. At Stone church, Kent, is a good example +of an Early English capital, decorated with stiff-leaved foliage, and +the dog tooth ornament, which in this case is seen between the mouldings +of the arch, and is of a perforated character. + + [Side note: Early English Buttresses.] + +The buttresses (_see page 17_) of this period are, as a rule, simple +in form, and in small churches consist of two or more stages, each +set-off or division being sloped at the top to carry off the rain. In +larger buildings the buttress generally finishes with a triangular head +or gable, and is frequently carried above the parapet, except where +stone vaulting is used, in which case it is covered with a pinnacle +either plain or ornamented. The edges are often chamfered or the +angles ornamented with slender shafts. A niche to contain a statue is +occasionally sunk in the face of the buttress, but this feature is +more common in the next or Decorated period, although the change from +one period to another was so gradual that the exact date of a niched +buttress would be difficult to determine were there no other features to +guide us. + + [Illustration: Salisbury Cathedral. Begun in 1220. + The spire was added, 1350. _Drawn by Sidney Heath._] + +Flying buttresses were first introduced at this period, and are common +in all large buildings with vaulted roofs. They are generally of simple +design, with a plain capping and archivolt, and they spring from the +wall buttress to the clerestory (_see page 17_). + + [Illustration: Examples of Early English Capitals and Ornament.] + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE DECORATED STYLE. + + +The best examples of Gothic architecture may be said to have been +erected between the years 1180 and 1300, and from the latter year many +writers date the commencement of its decline. In England we owe nearly +the whole of such magnificent buildings as the cathedrals of Lincoln, +Salisbury, Worcester, and the abbey of Westminster to the 13th century, +and there is scarcely a cathedral or abbey that does not owe some +beautiful portion of its structure to the builders of the same period, +the transepts and lady chapel of Hereford Cathedral, the eastern +transepts of Durham, the nave and transepts of Wells, the transepts of +York, the choir presbytery, central and eastern transepts of Rochester, +the eastern portion of the choir of Ely, the west front of Peterborough, +the choir of Southwell, the nave and transepts of Lichfield, and the +choir of S. David's being a few of our most characteristic examples of +this period. The style which followed the Early English is known as the +Geometric or Early Decorated style, and it embraces roughly the end +of the 13th century and the first twenty or thirty years of the 14th +century, and continued in its later or Curvilinear form to near the end +of that century. Perhaps the most perfect example of the Geometric style +in the world is the cathedral church at Amiens, which is usually called +the _mother church_ of this style, and although she has many daughters, +none of them can be said to equal their parent in beauty. + +In England the most perfect examples are not to be looked for in +cathedrals and large churches, but in their chapels, and the most superb +specimen we possessed, S. Stephen's Chapel, Westminster, has been +destroyed within comparatively recent years. Those left to us include +the chapel of the palace of the bishops of Ely, in Ely Place, Holborn, +now the Roman Catholic Church of S. Etheldreda, a building almost +identical in plan with the vanished chapel of S. Stephen. Trinity +Church, Ely, once Our Lady's Chapel, and Prior Crawden's Chapel, +in the same city, are lovely examples of the latest development of +the Curvilinear style, while the former is considered the most +highly-wrought building in England. Belonging to this period, also, +is the choir of Merton College Chapel, Oxford, and Luton Church. + +The Decorated style may be divided as regards its windows into two +classes--Geometric and Curvilinear. The first has tracery evolved +entirely from the circle. The Curvilinear style is distinguished by +traceries formed by curved and flowing lines. _See pages 15 and 59._ + + [Side note: Decorated Windows.] + +Decorated windows are usually large and contain from two to seven +lights, although one sometimes finds a window with a single light, but +of less elongated form than those of the Early English period. + +As we have seen in a previous chapter, tracery originated from the +necessity of piercing that portion of the wall which was left vacant +when two lights were gathered under a single arched dripstone, and +therefore elementary tracery consisted merely of apertures in a flat +surface. As the possibilities of this ornamental feature became better +understood, the mullions were recessed from the face of the wall and the +fine effect thus produced was, as the art progressed, much enhanced by +the introduction of various orders of mullions, and by recessing certain +portions of the tracery from the face of the mullions and their +corresponding bars. The geometrical tracery, as we have seen, consists +of various combinations of the circle, as the trefoil, based on the +triangle, the quatrefoil on the square, the cinquefoil on the pentagon, +etc. + + [Illustration: A Late Decorated Window in a Parish Church. + East Sutton, Kent. _Photograph Gardner Waterman._] + +In Curvilinear windows the tracery, although based on the same forms and +figures, is yet so blended into an intricate pattern that each figure +does not stand out with the same individuality as in the Geometric. +Among our most beautiful Geometric windows are those of the Lady Chapel +at Exeter, Ely Chapel, and Merton Chapel, Oxford, and of the Curvilinear +our best example is probably the east window of Carlisle Cathedral. + +It must be noted that beautiful as are Curvilinear windows, yet they +mark a certain decadence in Gothic architecture, in that it is an +irrational treatment of stone, and conveys the idea that the material +was bent and not cut into the required shape, it being a well-established +canon in art that when strength is sacrificed to mere elegance it marks +a decline in that art. + + [Side note: Decorated Capitals and Piers.] + +Decorated capitals as a rule follow the contour of the pier in clustered +columns, and are either bell-shaped or octagonal. They are frequently +only moulded, thus presenting rounds, ogees and hollows, on which the +prevailing ornaments of the period, the ball and the square flower, +are set. The foliated sculpture is most exquisite, and is gracefully +wreathed around the bell, instead of rising from the astrigal or upper +member of the capital, as in the earlier style. + + [Illustration: Examples of Decorated Ornament. + Finial Capital Finial + (Wimborne Minster). (York Minster). (York Minster). + Square Flower. + Ball Flower. + Crocket Cornice Crockets + (Hereford Cathedral). (Grantham). (York Minster). + _Drawn by E. M. Heath._] + +Almost every variety of leaf and flower is represented, the oak, the +vine and the rose being perhaps the most common, but the leaves of the +maple, hazel, ivy and strawberry are all so beautifully rendered as to +evidence their having been directly studied from nature. Plucked flowers +too, are not uncommon, and sometimes the little stalks and foliage +are accompanied by birds, lizards, squirrels and other creatures. The +columns of this period are much more elaborate than those of the Early +English style, and in plan have curved profiles with moulded members +between the shafts. These mouldings are very varied, but the hollows not +being so deeply undercut, the general effect is broader and less liney +than in the Early English; while the Decorated arches are less sharply +pointed than in the previous style. + + [Side note: Decorated Doorways.] + +The doorways of this style possess much the same features as the last, +but the mouldings, jamb shafts, etc., are more slender, and generally of +finer proportions, the hollows being often filled with the ball flower +and square flower instead of the dog tooth. Sometimes the doorways have +no pillars, being entirely composed of mouldings which are continuous +with those in the architrave. The large single doorways of this period +are nearly as large as the double ones of Early English date, and on the +sides small buttresses or niches are sometimes placed, and often one +finds a series of niches carried up like a hollow moulding, and filled +with figures. The figures of this period are not so good as in the +previous style, the heads seem too large for the bodies, and in the +female figures the breasts are represented as quite flat. Where there +are no figures double foliated tracery is often found hanging from one +of the outer mouldings, giving an effect of great richness. + + [Side note: Decorated Buttresses.] + +The buttresses (_see page 17_) in the Decorated style are nearly always +worked in stages, and a niche frequently figures on the face of the +buttress. Crocketed canopies and other carved decorations are common, +and in large buildings they usually terminate in pinnacles, which are +sometimes of open work. + +A Gothic building attains its effect by the combination of numerous +parts, each possessing an individual character of its own. In its +loftiness, graceful outlines, and rich effect of light and shade, it +speaks of noble aspirations, of freedom, of intellectual thought, +of talent and skill, all generously given for a high purpose, the +foundation of which was a strong religious enthusiasm, combined with +an intense love of the work itself. + + [Side note: Characteristics of Gothic Architecture.] + +Having now arrived at the point where Gothic architecture reached its +climax, we may briefly sum up its leading characteristics. It is +essentially pointed or vertical; its details are mostly geometrical in +its window traceries, clusters of shafts and bases, but this geometric +quality is only one of construction and form and not of its inner spirit +and motive, for plants copied directly from nature were used in +beautiful profusion. + +If we compare a large Gothic church with a comparatively small one, we +shall find the columns, windows, ornaments of the former are not so very +much larger than those of the latter, but that there are double or three +times the number of them. This is not the case in a classical building, +where each feature has to be enlarged in proportion to the size of the +building. It is the constant sub-division of a Gothic Church which adds +so to its apparent size. + +Ornamentally, the Gothic is the geometrical and pointed elements +repeated to their utmost and afterwards combined with the elaboration of +natural objects, plants, flowers, etc., growing in the neighbourhood of +the work. This is a great feature, but the most striking point in all +good Gothic work is the wonderful elaboration of geometric tracery, +vesicas, trefoils, quatrefoils and an immense variety of other ornament. + +In regard to the sizes of our great churches it may be of interest to +note that our longest English cathedral is Winchester. York and Lincoln, +although not so long as Winchester, are in superficial area very much +larger. The largest English church of a non-cathedral rank is +Westminster Abbey, which has, moreover, the distinction of being the +loftiest internally; the nave being 104 ft. in height. The largest +parish church is that of S. Nicholas, Great Yarmouth, which exceeds in +superficial area no fewer than eight of our cathedrals. + + + [Illustration: Examples of Perpendicular Ornament. + Panel. Crocket. + Tudor Rose. Portcullis. Fleur de Lys.] + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE PERPENDICULAR STYLE. + + +Towards the close of the XIVth century a great change came over English +Gothic architecture, a change which was to a certain extent a return to +classical ideas. The curvilinear tracery gave place to a rigid vertical +and horizontal form, with the result that windows and panels instead of +being filled with curved bars of stone, were sub-divided by straight +perpendicular bars and transoms or cross-bars. + +This style of architecture is popularly known as Perpendicular, but as +the horizontal lines are quite as distinct a feature as are the vertical, +it would perhaps be more correct to speak of it as Rectilinear. This +change in architectural form made its appearance towards the close of +the XIVth century, although it was by no means generally introduced at +that period, for the old methods and styles were carried on side by side +with the new for many years. For example, the eastern end of the choir +of York Minster (1361-99) possesses a window the traceries of which +contain both curvilinear and rectilinear lines, while Shottesbrook +Church in Berkshire (1387), and Wimmington Church, Bedfordshire (1391) +are examples of village churches neither of which has any feature of the +Perpendicular style. + + [Illustration: Yeovil Parish Church (A.D. 1376). + Early Perpendicular in style, without a clerestory, and called, + for its large window area, the "Lantern of the West."] + +In its earlier stages the Perpendicular style presented an effect at +once good and bold; the mouldings, though not equal to the best of the +Decorated style, were well defined, the enrichments effective, and the +details delicate without extravagant minuteness. Subsequently the +style underwent a gradual debasement; the arches became depressed; the +mouldings impoverished, the details crowded and coarsely executed, and +the whole style became wanting in the chaste and elegant effects for +which the Decorated stands unapproached and unapproachable. The flowing +contours and curved lines of the previous style now gave place in the +windows to mullions running straight up from the bottom to the top, and +crossed by transoms. As the arch became more and more depressed the +mouldings became shallower and less effective. In early buildings of +this period the drop arch is very prevalent, but as the period advanced +a form known as the Tudor arch began to be used. It is an arch in which, +as a rule, the centres of the upper portion lie immediately below those +of the lower, but this is not always the case. Sometimes the whole of +the upper portion uniting the arcs of the ends is struck from one centre, +in which case the arch becomes a three-centred one, being, in fact, half +an ellipse. Towards the close of the style the curvature of the upper +portion is so slight that it can hardly be distinguished from a straight +line, and as the debasement progressed it became really straight. Ogee +arches are also found at this period, and foiled arches are very frequent. +When the Tudor arch was not used, we generally find the low drop arch, +these three last being mostly used for small openings. + + [Illustration: A Fine Parish Church showing Rich Perpendicular Work. + Terrington St. Clement, Norfolk. _Photograph Dexter & Son._] + +The peculiar characteristics of the windows--the perpendicular +mullions and horizontal transoms--we have already alluded to. + + [Side note: Perpendicular Windows.] + +The window heads, instead of being filled with flowing tracery, have +slender mullions running from the heads of the lights between each +mullion, and these again have smaller transoms, until the whole surface +of the window becomes divided into a series of panels, the heads of +which being arched, are trefoiled or cinquefoiled. In the later windows +the transoms at the top are often furnished with a small ornamental +battlement, causing the mullions to present a concave outline. + + [Illustration: A Perpendicular Doorway. + Merton College Chapel. _Drawn by E. M. Heath._] + +The plans of churches in this style differ from all others in that they +are more spacious, the columns more slender and wider apart, the windows +much larger, and the walls loftier and thinner. Panelling is used most +abundantly on walls, both internally and externally, and also on +vaulting, while some buildings, as Henry the Seventh's Chapel at +Westminster, are almost entirely covered with it. Fan tracery vaulting, +a feature peculiar to this style, is almost invariably covered with +panelling. + +The mouldings of this period are essentially different from those which +preceded them. As a general rule they are cut on a slanting or chamfer +plane, the groups of mouldings being separated by a shallow oval-shaped +hollow, entirely different from those of the Decorated period. + + [Side note: Perpendicular Doorways.] + +The doorways of the early portion of this period had two-centred arches, +but the characteristic form is the four-centred, enclosed in a square +head, formed by the outer mouldings with a hood mould of the same shape, +the spandrels being filled with quatrefoils, roses, shields, etc. + + [Side note: Perpendicular Capitals.] + +Perpendicular capitals are either circular or octagonal, but the necking +is usually of the former shape, and the upper members of the abacus of +the latter form. The bell portion is mostly plain, but is often enriched +with foliage of a very conventional character, shallow and formal, +without either the freedom or the boldness of the Early English, or the +exquisite grace of the Decorated periods. A distinguishing feature in +the ornamentation of this period is that called panel-tracery, with +which the walls and vaulted ceilings are covered. The patterns are found +in a variety of forms, as circles, squares, quatrefoils, etc. + + [Side note: Fan Vaulting.] + +The rich vaulting called fan vaulting previously alluded to, is composed +of pendant curved semi-cones, covered with foliated panel-work, which +bears some resemblance to a fan spread open. + + [Side note: Perpendicular Ornament.] + +Another very characteristic ornament is the Tudor flower. It is formed +by a series of flat leaves placed upright against the stalk. It was +much used in late buildings as a crest or ornamental finishing to +cornices, etc., to which it gave an embattled appearance. Cornices and +brackets were frequently ornamented with busts of winged angels called +angel-brackets, and angel-corbels. The portcullis and the Tudor +rose--both badges of the house of Tudor--also figure prominently among +the ornaments of the period. The crockets for the most part partake of +the squareness which pervades all the foliage of this style. _See page +64._ + + [Side note: Perpendicular Buttresses.] + +The buttresses are very similar to those preceding them in their plainer +forms, but, in richer examples the faces are covered with panel work +and are finished with square pinnacles sometimes set diagonally and +terminated with a crocketed spire, or finished with an animal or other +ornament. Parapets with square battlements are very common at this period, +but they too are frequently panelled or pierced with tracery, or with +trefoils or quatrefoils inserted in square, circular or triangular +compartments. + + [Side note: Perpendicular Roofs.] + +The roofs of this period, both in ecclesiastical and secular buildings, +are very magnificent, and have the whole of the framing exposed to view; +many of them are of high pitch, the spaces between the timbers being +filled with tracery, and the beams arched, moulded and ornamented in +various ways; and frequently pendants, figures of angels, and other +carvings are introduced. The flatter roofs are sometimes lined with +boards and divided into panels by ribs, or have the timbers open, and +all enriched with mouldings and carvings, as at Cirencester church, +Gloucestershire. + +The gradual decline of the Gothic style is very evident in late +Perpendicular churches, especially in those erected at the beginning +of the XVIth century. The elements of Gothic architecture became much +degraded and led to that mixture of features called the Debased Gothic +in which every real principle of art and of beauty was lost. + + [Illustration: A Perpendicular Porch. + S. Nicholas, King's Lynn. _Photograph Dexter & Son._] + +The chief characteristics, then, of the Perpendicular style are the +vertical mullions, and the general flattening of arches, mouldings and +carvings. Should there be no other guide, a Perpendicular church carries +its style and period stamped upon its carvings. The plants represented +are, almost without exception, the vine with or without grapes, and +the oak with or without acorns. The leaves are generally full blown and +crumpled. The earliest building showing the Perpendicular style is the +beautiful little priory church of Edington, in Wilts, erected by William +Edington, Bishop of Winchester. The same style, but more fully developed, +is seen in the nave of Winchester Cathedral, at New College, Oxford, and +at Winchester College. + +It is generally admitted that the Perpendicular style was, to a certain +extent, a return to classical ideas, for Gothic architecture in its +aspiring grace and feeling for motion was becoming a little unsteady in +construction, and although the movement was started by Bishop Edington, +it was left to William of Wykeham to save our English Gothic architecture +from developing into the flamboyant[1] style so characteristic of the +late Gothic buildings of France and Germany. + +It is little less than astounding that William of Wykeham, at once Prime +Minister, diplomatist, scholar and energetic churchman, should have found +time to introduce such far-reaching reforms into the art of building, +and whatever his fame may be in other directions he will always be +remembered by posterity as one of the most remarkable geniuses of the +Middle Ages, a man of giant mind and immense physical energy, who +carried into all his work a large and dignified character, stamping it +with the unmistakable personality of a master mind. + + [Side note: Perpendicular Towers.] + +As builders and designers of church towers the masons of the +Perpendicular era have never been approached, and all our finest English +towers are of this style and period. + + [Illustration: A Fine Perpendicular Tower. + St. Mary, Taunton. _Photograph H. Montague Cooper._] + +Considerations of space will only allow a few of these towers to be +mentioned, but among the finest are those at Boston, Lincolnshire; +Wrexham, Denbighshire; Wymondham, Heigham and S. Clement's in Norfolk; +Southwold Church in Suffolk; Manchester Cathedral, S. Nicholas' Church, +Newcastle, and S. Mary's Church, Taunton. Of Perpendicular date and +style, also, are the great lantern towers of Worcester, Bristol, +Gloucester, York and Durham Cathedrals, in addition to the fine +bell-tower of Evesham Abbey. + + [Side note: Perpendicular Spires.] + +The spire, although less commonly used than formerly, was by no means +abandoned, and beautiful examples of Perpendicular spires are those at +S. Michael's, Coventry, and Rotherham Church, Yorkshire. Although +nearly all our cathedrals have some portion of their fabric in the +Perpendicular style, chantries, chapels, cloisters, vaulting, screens, +etc., it was in our parochial churches that Perpendicular architecture +reached its highest and finest development. Just as the XIIIth century +was the great age for cathedral building, so the latter end of the XIVth +and earlier half of the XVth centuries was the period to which we owe +some of the most beautiful of our parish churches, as S. Michael's, +Coventry (fin. 1395); S. Nicholas, Lynn (fin. 1400); Manchester +Cathedral (formerly a collegiate church), (1422); Fotheringay Church, +Northants (fin. 1435); Southwold Church, Suffolk (1440), and S. Mary +Redcliffe, Bristol (about 1442). A little later came, among others, +Wakefield Church, Yorkshire (1470), S. Stephen's, Bristol (1470), S. +Mary's, Oxford, and its namesake at Cambridge (both in 1478) and Long +Melford Church, Suffolk (1481). + +Apart from the actual buildings the Perpendicular architects, masons and +sculptors have left us some beautiful work in the form of timber roofs, +screens, stalls and seats. Among the more notable roofs of this period +are those at S. Peter's, S. Andrew's and S. Mary's, Norwich, the one at +Morton Church in Somerset, those at Saffron Walden and Thaxted, Essex, +and a particularly fine one at S. David's Cathedral in Wales. Among the +remarkable domestic roofs in this style are those at Westminster Hall +and Eltham Palace. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE RENAISSANCE AND LATER. + + +So far we have been considering Gothic churches, but we now come to the +time when, from a variety of causes, the Italian architects, among them +Palladio and Vitruvius, began to revive classical architecture, a +movement which gradually spread over other parts of Europe. + + [Side note: The Classic Revival.] + +The various causes which led to this apparently retrograde movement are +still involved in considerable obscurity. The commercial prosperity of +the age produced a class who travelled abroad and cultivated the fine +arts, with the result that they desired to see erected in England +buildings such as they had seen in Rome, Florence, Genoa and Padua. It +is generally admitted that the ramifications of Gothic architecture had +reached their utmost limit, and the style was getting out of hand, as +is seen by the flamboyant buildings on the continent. The revival of +classical literature in western Europe gave an impetus to the movement +which was largely intended to enfold art within the shelter of an +enlightened taste, and protect it from the licence of unordered +enthusiasm. How far it succeeded is not a question that can be discussed +at length here, but, however good their intentions may have been, the +architects used little discrimination in the selection of buildings +which were to serve as models for Christian churches, and although +subsequently considerable improvements were made, yet, most of the +defects in the pagan buildings of the ancients were retained in such as +were intended to be utilized for Christian worship, and even considered +purely as exercises in architecture it was not until the more chaste +remains of antiquity began to be studied that the spirit and harmony of +the good examples were attained. A greater contrast than the methods +employed by the Gothic mason and the Renaissance architect could not +well be imagined. The former shaped his material with his own hands; the +foster mother of his art was tradition and its cradle the craftsman's +bench; whereas the latter, with no builder's training, worked out his +flawless and precise plans in the exotic atmosphere of the office and +the study. The practice of making working drawings for every detail +of the building was the cause of the decline of ornamental sculpture, +with the result that all life and growth in the building ceased. Some +authorities are very severe on the Renaissance movement. Dr. Fergusson, +in his "_Modern Styles of Architecture_," says: "During the Gothic era +the art of building was evolved by the simple exercise of man's reason, +with the result that the work of this period is the instinctive natural +growth of man's mind. The buildings, on the other hand, which were +designed in the imitative styles, and produced on a totally different +principle, present us with an entirely different result, and one +which frequently degrades architecture from its high position of a +quasi-natural production to that of a mere imitative art." + + [Side note: Inigo Jones and Wren.] + +Be this as it may, the severe classical style introduced into England by +Inigo Jones (who studied in Italy under Palladio), and continued by Sir +Christopher Wren, soon swept everything before it. + +Our most remarkable church in this style is S. Paul's Cathedral, which +in style has two very adverse circumstances to struggle against. In the +first place, it bears so great a similarity to the great church of +S. Peter, at Rome, that one cannot help comparing it with that fine +example, and secondly, it is the only English cathedral which is not in +the Gothic style. It must, of course, be acknowledged that S. Paul's +falls far short of S. Peter's, especially in its lighting, but it does +not deserve the condemnation of a great German critic, who said, "It is +a building marked neither by elegance of form nor vigour of style." +Although the interior of its dome and clerestory of the nave and choir +are extremely gloomy when compared with those of S. Peter's, the church +is generally acknowledged to be far superior to the latter in its +architectural details, and few, if any, Italian churches can be said to +surpass it, either in general composition or external effect, although +it must be admitted that everything having been sacrificed to attain the +latter quality, S. Paul's taken as a whole, is neither worthy of its +fine situation nor of its great architect. + +Other churches which are excellent examples of this style are S. +Stephen's, Walbrook, and S. Mary Abchurch, London. Both show remarkable +skill. The former is divided into a nave and four aisles, transepts, and +a shallow chancel, by four rows of Corinthian columns, with a small dome +over the intersection. The interior is very beautiful, and this church +is generally considered to be Wren's masterpiece. S. Mary Abchurch, is +nearly square in plan, has no columns and is covered with a domical +ceiling, but so skilfully treated that the effect is singularly +pleasing. + + [Side note: Hawkesmore.] + +Of the Elizabethan and Jacobean buildings it is necessary to say little, +as at best they are but clumsy imitations of the Flemish, French and +Italian Renaissance, while the style which we now call Queen Anne came +in towards the close of the XVIIth century, and belongs of right to the +reign of Charles II. Hawkesmore, a pupil and follower of Wren, was a +strong architect who has left us Christ Church, Spitalfields, and S. +Mary Woolnoth. He also designed the western towers of Westminster Abbey, +often wrongly ascribed to Wren, and the second quadrangle of All Souls' +College, Oxford. This architect, like the majority of his contemporaries, +misunderstood and despised the Gothic style, with which he had little +real sympathy; he drew out designs, which still exist, for converting +Westminster Abbey into an Italian church, just as Inigo Jones had done +with the exterior of the nave of old S. Paul's, but we cannot be too +thankful that this abominable suggestion was never carried out. + + [Illustration: An English Renaissance Church. + S. Stephen's, Walbrook, London. Generally considered to be + Sir Christopher Wren's masterpiece. _From an Engraving dated 1806._] + +With King George III. on the throne our ancestors contented themselves +with dull, but substantial, buildings of which some hard things have +been written, but they were at least respectable and free from sham, +while the churches, although not elegant, were well-built and occasionally +picturesque, as we see by the perfect little building of this date at +Billesley, Warwickshire. + +The eighteenth century pseudo-classical abominations and sham Gothic, so +favoured by Horace Walpole and his admirers, can be briefly dismissed. +A more rampant piece of absurdity than that of erecting imitations of +portions of Greek temples and adapting them for Christian worship it +is difficult to imagine, and in the Pavilion at Brighton, Marylebone +Church, and the "Extinguisher" Church in Langham Place we even surpassed +in bad taste and vulgarity all the absurdities of the Continental +architecture produced by the French Revolution. + + [Side note: Barry and Pugin.] + +Two men now came on the scene who, united, were destined to bring some +kind of order out of this chaos. Barry and Pugin were both scholars and +architects, for while the former rather favoured the classical style he +thoroughly understood the Gothic, while Pugin was a thorough mediævalist, +a true artist, and a bold exponent in his "_Contrasts_" of a complete +return to mediæval architecture as the only possible cure for the evils +which had crept into the art of building. + +Barry's idea, which was perhaps the more practical, was to correct by +careful study the errors into which the later exponents of both Classic +and Gothic architecture had fallen, and endeavour by well thought out +modifications to evolve a style more suitable to modern requirements. +Pugin, however, would have none of the evil thing, and although he +supplied his friend with designs for the details and woodwork of the +Houses of Parliament which Barry was rebuilding, they did not collaborate +in any further way, and both died before the Houses of Parliament +were completed, in which, as a matter of fact, Barry's designs were +completely ignored. The Reform Club is considered to be the best of +Barry's classical buildings. + +Pugin's earlier works were mostly Roman Catholic churches, and they are +acknowledged to be an immense advance on any Gothic work which had been +seen for centuries. In the Roman Catholic Cathedral of S. Chad, at +Birmingham, there is a dignity, loftiness and simplicity surpassed by +few Gothic buildings when that style was at its zenith, and from the +time Pugin designed this building, architecture--notwithstanding our +exhaustive study of archæology, our immense resources of capital and +labour, our science and labour-saving appliances, and the comparative +accessibility of the finest materials--has neither developed nor advanced. +The most erudite Gothic mason could have possessed but little art +knowledge as compared with the modern architect, and yet with our +learned societies, wonderful libraries, easily obtained photographs and +plans of the best buildings in the world; with writers far superior in +intellectual acquirements to those of the Middle Ages, our vast wealth, +with our tools such as the mediæval craftsman could never have dreamed +of, and with the experience of twenty centuries to guide us we have +made no advance during more than half a century. Our best architects +acknowledge that until we get a new method of building, originality in +architecture is an impossibility, mainly because all the existing styles +of architecture have been worked out to their legitimate conclusion, +and have been perfected under circumstances and conditions with which +we have entirely broken; the originality in detail which pervades and +permeates our Gothic buildings and gives them the greater part of their +charm, must, of necessity, be out of our reach until we blend the spirit +of what we are pleased to call our practical age, with a certain amount +of that spirit of poetry and romance, religious fervour and devoutness, +which animated the builders and craftsmen of the past. + + + [Illustration: A Typical Cornish Font. + Probably of the late Norman period. Now at Maker, near Plymouth.] + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +CHURCH FURNITURE AND ORNAMENTS. + + +The most important part of the internal furniture of a church is the +altar, a name derived from the Latin _altare_, a high place. The altar +is a raised structure on which propitiatory offerings are placed. In the +Christian church the altar is a table or slab on which the instruments +of the Eucharist are displayed. + + [Side note: The Altar.] + +The early Christian altars were portable structures of wood, and the +Church of Rome still allows the use of an altar of this description, +although a consecrated stone, containing an authentic relic and regarded +as the true altar, must be placed upon the wooden table. The slab +forming the altar was sometimes supported on pillars, but more +frequently on solid masonry, and previous to the Reformation it was +marked with five crosses cut into the top, in allusion to the five +wounds of Christ. From the period that stone altars were introduced it +was usual to enclose within them the relics of saints, so that in some +cases they were the actual tombs of saints. In England the altars were +generally taken down about the year 1550, set up again in the beginning +of the reign of Queen Mary, and again removed in the second year of +Queen Elizabeth. In the church of Porlock, Somerset, the original high +altar has been preserved, though not in use, being placed against the +north wall of the chancel. In Dunster Church, in the same county, there +is a solid stone altar, said to have been the original high altar, and +in the ruined church of S. Mary Magdalene at Ripon, the high altar has +escaped destruction. Of chantry altars we have several left, including +those at Abbey Dore, Herefordshire; Grosmont, Monmouthshire; Chipping +Norton, Oxon.; Warmington, Warwick; S. Giles's, Oxford; Lincoln +Cathedral, and many others; and it is rare to find a Gothic church +without some traces of altars in their various chapels, oratories or +chantries. + +The altar is, of course, an adoption by the Christian church of a pagan +aid to worship, and at S. Mary's church, Wareham, which is thought to +stand on the site of a Roman temple, are some pieces of stone considered +by antiquaries to be portions of a pagan altar, on which burnt offerings +were placed. + +Above many Christian altars was placed a piece of sculpture or a +painting representing some religious subject. These altar pieces +sometimes consist of two pictures, when they are called "diptyches," and +sometimes of three pictures, when they are called "triptyches," and +both forms usually fold up or are provided with shutters. They are often +rare examples of the Flemish and other schools of painting, and of great +value. + +At the Reformation the stone altar was displaced by the communion table, +which at first occupied the position vacated by the altar. This gave +umbrage to the Puritan mind, and the communion table was then usually +placed in the centre of the chancel, with seats all round for the +communicants; which arrangement is still in vogue in some of our English +churches and in Jersey, although at the Restoration the communion table +was, as a general rule, replaced at the eastern wall of the Chancel. + + [Illustration: _Durham Sanctuary Knocker._] + +Long before the Christian era the altar was regarded as a place of +refuge for those fleeing from justice or oppression, and this custom or +privilege of sanctuary was sanctioned by the English bishops and was +retained for many centuries by the Christian Church. Many of our parish +churches claim to possess old sanctuary rings or knockers, but it is +doubtful if any of these were ever used by fugitives, for the reason +that although in early days every parish church had the right to grant +sanctuary, few possessed the means of feeding and housing a refugee, +save in the church itself, which was expressly forbidden. This is why +we find records of fugitives travelling many miles at the risk of their +lives and passing hundreds of parish churches in their endeavour to reach +Bury St. Edmunds, Hexham, Durham or some other of the well-recognised +sanctuaries. The only sanctuary knocker remaining to-day, which is +above suspicion, is that at Durham Cathedral. It is made of bronze and +represents the grotesque head of a dragon, the ring coming from the +mouth. + + [Illustration: The Baptistery in Luton Church. + _Photograph Fredk. Thurston, F.R.P.S._] + +Above the door is a small room in which attendants watched by +day and night, and when a fugitive was admitted a bell was rung to +announce that someone had taken sanctuary. + + [Side note: The Font.] + +The font, as we have seen, was originally placed in a separate building +called the baptistery. The only known example of anything of the kind +in England is that in S. Mary's Church, Luton, fully described in The +Homeland Handbook, No. 47. It is in the Decorated style, dates from the +time of Edward III., and is said to have been designed by William of +Wykeham for Queen Philippa. It is composed of white stone with open +panels, pierced by cinquefoils and quatrefoils, while the apex of each +panel terminates in a foliated finial. The font inside is octagonal +in form and of 13th century date, but it has been somewhat restored. +Ancient fonts were always large enough to allow for total immersion, +and our present custom of baptism by affusion, or sprinkling, is only +permitted, not enjoined by the rubric. In early days the sacrament of +baptism was only administered by the bishops at the great festivals of +Pentecost and Easter, for the reason that this afforded the greater +convenience for immediate confirmation, but with the increase in the +number of churches the rite was administered by the priests in every +village. The font was required by the canon to be of stone, but there +are a few Norman fonts made of lead, among them those at S. Mary's +Church, Wareham, Walton-on-the-Hill, Surrey, and at Edburton, Parham, +and Pyecombe, Sussex. A remarkable font is that at Dolton Church, Devon, +made up of fragments of the churchyard cross, and there is also a +somewhat similar one at Melbury Bubb, Dorset. By a constitution of +Edmund, Archbishop of Canterbury (1236), fonts were required to be +covered and locked, and at first these covers were little more than +plain lids, but they afterwards became highly ornamental and were +enriched with buttresses, pinnacles, crockets, etc. It is doubtful if +any fonts exist which can reasonably be supposed to be Saxon, although +a few, like that at Little Billing, Northants, may possibly be of that +era. Of Norman fonts we have large numbers. They are sometimes plain +hollow cylinders; others are massive squares with a large pillar in +the centre, and small shafts at the corners. These fonts are generally +ornamented with rudely executed carvings, consisting of foliage and +grotesque animals. + + + [Illustration: An Example of a Leaden Font of the late Norman period. + Walton-on-the-Hill, Surrey.] + +The one in Winchester Cathedral is a good example, and there are three +other very similar ones in Hampshire. Early English fonts are very often +circular, and sometimes square, and they are often supported in much the +same way as the Norman ones. In the Decorated and Perpendicular styles +they are, with few exceptions, octagonal, and the details generally +partake of the character of those used in the other architectural features +of the period. There are hexagonal fonts of Decorated date at Rolvenden, +Kent, and Heckington, Lincs. The font is usually placed close to a pillar +near the entrance, generally that nearest but one to the tower in the +south arcade, or, in larger buildings, in the middle of the nave. + + [Side note: Stoups.] + +The holy-water stoups sometimes found in our old churches are generally +small niches with stone basins formed in the wall either in or just +outside the porch, or within the church close to the door, or in one of +the pillars nearest to the door. These niches resemble piscinas, except +that they differ in situation, are smaller and plainer, and rarely have +a drain. A good example of an outside stoup is that at Broadmayne, +Dorset, where there is also one inside the church. They are rarely found +unmutilated, but there is one in perfect condition in the north porch of +Thornham Church, Kent; and a rather elaborate example at Pylle Church, +near Glastonbury. + + [Illustration: A Reputed Saxon Font. Shaldon, Devon.] + +The piscina is a water-drain formerly placed near the altar and +consisting of a shallow stone basin, or sink, with a drain to carry off +whatever is poured into it. + + [Side note: Piscinas.] + +It was used to receive the water in which the priest washed his hands, +as well as for that with which the chalice was rinsed at the celebration +of the mass. It was usually placed within a niche, although the basin +often projects from the face of the wall, and is sometimes supported +on a shaft rising from the floor. In the Early English and Decorated +periods there are often two basins and two drains, and occasionally +three. Within the niche a wooden or stone shelf is often found, called +a credence-table, on which the sacred vessels were placed previous to +their being required at the altar. + + [Illustration: A Detached Holy-water Stoup of unusual design. + Wooton Courtenay, Som.] + +Piscinas are unknown in England of earlier date than the middle of the +12th century, and of that date they are extremely rare. Of thirteenth +and succeeding centuries we have many examples, more or less mutilated. +Their forms and decorations are very various, but the character of their +architectural features will always decide their approximate date. + + [Side note: Sedilia.] + +The Sedilia, from the Latin _sedile_, a seat, has come to be applied in +modern times to the seats used by the celebrants during the pauses in +the mass. They were sometimes moveable, but more usually in this country +were formed of masonry and recessed in the wall. They are generally three +in number, for the priest, deacon and sub-deacon, while in a few rare +instances they number four seats, as at Rothwell Church, Northants, and +Furness Abbey; or even five, as at Southwell Minster. Sometimes a long +single seat under one arch is found, and when three seats are used the +two western ones are often on the same level and the eastern one raised +above them. Numerous examples remain in our churches, some being as +early as the latter part of the 12th century, but they are mostly later +and extend to the end of the Perpendicular style. Some of them are +separated by shafts, and profusely ornamented with panelling, niches, +statues, pinnacles, tabernacle work, and crowned with canopies all more +or less elaborately enriched. + + [Side note: Stalls.] + +Stalls are fixed seats in the choir, either wholly or partially enclosed +and used by the clergy. Previous to the Reformation all large and many +small churches had a range of wooden stalls on each side and at the west +end of the choir. In cathedrals they were enclosed at the back with +panelling, and surmounted by overhanging canopies of tabernacle work, +generally of oak, of which those at Winchester, Henry VII.'s Chapel at +Westminster, and Manchester Cathedral are possibly our finest examples. +When the stalls occupied both sides of the choir, return seats were +placed at the ends for the prior, dean, precentor, and other of the +officiating clergy. + + [Illustration: Sedilia and Chantry. Luton, Beds. + _Photograph Fredk. Thurston, F.R.P.S._] + +Mr. Parker, in his "_Glossary of Architecture_," gives the following +definition of the miserere, patience or pretella. "The projecting bracket +on the underside of the seats of stalls in churches; these, when perfect, +are fixed with hinges so they may be turned up, and when this is done the +projection of the miserere is sufficient, without actually forming a +seat, to afford very considerable rest to anyone leaning upon it. They +were allowed as a relief to the infirm during the long services that +were required to be performed by ecclesiastics in a standing posture." +It is in the carving of these that one is frequently struck by the +curious mixture of the sacred and the profane, the refined and the +vulgar, for which it is difficult to find any adequate explanation. Of +so coarse a nature are some of these carvings that it has been necessary +to entirely remove them from the stalls. They are usually attributed to +the mendicant and wandering monks, and they undoubtedly reflect the +licentiousness which at one time pervaded the monastic and conventual +establishments. Among our best examples are those at Christchurch +Priory, Hants, and in Henry VII.'s Chapel. There is a remarkably +complete set in Exeter Cathedral. + + [Illustration: A Typical Somerset Bench-End. + Showing a Fuller at work with the implements of his trade. Spaxton. + _Photograph Mr. Page._] + +Of modern pews it is not necessary to say anything here, but previous +to the Reformation the nave of a church was usually fitted with fixed +seats, parted from each other by wainscoting, and partially enclosed at +the ends by framed panelling, but more often by solid pieces of wood, +either panelled or carved on the front. These bench-ends are very common +in the West of England, in Somerset and Devon, and they are often very +beautiful pieces of work and were in all probability executed by local +craftsmen. They embrace a variety of subjects: figures, scrolls, dragons, +serpents, etc., and frequently bear the arms of the family who owned the +pew. Sometimes they terminate at the top with finials either in the form +of heads, bunches of foliage, a chamfered _fleur-de-lys_ and a variety +of other ornaments called Poppy-heads, from the French _Poupée_. No +examples are known to exist earlier than the Decorated style, but of +Perpendicular date specimens are very numerous, especially in our +cathedrals and old abbey churches. + + [Side note: Pulpits.] + +Pulpits were formerly placed, not only in churches, but in the +refectories and occasionally in the cloisters of monasteries, and there +is one in the outer court of Magdalen College, Oxford, and another at +Shrewsbury. In former times pulpits were placed in the nave attached +to a wall, pillar or screen, usually against the second pier from the +chancel arch. Some are of wood, others of stone; the former are mostly +polygonal, with the panels enriched with foliation or tracery. Few exist +of earlier date than the Perpendicular style, but stone pulpits of +Decorated date are sometimes met with as at Beaulieu, Hants, a very +early specimen. Wooden pulpits are usually hexagonal or octagonal; some +stand on slender wooden stems, others on stone bases. A few have canopies +or sounding boards, and their dates can be fixed by the character of +their ornamentation. At Kenton, Devon, there is an early pulpit which +has retained its original paintings. Jacobean pulpits are very numerous, +and are frequently gilded and painted; the one at S. Saviour's Church, +Dartmouth, being a most elaborate example. + + [Illustration: A Richly Carved Pulpit and Canopy. + Edlesborough, Bucks. _Photograph H. A. Strange._] + +Open-air preaching is anything but a modern invention, for long before +the erection of parish churches it was the recognised method of addressing +the people. There is a print of some popular bishop preaching in a +pulpit at Paul's Cross in S. Paul's Churchyard, and in mediæval days +open-air pulpits were erected near the roads, on bridges and often on +the steps of the market crosses, which are often still known as +preaching crosses. + + [Side note: Squints.] + +In some of our churches is to be seen a squint, an opening in an oblique +direction through a wall or pier for the purpose of enabling persons in +the aisles or transepts to see the elevation of the Host at the high +altar. They are of frequent occurrence in our churches and are very +numerous in the neighbourhood of Tenby, South Wales, also in Devon and +the West generally. They are usually without any ornament, but are +sometimes arched and enriched with tracery. They are mostly found on one +or both sides of the chancel arch, but they sometimes occur in rooms +above porches, in side-chapels and the like; in every instance they were +so situated that the altar could be seen. When they occur in porches or +the rooms above they are thought to have been for the use of the acolyte +appointed to ring the sanctus bell, who, viewing the performance of mass, +would be thus able to sound the bell at the proper time. The name +hagioscope has been used to describe these oblique openings. + +Cruciform marks are sometimes found on our churches, often on a stone in +the porch; they are usually incised crosses or five dots in the form of +a cross. They were, presumably, cut by the bishop when the building was +consecrated, and are called consecration crosses. + + [Side note: Screens.] + +The rood-screens, separating the chancel or choir of a church from the +nave, usually supported the great Rood or Crucifix, not actually on the +screen itself, but on a beam called the rood-beam, or by a gallery +called the rood-loft, which last was approached from the inside of the +church, by a small stone staircase in the wall, as can be seen in many +of our churches to-day. Although rood-lofts have been generally destroyed +in England, some beautiful examples remain at Long Sutton, Barnwell, +Dunster and Minehead, Somerset; Kemsing, Kent; Newark, Nottingham; +Uffendon, Collumpton, Dartmouth, Kenton, Plymtree and Hartland, Devon. +The general construction of wooden screens is close panelling below, +from which rise tall slender balusters, or wooden mullions supporting +tracery rich with cornices and crestings, frequently painted and gilded. +The lower panels often depict saints and martyrs. From the top of the +screen certain parts of the services and the lessons were read. They +were occasionally close together and glazed, as we see by a most beautiful +example at Charlton-on-Otmoor, in Oxfordshire. These screens, many of +which have been over-restored, are very common, and in addition to those +above mentioned, are found at S. Mary's, Stamford, Ottery S. Mary, +Chudleigh, Bovey, and in nearly all the Devon parish churches. At +Dunstable a screen of Queen Mary's time separates the vestry from the +chancel. + + [Illustration: Screen with Rood Loft. + Kenton, Devon. _Photograph by Chapman._] + +Of stone screens space will permit of only the briefest mention. They +were used in various situations, to enclose tombs and to separate +chapels, and occasionally the rood-screen was of stone. + + [Illustration: The Carved Oak Balustrade in Compton Church. + Held to be the oldest existing piece of carved woodwork in England.] + +The oldest piece of screen work in this country is that at Compton +Church, Surrey; it is of wood and shows the transition from the Norman +to the Early English styles. Stone screens are often massive structures +enriched with niches, statues, tabernacles, pinnacles, crestings, etc., +as those at Canterbury, York and Gloucester. + + [Side note: The Reredos.] + +The reredos forms no part of the altar, and is often highly enriched +with niches, buttresses, pinnacles, and other ornaments. Not infrequently +it extends across the whole breadth of the church, and is sometimes +carried nearly up to the roof, as at S. Alban's Abbey, Durham and +Gloucester Cathedrals, S. Saviour's, Southwark and in that remarkably +fine example at Christchurch, Hants. In village churches they are mostly +very simple, and generally have no ornaments formed in the wall, though +niches and corbels are sometimes provided to carry images, and that part +of the wall immediately over the altar is panelled, as at S. Michael's, +Oxford; Solihull, Warwickshire; Euston and Hanwell, Oxfordshire, etc. + +It is interesting to note that the open fire-hearth, once used in +domestic halls, was also called a "reredos." + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +BELLS AND BELFRIES. + + +The history of bells is lost in antiquity, and little is known about +them previous to the XVth century. It is probable, however, that they +were used in India and China centuries before they reached Europe. + +Bells were used by the Romans for many secular purposes, and although +their use was sanctioned by the Christian Church about 400 A.D., they +were not in general use in England until 650 A.D. + +The earliest bells were hand bells, quadrangular in shape, and made of +thin plates of copper or iron riveted together, and their abominable +sound when struck must have been one of their chief merits, as the early +bells were much used for the purpose of frightening the devil and other +evil spirits. + +Our oldest bells are hand bells, S. Patrick's bell at Belfast (1091) and +S. Ninian's bell at Edinburgh, which is probably of even earlier date. +From 1550 to 1750 was the golden age of production for bells, more +especially so in Belgium and the Low Countries, where the bells of the +towers and belfries were rung to arouse the country in times of danger +and invasion. It is quite possible that the bells used for secular and +religious purposes were kept distinct. Bells played a very important +part in mediæval life, and next to cannon were regarded as the chief +city guardians, for he who held the bells held the town, and the first +thing done by the invader on taking a town was to melt the bells and +thus destroy the means of communicating an alarm. + +In England our old towns, being almost entirely constructed of wood, +were liable to periodic and devastating conflagrations, which fact +suggested to that genius, William the Conqueror, the institution of +Couvre-feu, or in its more popular form, Curfew, which rang at eight +o'clock in the evening, when all lights were to be extinguished. The +ringing of curfew has survived in many of our towns and villages to this +day, but it is doubtful if the custom has been continuous from its first +institution. + +The secular use of the bell is, however, only incidental, and it is in +its connection with religious life that we are now concerned, for all +church history, church doctrine and church custom and observances are +set to bell music. Bells in fact may be said to sum up the short span of +our mortal life, for the birthday, the wedding and the funeral, are all +welded to religion by the church bell. + +Bells were used for ecclesiastical purposes in England long before the +erection of our parish churches, for Bede, speaking of the death of S. +Hilda, A.D. 680, says that "one of the sisters in the distant monastery +of Hackness, thought she heard as she slept, the sound of the bell which +called them to prayers," and Turketul gave to Croyland Abbey a great +bell called Guthlac, and afterwards six others which he called Bartholomew +and Betelin, Turketul and Tatwin, and Pega and Bega. + +S. Dunstan gave bells to many of the churches in Somerset, and he also +seems to have introduced bell ringing into the monasteries. + +A few words may be of interest concerning the number and purposes of +these monastic bells, with which the life of the monks must have been +completely bound up. The _Signum_ woke up the whole community at +day-break. The _Squilla_ announced the frugal meal in the refectory; but +for those working in the gardens, the cloister-bell, or _Campanella_, +was rung. The abbot's _Cordon_, or handbell, summoned the brothers and +novices to their Superior; whilst the _Petasius_ was used to call in +those working at a distance from the main building. At bed-time the +_Tiniolum_ was sounded, and the _Noctula_ was rung at intervals throughout +the night to call the monks to watch and pray. The _Corrigiumcula_ was +the scourging bell, while the sweet-toned _Nota_, a choir bell, was rung +at the consecration of the elements. + +The use of the bell-tower was recognised in the ancient Saxon law, which +gave the title of thane to anyone who had a church with a bell-tower on +his estate, and two of our most interesting Saxon churches, Brixworth +and Brigstock, both in Northamptonshire, have each a semi-circular tower +rising together with the bell-tower, and forming a staircase to it. + +One of the most beautiful campaniles or bell-towers still standing +is that at Evesham, in Worcestershire, which is a good specimen of +Perpendicular architecture. It was built by Abbot Lichfield, the last +abbot but one of the abbey, and took six years in building, and was not +quite completed when the famous abbey, of which it was a final ornament, +was pulled down. + +In addition to this example at Evesham, detached bell-towers exist, or +once existed, at Chichester, East Dereham, Glastonbury Abbey, Bruton, in +Somerset, and in several other places. + +Markland, in his _Remarks on Churches_, says: "The great bell-tower +which once formed part of the abbey church of S. Edmundsbury was +commenced about 1436. From the year 1441 to 1500 legacies were still +being given towards the building. In 1461 an individual, probably a +benefactor, desired to be buried _in magno ostio novi campanilis_." + +In Protestant use church bells have been stripped of much of the former +superstition and symbolism. They are no longer rung to announce the +miracle of transubstantiation; neither are they called upon as of old +for the purpose of scaring devils, demons, and other evil spirits which +formed so prominent a feature in the faith of the early Christian +communities. + + [Illustration: Bell Turret for 3 Bells. Radipole, Dorset.] + +Closely connected with the subject of bells and belfries are the +bell-gables or bell-turrets, so frequently found at the west ends of +our smaller churches which have no towers. They usually contain but one +bell, but are sometimes found with two, and at Radipole Church, near +Weymouth, the bell-turret was originally designed to carry three bells. +They are generally most picturesque little features of which a few may +be of Norman date, but by far the greater number of them are Early +English, a style in which they are frequently found. In addition to +these bell-turrets at the western ends of our churches one sometimes +finds a similar, but smaller, erection at the eastern end of the roof of +the nave, but used for a very different purpose, for while the bell at +the western end was rung to summon the parishioners to service, that at +the eastern end, known as the Sanctus or Mass-bell, was rung on the +elevation of the Host during the celebration of mass; although usually +placed on the apex of the roof, this bell sometimes occupied a position +in the lantern or tower, or in a turret of larger dimensions. In churches +where no turret existed it was carried in the hand, and such is now the +prevailing practice on the continent. The turret for the Sanctus bell +still exists at Barnstaple, Devon, and St. Peter Port, Guernsey. The +Sanctus bell was generally made of silver, and occasionally a number of +little bells were hung in the middle of the church, and by means of a +wheel they were all made to ring at once. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE SPIRE; ITS ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT. + + +Probably the most beautiful feature of a Gothic church is the spire, +raising its tapering form far above the town or village and forming a +prominent landmark, denoting the location of the House of God. Although +found occasionally in other styles, the spire is essentially Gothic, and +one of the most marked characteristics of this period. Spires are +generally of two kinds, those constructed of timber and covered with +slates, lead, tiles or shingles, and those built of stone or brick. +Examples of both kinds are very numerous on the continent and in +England, while shingle spires are especially common in Sussex. + +The spire is generally acknowledged to have originated from the small +pyramidal roof so frequently found on Saxon and Norman towers. This +gradually became elongated, and the towers were sometimes gabled on each +side, as is the case with the remarkable Saxon church at Sompting, Sussex. +This shows us very clearly the angles of the spire resting upon the apex +of each gable, so that the spire itself is set obliquely to the square +of the tower. + + [Illustration: The best example of a Saxon Spire or Pyramidal Roof. + Sompting, Sussex. _Drawn by George Pearl._] + +Saxon and Norman spires are very rare in England, Sompting being our +best example of the former and those on the eastern transepts of +Canterbury Cathedral of the latter. + +Of Early English spires we have, fortunately, some good examples, among +which are those at Oxford Cathedral, Wilford and Wansted, in the same +county, and a very graceful one at Leighton Buzzard. These 13th century +spires are very common in France, as at Chartres and S. Pierre, Caen. + + [Illustration: Leighton Buzzard Church. + With Early English Tower and Spire. _Photograph H. A. Strange._] + +Of fourteenth century, or Decorated, spires, we have many examples, of +which perhaps the best is the beautiful spire of Salisbury Cathedral, +although the equally fine one at S. Mary's, Oxford, runs it close for +premier position. The triple group at Lichfield Cathedral belong to this +period, as do the spires of Ross, Heckington, Grantham, S. Mary's, +Newark, King's Sutton, Bloxham and Snettisham, Norfolk. A peculiarity of +the Salisbury spire is that it never formed part of the original design +of the cathedral, being added seventy years later. It is the loftiest +spire in England--404 feet--about 40 ft. higher than the cross of +S. Paul's. It speaks well for the Gothic builders that such a vast +superstructure as this tower and spire could be imposed upon walls and +piers never intended to bear it. At an early period it was found to have +deflected twenty-three inches from the perpendicular, but there has been +no sign of any further movement. Barnack Church, in Northamptonshire, +has a curious spire showing the transition from Norman to Early English. + +It will be noticed that the sides of a church spire are slightly curved, +so that they swell out a little in the centre. This is called the +entasis of the spire, and belongs to the study of optics in architecture. +Where the spire has no entasis the same effect is produced by the +introduction of small projecting gables, bands of carving, or a little +coronal of pinnacles. + +One of the most clearly marked differences between English and continental +spires is that the latter are much shorter than the towers which support +them, the towers, as a rule, being twice as high as the spires. In +England, on the contrary, the spire is generally very much loftier +than the tower. At Shottesbrook, Berks, and Ledbury, Herefordshire, the +spires occupy as much as three-fifths of the total elevation, and the +usual rule in England is for the tower to be a little less in height +than the spire. + +The masons lavished an extraordinary amount of care and skill on their +spires. So much is this the case that there is hardly a mediæval spire +in the country which can be called ill-designed or displeasing. + +Church spires are very common in some counties and very rare in others. +There are, of course, exceptions, but it is in the flat counties that +spires are most frequent, the most beautiful ones being found in +Northamptonshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Warwickshire, +Staffordshire, Nottinghamshire and Oxfordshire. + +The top of the spire is usually capped with a weather vane terminating +in a cock. The custom of using a cock as the flag of the vane is of very +early date, for Wolfstan, in his Life of S. Ethelwold, written towards +the end of the 10th century, speaks of one which surmounted Winchester +Cathedral. In the Bayeux Tapestry one is shown on the gable of Westminster +Abbey, and one of the early Popes ordained that every church under the +papal jurisdiction should be surmounted by a cock as emblematical of the +sovereignty of the church over the whole world. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +STAINED GLASS. + + +The use of coloured glass in the windows of buildings devoted to +religious purposes appears to have been employed as early as the ninth +century, but no examples remain of anything like so old a date, and we +have only illuminated missals and primitive drawings by members of the +conventual bodies to guide us in determining the earliest styles of +coloured glazing. It appears to have consisted of more or less primitive +representations of the human form, with strong black lines to indicate +the features and folds of the drapery. The backgrounds were generally +masses of deep blue or red, and in the rare instances where landscapes +were introduced positive colours only appear to have been used. Our +oldest specimens in England are those in the choir aisles of Canterbury +Cathedral, which appear to be of the 12th century, and it is thought +that they are the remains of the original glazing that was put in when +this part of the building was rebuilt after a fire in 1174. The general +design is composed of panels of various forms, in which are depicted +subjects from Holy Scripture, with backgrounds of deep blue or red; the +spaces between the panels are filled with mosaic patterns in which blue +and red colours predominate, and the whole design is framed in an +elaborate border of leaves and scroll-work in brilliant colours. + + [Illustration: A Parish Church with a Shingle Broach Spire. + (_See page 99_). Edenbridge, Kent. _Homeland Copyright._] + +Of thirteenth century windows we have some magnificent examples +--unfortunately few unmutilated--as at York, where is the five-light +lancet window situated in the north end of the transept, known as the +Five Sisters of York. Of this date, also, are the large circular window +of Lincoln Cathedral, and the windows at Chetwode, Bucks; Westwell, +Kent; West Horsley, Surrey; and Beckett's Crown, Canterbury. + +A little later, in the Decorated period, we get the great east window +of York Cathedral, 75 ft. high and 32 ft. broad; the east window of +Gloucester Cathedral, 72 ft. high and 38 ft. broad; and other fine +windows at Tewkesbury Abbey; Merton College, Oxford; Wroxhall +Abbey, Warwickshire; and the churches of Chartham, Kent; Stanford, +Leicestershire; Ashchurch, Glous.; Cranley, Surrey; Norbury, Derbyshire, +and others. Salisbury Cathedral has retained portions, but very lovely +portions, of the glazing of its west windows, and enough is left to show +that it was little inferior to the great windows of York and Gloucester. +Carlisle Cathedral, too, has preserved fragments of the original glass +in the tracery of the great east window, but the lower part of the +glazing is modern. Windows in the Decorated style continued to be +arranged in panels, with the spaces between them filled with flowing +patterns of foliage, in which the vine and ivy leaves predominate. +Single figures are more common than in the previous style, and when used +are generally shown beneath a simple pediment or canopy. In the early +examples they only occupy a portion of the window light, but later they +are found occupying nearly the whole of the surface and are surmounted +by large and elaborate canopies. Quarries are much used in this style, +sometimes quite plain, but more often with leaves or rosettes painted on +them in black lines, or painted with the vine and ivy leaves so arranged +that they form a repeating pattern over the whole window. At this +period, too, heraldry began to be employed in the decoration of the +windows to which it is always an appropriate and artistic adjunct, and +many authentic and valuable examples of our national heraldry have thus +been preserved for posterity. + +With the advent of the Perpendicular style the glazing became more +uniform in character, the glass was thinner and lighter, the tints +paler, and the whole effect more brilliant and transparent. The +paintings for the most part consist of large figures under elaborate +canopies, frequently occupying an entire light, and in the patterns and +smaller decorations there is a greater freedom of design, and the whole +treatment is more harmonious and artistic than in any other period. The +use of heraldry became very common, and inscriptions on long narrow +scrolls were frequently employed. Among the best examples of this period +are the windows at S. Margaret's Church, Westminster; King's College +Chapel, Cambridge; Fairford Church, Gloucestershire; and Morley Church, +Derbyshire. + +The Reformation, with its vast social and political upheaval, was not +conducive to the encouragement of the fine arts, and from this period +the art of glazing in England declined beyond measure, and was not the +only art that received its death-blow in the triumph of Puritanism. The +art has, however, revived greatly during recent years, thanks, among +other artists, to William Morris and Burne-Jones. A few words must +be said about the "Jesse" window found in some of our cathedrals and +churches. Strictly speaking, it is a representation of the genealogy of +Christ, in which the different persons forming the descent are placed on +scrolls of foliage branching out of each other, intended to represent a +tree. It was also wrought into a branched candlestick, thence called a +Jesse, a common piece of furniture in ancient churches. The subject is +found on a window at Llanrhaiadr y Kinmerch, Denbighshire, on the stone +work of one of the chancel windows at Dorchester Church, Oxfordshire, +and in carved stone on the reredos of Christchurch Priory, Hants. + +It is not perhaps generally known that the actual colours used in early +stained glass possessed each of them their own specific symbolism. +Underlying the obvious story conveyed by the human figures or decorated +devices, there was an inner story to be read with profit by those who +understood the mystic symbolism concerning colours. Without entering at +length into this interesting subject, it may yet be stated that green +was the symbol of Regeneration, red of Divine Love, white of Divine +Wisdom, yellow of Faith, and grey, or a mixture of black and white, the +emblem of Terrestrial Death and Spiritual Immortality. These colours at +different times or in different countries had other meanings as well, +and ecclesiologists tell us that the colours chosen for depicting the +robes of our Lord differ according to the period of His life which it +was intended to represent. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +CRYPTS. + + +The crypts so generally found beneath our cathedrals and abbeys, and so +frequently under our churches, rarely extend beyond the choir or chancel +and its aisles, and are sometimes of very small dimensions. They are +often coeval with the upper parts of the building, and although not so +elaborate in ornamentation as the fabric they support, they are almost +without exception well constructed and well finished pieces of building. +In some cases the crypt is of much older date than any portion of +the superstructure, as is the case at York, Worcester and Rochester +cathedrals. During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries the roofs were +often richly groined, and upheld by cylindrical columns or clustered +piers, and furnished with handsome bases and decorated capitals. There +is abundant evidence that crypts were at one time furnished with altars, +piscinas, and the various fittings requisite for the celebration of the +mass, and they were used as sepulchres, wherein the shrines of relics +and martyrs were carefully preserved. Some authorities claim a purely +Saxon origin for the crypts at Ripon Cathedral, Hexham Abbey, and Repton +Church, Derbyshire. The Ripon example is a plain barrel-vaulted chamber, +about 11 ft. long and 8 ft. wide, with no pillars or ornament of any +kind. It is popularly known as S. Wilfrid's Needle, but the exact origin +of the name is lost in obscurity. The Hexham crypt is very similar in +character, but is somewhat longer, being more than 13 ft. long and 8 ft. +wide. As at Ripon, there are hollows or shallow niches in the walls in +which lamps may possibly have been placed. The third reputed Saxon crypt +is that at Repton, but it has little in common with the other two, its +superficial area being nearly twice as great and the roof is supported +on four columns, with plain square capitals rudely carved, and bearing +much similarity to early Norman work. + +The position of the crypt varies. At Beverley Minster it is on the +south side of the south-west tower; in Hereford Cathedral it is under a +side chapel, while at Lastingham, in Yorkshire, the crypt extends under +the whole of the church, including the apse. At Wells the crypt is +beneath the chapter-house, and Durham Cathedral has three crypts, one +under what was the dormitory, another beneath the refectory, and the +third under the prior's chapel. Of crypts of Norman date we have many +examples, of which, perhaps, our best are those at Gloucester, Worcester, +Canterbury and Winchester Cathedrals, while Canterbury is probably the +largest of them all. Good crypts are also found at Wimborne Minster, +Christchurch Priory, and in our smaller churches at Repton and S. +Peter's-in-the-East, Oxford. + +The Wimborne crypt is lighted by four windows. The vaulting is supported +by two pairs of pillars which form three aisles, each of three bays. Mr. +Perkins, in his book on Wimborne Minster, says, "On each side of the +place where the altar stood there are two openings into the choir +aisles. The exteriors of these are of the same form and size as the +crypt windows, but they are deeply splayed inside, and probably were +used as hagioscopes or squints, to allow those kneeling in the choir +aisles to see the priest celebrating mass at the crypt altar." The crypt +at Christchurch is of Norman date, and now serves as a vault for the +Malmesbury family. The crypt of Canterbury Cathedral is claimed and +justly claimed, perhaps, as the largest and most beautiful in England. +It is thought to contain fragments of Roman and Saxon work, and much of +it dates from the days of S. Anselm (1096-1100). It was here that the +remains of S. Thomas à Becket lay from 1170 to 1220, and "here that +Henry II., fasting and discrowned, with naked feet, bared back, and +streaming tears, performed on July 12th, 1174, the memorable penance for +his share in the murder of the great Archbishop." + +It was here too, in later times that the Walloons were granted, by Queen +Elizabeth, the privilege of carrying on their silk-weaving, and it was +also reserved as a place of worship for French Protestants. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +HOW TO DESCRIBE AN OLD CHURCH. + + +Having carefully read the foregoing chapters, it should be possible for +anyone interested in the subject to be able to write a fairly accurate +description of any old church. The record should, if possible, be +amplified with sketches or photographs. + +In course of time, decay, neglect and restoration will deprive our +ancient buildings of every visible stone of original work which they +possess, and careful records of this kind, written, photographed and +sketched, may be of the highest possible value to future generations of +historians and architects, long after the objects themselves have ceased +to exist. The work in itself is of absorbing interest, and the more one +studies these works of past ages the stronger becomes the conviction +that our old buildings, whether cathedral, castle or simple village +church, are the landmarks of the nation's history, and a priceless +inheritance of beauty and art the conservation of which is the duty of +all generations. + +The principal points to be noted are--1. The name of the church. 2. Its +situation. 3. Its dedication. 4. General plan. 5. The style of +architecture to which each portion belongs. 6. Any peculiarity of the +architecture, blocked up windows, etc. 7. Any ancient furniture, +screens, bench-ends, glass. 8. Any monuments, tablets, or mural +paintings. 9. Church plate, bells, registers. 10. Any local traditions. +The record should be made somewhat in the following manner. + +The church of ---- is prettily situated on rising ground some quarter of +a mile north of the village, and on the main road to ---- . It is +approached by a picturesque timber lych-gate, and consists of nave, +aisles and chancel, having a side chapel to the north and a single +transept to the south. At the west end is a Decorated tower and spire. +There are two porches, one on the north side and the other on the west, +which last has a niche for a figure over the doorway and seats on either +side. The nave is Perpendicular, as is the greater part of the rest of +the fabric. Above the nave rises a lofty and noble clerestory, divided +from the aisles by five rather obtusely-pointed arches supported by +richly moulded piers with small moulded capitals. Each bay of the +clerestory contains two three-light windows of late Perpendicular date. +The roof is flat pitched and is of oak, the principals are adorned with +panelled tracery and show vestiges of ancient colour decoration. The +windows of the aisles are late Decorated in style; they are of three +lights, the traceries elegant and richly moulded. The east window is +Perpendicular and is much sub-divided by mullions and transoms; in the +upper portions are some heraldic coats of arms, which appear to have +formed part of a much earlier window. The chancel is divided from the +nave by a fine open oak screen, coeval with the larger part of the +building. It is richly carved and gilded, and in the right-hand side of +the chancel arch are the steps which formerly led up to the top of it. +The chancel, together with its chapel, is vaulted in stone with well +marked ribs and carved bosses. The transept, late Perpendicular, opens +into the south side of the nave by a four-centred arch, and has a +rich flat ceiling. In the chancel is a piscina of Early English date, +together with a sedilia of the same period. On the north side of the +chancel, resting on the floor, is a cross-legged effigy, in chain mail, +surcoat, etc., and bearing on his left arm a shield, but all much +mutilated. There is a local tradition that it represents Sir ----, but +there is no evidence by which he can be identified. Features of the +church are the many highly carved bench ends, all in oak, representing a +great variety of subjects, such as dragons, serpents, etc., while a few +bear the arms of local families who probably bore the cost of the work. +The pulpit is Jacobean, and has no special feature. The font, which +stands in the centre of the nave, is square in form and is supported by +a modern round plinth. It is constructed of marble, the four sides being +carved in low relief with intersecting patterns. It is possibly of +Norman date, and is the only existing feature of a much earlier church. +The tower and spire are Decorated; the latter is of stone with four +pinnacles at the base, and has a little coronal of pinnacles. The belfry +windows are arranged in pairs on each side of the tower. The tower or +western window is of five lights, richly Decorated in style. + + Illustration: + KEY TO DIAGRAM OF THE INTERIOR ELEVATION OF A BAY OF A CHURCH. + + CLERESTORY. + + 26 Boss. + 25 Vaulting Rib. + 24 Vault. + 23 Vaulting Rib. + 22 Tracery of C. Window. + 21 Clerestory Window. + 20 Sill of Clerestory Window. + 19 Base of Jamb, C. Arch. + 18 Jamb of C. Arch. + 17 Clerestory String. + + BLIND STOREY (TRIFORIUM). + + 16 Capital of Vaulting Shaft. + 15 Tracery of Triforium. + 14 Triforium Arch. + 13 Capital of T. Pier. + 12 Pier of Triforium. + 11 Triforium String. + + GROUND STOREY. + + 10 Tracery of Aisle Window. + 9 Aisle Window. + 8 Sill of Aisle Window. + 7 Wall Arcade. + 6 Vaulting Shaft. + 5 Corbel. + 4 Pier Arch. + 3 Capital of Pier. + 2 Pier. + 1 Base of Pier. + + + + +FOOTNOTES. + +1: So called from its "flame"-like appearance, producing forms which + resemble elongated tongues of flame. There is great beauty in much of + this work, but it is constructionally weak. The finest example is + Chartres Cathedral. + + + + +APPENDIX. + +A GLOSSARY OF THE PRINCIPAL TERMS USED IN ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE. + + + ABACUS Derived from the Greek _Abax_--a tray or flat board, an + essential feature of the Grecian and Roman orders, but + now used to describe the slab forming the upper part of + a column, pier, etc. + + ABBEY A term for a union of ecclesiastical buildings, for the + housing of those conventual bodies presided over by an + abbot or abbess, supposed to be derived from the Hebrew + _ab_, "father." + + ACANTHUS A plant, the leaves of which are represented in the + capitals of the Corinthian orders. + + AISLE French _aile_, a wing, the lateral division of a church. + + ALMONRY A room where alms were distributed. + + ALTAR An elevated table dedicated to the Sacrament of the Holy + Eucharist, and usually called the Communion Table. + + ALMERY, AUMERY, + and AUMBREY A recess or small cupboard in the wall of a church, used + to contain the chalices, patens, etc., for the use of + the priest. They are sometimes near the _piscina_, but + are usually on the opposite side of the chancel. + + ANTE-CHAPEL The outer part of a chapel. + + APSE The semi-circular or polygonal recess at the east end of + the choir or aisles of a church. + + ARCADE A series of arches, open or closed with masonry, and + supported by columns or piers. + + ARCH A construction of bricks or stones so placed as by + mutual pressure to support each other and a + superincumbent weight. They may be semi-circular, + segmental, elliptical, stilted, horse-shoe, pointed, + trefoiled, cinquefoiled, or ogee. + + ARCHITRAVE In classical architecture, the lowest division of the + entablature resting immediately on the abacus of the + capital. In Gothic buildings the ornamental mouldings + round the openings of doors, windows, etc. + + ARCHIVOLT The under surface of the curve of an arch, from impost + to impost. + + ASHLAR Shaped or squared stone used in building, as + distinguished from that in the rough. + + ASTRAGAL A small semi-circular bead or moulding. + + BALL FLOWER An ornament resembling a ball in a circular flower + with three enclosing petals. Dec. + + BASE The lower member of a column, pier, or wall. + + BASILICA A Roman law-court. Early Christian churches when + built on the same lines were called by the same name. + + BILLET An ornament much used in Norman work and formed by + cutting a moulding in notches, so that the remaining + parts resembled wooden billets or pieces of stick. + + BLIND STOREY See Triforium. + + BOSSES Ornamental projections usually of foliage and placed + at the intersection of the ribs of vaults, ceilings, + etc. + + BRACES Timbers which brace or support the main rafters. Also + called _struts_. + + BROACH A spire, generally octagonal and springing from the + square top of the tower, without a parapet. (_See + page 105_). + + BUTTRESS A projection from a wall, giving it additional strength. + + CANOPY In Gothic architecture an ornamental hood or projection + over doors, windows, niches, tombs, etc., and rarely + found except in the Dec. and Perp. styles. + + CAPITAL The head of a column or pilaster, found in a great + variety of shapes. + + CATHEDRAL A church presided over by a Bishop. The principal + church of a diocese. + + CHALICE The cup used for the wine at the celebration of the + Eucharist. + + CHAMFER The surface formed by cutting away the rectangular edge + of wood or stone work. + + CHANCEL The choir or eastern part of a church, appropriated to + the use of those who officiate in the performance of + the services. + + CHANTRY A chapel often containing a tomb of the founder, and + in which masses were said. + + CHAPEL A small building attached to cathedrals and large + churches. + + CHAPTER-HOUSE The room where the Dean and Prebendaries meet for the + transaction of business. + + CHEVRON An ornament characteristic of the Norman period and + divided into several equal portions chevron-wise or + zig-zag. + + CHOIR That part of a church to the east of the nave where the + services are celebrated, also called chancel, and + frequently separated from the nave by an open screen of + stone or wood. + + CINQUEFOIL An ornamental foliation used in arches, tracery, etc., + and composed of projecting points or cusps, so arranged + that the opening resembles five leaves. + + CLERESTORY Possibly the _clear_ storey. An upper storey standing + above or clear of the adjacent roofs, and pierced by + windows to give increased light. + + CLOISTER A covered walk or ambulatory forming part of a + cathedral or college quadrangle. + + CLUSTERED + COLUMN A pier made up of several columns or shafts in a cluster. + + COLONNADE A row or rows of columns supporting a roof or building. + + CORBEL Usually a moulded or carved ornament projecting from the + walls, acting as a bracket and capable of bearing a + super-incumbent weight. + + CORNICE The horizontal termination of a building in the form of + a moulded projection. + + COURSE A continuous and regular line of stones or bricks in the + wall of a building. + + CROCKETS Projecting ornaments in the form of leaves, flowers, + etc., used to embellish the angles of pinnacles, + spires, gables, canopies, etc. + + CROSS The accepted symbol of the Christian religion and an + architectural church ornament usually placed upon the + apex of the gable. A large cross called a rood was at one + time always placed over the entrance to the chancel. The + cross was worn as a personal ornament ages before the + Christian era by the Assyrians, and we are told that the + Druids also used this symbol in very early times. + + CRYPT Sometimes called the Undercroft, a vaulted chamber, + usually underground and, in churches, rarely extending + beyond the area of the choir or chancel, and often of + less dimensions. + + CUSPS Projecting points giving the foliated appearance to + tracery, arches, panels, etc. + + DORMER A gabled window pierced through a sloping roof. + + DRIPSTONE A projecting ledge or narrow moulding over the heads of + doorways, windows, etc., to carry off the rain. + + FAN-TRACERY Tracery in which the ribs form a fan-like appearance and + diverge equally in every direction. (Peculiar to the + late Perp.) + + FLAMBOYANT Tracery whereof the curves assume flame-like waves and + shapes. + + FLYING + BUTTRESS A buttress in the form of a bridge, usually transferring + the thrust of the main roof from the clerestory walls to + the main or aisle buttresses. + + FONT The vessel for holding the consecrated water used in + baptism. + + GARGOYLE A projecting spout usually grotesquely carved and used + to throw the water from the roof well away from the + building. + + GROIN The line of intersection in vaulted roofs. + + IMPOST Horizontal mouldings, capping a column or pier, from + which the arch springs. + + JAMB The side of a window or door. + + KEYSTONE The central stone at the top of an arch. The bosses + in vaulted ceilings are frequently called keys. + + LADY CHAPEL A chapel dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, + called "Our Lady." + + LANTERN A small structure or erection surmounting a dome or + tower to admit light. These towers are known as Lantern + Towers. + + LOZENGE A name given in modern times to Norman mouldings which + partake of a lozenge formation. + + LYCH-GATE From the Anglo-Saxon _lich_, a corpse. A small and + often picturesque shelter at the entrance to a + churchyard. + + MINSTER The church usually of a monastery or abbey or one to + which such has been an appendant. York and Beverley, + however, are exceptions to this rule. + + MISERERE A small bracket on the undersides of the seats of + stalls. + + MOULDING A term generally applied to the contours given to angle + projections or hollows of arches, doors, windows, etc. + + MULLION The dividing bars of stone or wood between the lights + of windows, or the openings of screens. + + MÜNSTER has now lost its simple application. + (MONASTERY) + + NAVE From _navis_, a ship, the main body of a church west + of the chancel. + + NICHE An alcove or recess in a wall for holding a statue or + ornament. + + OGEE A moulding or arch formed of a curve or curves somewhat + like the letter S, the curve of contra-flexure, part + being concave and part convex. + + ORDERS In Gothic architecture, the receding mouldings of an + arch. + + PARCLOSE The screen or railings protecting a monument or chantry. + + PARVISE An open space or porch at the entrance to a church, and + often wrongly applied to the room over a church porch. + + PATEN The small plate or salver used to hold the Consecrated + Bread in the celebration of the Eucharist. + + PENDANT Ornaments which hang or _depend_ from a ceiling or roof. + + PENTHOUSE A covering projecting over a door, window, etc., as a + protection from the weather. + + PIER The masses or clusters of masonry between doors, windows, + etc.; the supports from which arches spring. + + PILLAR A term frequently confounded with column, but differing + from it in not being subservient to the rules of + classical architecture, and in not of necessity + consisting of a single circular shaft. + + PINNACLE A small turreted ornament tapering towards the top, + and used as a termination to many parts of Gothic + architecture. + + PISCINA The stone basin or sink in the chancel used for + cleansing the communion vessels. + + PLINTH The lower division of the base of a column, pier or wall. + + POPPY-HEAD An ornament boldly carved on the tops of bench ends, etc. + + PRESBYTERY A term sometimes used to include the whole of the choir, + but more often meant to refer to the eastern end of the + choir from which it is generally raised by several steps. + + QUARRIES or + QUARRELS The small diamond, square or other the shaped panes used + in plain glazing. + + QUATREFOIL The shape resembling four leaves formed in tracery or + panels by cusps. + + QUOIN The external angle of a building, generally of ashlar. + + REREDOS The wall or screen at the back of an altar, often + enriched with carving, niches, statues, etc. + + ROOD-BEAM or + ROOD-LOFT The loft or beam which, previous to the Reformation, + supported the Great Rood, or Crucifix. + + ROSE WINDOW A term often used to denote a circular window of + several lights. + + ROTUNDA A term used to describe a church or other building + which is of circular formation both within and without. + + SACRISTRY A room used in churches for storing the plate and + valuables. + + SANCTUARY See Presbytery. + + SEDILIA A seat or seats, generally canopied and situated on the + south side of the chancel and used in pre-Reformation + days by the officiating clergy during the pauses in the + mass. + + SHAFT The part of a column or pillar between the capital and + the base. + + SHRINE Often called the feretory. The place where relics were + deposited. + + SOFFIT The word means literally a ceiling, but is generally + used to describe the flat under-surface of arches, + cornices, stairways, etc. + + SPANDRELS The spaces between the arch of a doorway or window and + the rectangular mouldings over it. Early tracery + originated from the piercing of the spandrels of windows. + + SPIRE The acutely pointed termination of towers, etc., + originating by the elongation of the early pyramidal + roofs. + + SPLAY The slanting or sloped surface of a window opening in the + thickness of the wall, also of doorways, etc.; the term + is also applied to bevels and other sloped surfaces. + + SPRINGER See Voussoir. + + SQUINT An oblique opening or slit in the wall of a church, for + the purpose of enabling persons in the aisles or + transepts to see the elevation of the Host at the High + Altar. They are mostly found on the sides of the chancel + arch, and are frequently called _hagioscopes_. + + STOUP A vessel for consecrated water, at or near the entrance + to a church. + + STRING or + STRING COURSE. A horizontal projecting band of stone in the wall of a + building. + + STRUT See Brace. + + TOOTH + ORNAMENT An ornament used almost exclusively in the E.E. style, + resembling a square four-leaved flower, and thought to + be based on the dog-tooth violet. + + TRANSOM A horizontal cross-bar in a panel or window. + + TRACERY The ornamental stonework in the upper part of a window; + when formed by the mullions it is called bar tracery + and when the spandrel is pierced, plate tracery. Also + used largely on tombs, screens, doorways, etc. + + TRANSEPTS The projecting arms of a cruciform church, often wrongly + called "cross-aisles." + + TRANSITION A term used to describe the process of change from one + style of architecture to another. The three great periods + of transition are from the Romanesque and Norman to the + Early English; the Early English to the Decorated, and + the Decorated to the Perpendicular. + + TREFOIL An ornamental foliation in the heads of windows, panels, + etc., in which the spaces formed by the cusps resemble + three leaves. + + TRIFORIUM or Blind-Storey. An open gallery or arcade without + windows immediately above the pier arcade and under the + roof of the aisle. + + TYMPANUM The space between the top of a square-headed door and the + arch above it; frequently sculptured. + + VAULT Roofing of stone constructed on the principle of the + arch, the intersections of which are termed groins and + are in the pointed styles usually ribbed. + + VAULTING + SHAFTS Small shafts sometimes rising from the floor, sometimes + from the capital of a pillar and sometimes from a corbel, + and intended as supports for the ribs of a vault. + + VESICA PISCIS An oval shape or figure formed by two equal circles + cutting each other in their centres. Very commonly found + on episcopal and monastic seals. + + VOUSSOIR The wedge-shaped stones forming an arch, the centre one + of which is the _keystone_ and those at the impost or + starting point of the curve are the _springers_. + + ZIG-ZAG See Chevron. + + + + +A SHORT BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ENGLISH ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE. + + + Adeline, J. Art Dictionary of Terms. + Bland, W. Arches, Piers, Buttresses, etc. + Blomfield, R. Short History of Renaissance Architecture. + Bond, Francis English Cathedrals Illustrated. + Bond, Francis Gothic Architecture in England. + Bonney, T. G. Cathedrals, Abbeys, and Churches of England and Wales. + Carter, J. The Ancient Architecture of England. + Colling, J. K. Details of Gothic Architecture. + Corroyer, E. Gothic Architecture. + Cram, R. Adams Church Building. + Davidson, E. A. Gothic Stonework. + Fergusson, J. Handbook of Architecture. + Fergusson, J. History of Architecture. + Fairbairns, A. Portfolio of English Cathedrals. + Garbett, E. L. Principles of Design in Architecture. + Markland, J. H. Remarks on Churches. + Moore, C. H. Development and Character of Gothic Architecture. + Paley, F. A. Manual of Gothic Architecture. + Paley, F. A. Manual of Gothic Mouldings. + Parker, J. H. A.B.C. of Gothic Architecture. + Parker, J. H. Concise Glossary of Architecture. + Parker, J. H. Introduction to the Study of Gothic Architecture. + Perkins, Rev. T. Handbook of Gothic Architecture. + Prior, Ed. S. History of Gothic Art. + Pugin, A. W. Treatise on Chancel Screens and Rood Lofts. + Rickman, Thos. Gothic Architecture. + Rickman, Thos. Attempts to discriminate the Styles of Architecture + in England. + Sharpe, Edmund The Seven Periods of English Architecture. + Sharpe, Edmund Treatise on the Rise and Progress of Window Tracery. + Scott, G. History of Church Architecture. + Ruskin, John Seven Lamps of Architecture. + Ruskin, John Stones of Venice. + Ruskin, John Poetry of Architecture. + Ruskin, John Lectures on Architecture. + Wall, J. C. Shrines of British Saints. + Winkle British Cathedrals. + Wilson, S. Romance of our Ancient Churches. + + Bell's Cathedral Series. + "The Builder" Portfolio of English Cathedrals. + Murray's Handbooks to the Cathedrals. + S.P.C.K. Illustrated Notes on English Church History. + Swan, Sonnenschein & Co. Notes on the Cathedrals. + "Our English Minsters." Edited by Dean Farrar. + +This bibliography does not claim to be complete, but is a selection of +the various books on the subject which should be studied by the student. + + + + +Index + + + All Souls' College, Oxford, 76 + Altars, 80 + Alveston Church, Warwickshire, 41 + Amiens Cathedral, 57 + Anne, Queen, 76 + Apse, The, 27 + Arches-- + Saxon, 35 + Norman, 37 + Early English, 49 + Decorated, 62 + Perpendicular, 66 + Ashchurch, Gloucestershire, 106 + + Baptistery, The, 84 + Barfreston Church, Kent, 39, 41 + Barnack Church, Northants 32, 33, 34, 101 + Barnstaple, Devon, 98 + Barnwell, 92 + Barry, Sir C., 78, 79 + Basilica, The, 26 + Bayeux Tapestry, 41, 103 + Beaulieu, Hants, 90 + Beckett's Crown, Canterbury, 106 + Bede (quoted), 21, 23, 96 + Bells and Belfries, 95 + Bench Ends, 89 + Bertha, Queen, 23 + Beverley Minster, 109 + Billesley Church, Warwickshire, 78 + Bishopstone, Sussex, 32 + Bloxham Church, 101 + Boston, Lincs, 72 + Bovey Church, 92 + Bradford-on-Avon, 32 + Brewer, J. W. (quoted), 28 + Brighton Pavilion, 78 + Brigstock Church, Northants, 97 + Bristol Cathedral, 70 + British Churches, Early, 19 + Brixworth Church, 28, 32, 33, 97 + Broadmayne Church, 86 + Bruton, Som., 97 + Burne-Jones, Sir E., 107 + Bury St. Edmunds, 82 + Buttresses-- + Norman, 43 + Early English, 84 + Decorated, 62 + Perpendicular, 70 + Byzantium, 27 + + Canterbury Cathedral, 43, 94, 101, 104, 110 + Capitals-- + Norman, 42 + Early English, 54 + Decorated, 60 + Perpendicular, 69 + Caradoc, King, 19 + Carlisle Cathedral, 60, 106 + Charles II., 76 + Charlton-on-Otmoor, 92 + Charlton Church, Kent, 106 + Chartres Cathedral, 101 + Chetwode, Bucks, 106 + Chichester Cathedral, 97 + Chipping Norton, Oxford, 81 + Christchurch Priory, 88, 94, 107, 110 + Christ Church, Spitalfields, 76 + Chudleigh Church, Devon, 92 + Church Furniture and Ornaments, 80 + Cirencester Church, Glos., 70 + Classic Reverse, The, 70 + Clerkenwell, 44 + Collumpton, Devon, 92 + Compton Church, 94 + Constantine, Emperor, 27 + Constantinople, 27 + Cranley, Surrey, 106 + Crawden's Chapel, 58 + Croyland Abbey, 96 + Crypts, 109 + Curfew, 96 + + Decorated Style, The, 57 + Doisnel, Juliana, 44 + Dolton Church, 84 + Doorways-- + Saxon, 30, 32 + Norman, 39 + Early English, 54 + Decorated, 62 + Perpendicular, 69 + Dorchester Church, Oxford, 107 + Dore Abbey, 81 + Dunstable, 92 + Dunster Church, 81, 92 + Durham Cathedral, 43, 73, 82, 94, 112 + + Earl's Barton Church, 32, 33 + Early English Style, The, 47 + East Dereham, 97 + Edburton Church, 84 + Edington Church, Wilts, 72 + Edington, Bp. William, 72 + Edmund, Archbp. of Cant., 84 + Edward I., 49 + Edward III., 84 + Elizabeth, Queen, 81, 110 + Eltham Palace, 73 + Ely Cathedral, 29, 43, 57 + Ely Chapel, 60 + Ethelbert, King of Kent, 23 + Euston, Oxford, 94 + Evesham Abbey, 73, 97 + Exeter Cathedral, 89 + + Fairford Church, Glos., 107 + Fan Vaulting, 69 + Fergusson, Dr. (quoted), 75 + Flying Buttresses, 56 + Fonts, 84 + Fordington S. George, Dorchester, 41 + Fotheringay Church, Northants, 73 + Fountains Abbey, 47 + Fuller, Thos. (quoted), 19 + Furness Abbey, 87 + Furniture, Church, 80 + + Glass, Stained, 104 + Glastonbury Abbey, 19, 97 + Glossary, 115 + Gloucester Cathedral, 43, 73, 94, 106, 110 + Gothic Architecture, Leading Characteristics, 63 + Gothic Styles, The, 47 + Grantham, 101 + Greenstead Church, Essex, 32, 34, 35 + Grosmont, Monmouth, 81 + + Hackness, 96 + Hanwell, Oxford, 94 + Hartland Church, 92 + Hawkesmore, 76 + Heckington, 86, 101 + Heigham, 72 + Henry I., 44 + Henry II., 49 + Henry III., 44, 48, 49 + Hereford Cathedral, 57, 110 + Hexham, 82, 109 + Hutchinson, Rev. J. M. (quoted), 49 + + Iffley Church, Oxford, 39 + + Jenkyns, Canon (quoted), 25 + John, King, 44, 48, 49 + Jones, Inigo, 75, 78 + + Kemsing, Kent, 92 + Kenton Church, Devon, 90, 92 + King's College Chapel, Cambridge, 107 + King's Sutton, 101 + Knights Hospitallers, 44 + Knights Templars, 43 + + Lady Chapel, Exeter, 60 + Langham Place, 78 + Lastingham Church, York, 110 + Laud, Archbishop, 16 + Ledbury, Hereford, 103 + Leighton Buzzard, 101 + Lichfield, Abbot, 97 + Lichfield, Cathedral, 57, 101 + Lincoln Cathedral, 43, 52, 57, 63, 81, 106 + Little Billing, 84 + Little Maplestead, 44 + Llanrhaiadr-y-Kinmerch, 107 + Luidhard, Bishop, 23 + Long Melford Church, Suffolk, 73 + Long Sutton, 92 + Luton Church, 58 + Lyminge, 25 + + Magdalen College, Oxford, 90 + Malmesbury (family), 110 + Manchester Cathedral, 73, 88 + Markland (quoted), 97 + Mary, Queen, 81, 92 + Marylebone Church, 78 + Melbury Bubb, 84 + Merton College, Oxford, 58, 60, 106 + Minehead, 92 + Morley Church, Derbyshire, 107 + Morris, William, 107 + Morton Church, Soms., 73 + Mouldings-- + Norman, 37 + Early English, 52 + Decorated, 62 + Perpendicular, 69 + + Newark, Notts., 92 + New College, Oxford, 72 + Norbury, Derbyshire, 106 + Norman Architecture, 35 + Norwich Cathedral, 29, 43 + + Ornaments-- + Norman, 37 + Early English, 52 + Decorated, 60, 62 + Perpendicular, 68, 69, 70 + Ornaments, Church, 80 + Oxford Cathedral, 43, 101 + + Palladio, 74, 75 + Parham, 84 + Parker (quoted), 31, 35, 88 + Parliament, Houses of, 78 + Patrixbourne Church, Kent, 41 + Perkins, Rev. T. (quoted), 110 + Perpendicular Styles, 64 + Perpendicular Towers, 72 + Perpendicular Spires, 73 + Peterborough Cathedral, 29, 43, 57 + Philippa, Queen, 84 + Piscinas, 87 + Piers-- + Norman, 42 + Early English, 54 + Decorated, 60 + Perpendicular, 68 + Plymtree, 92 + Pointed Arch, The, 49 + Porches, 53 + Porlock Church, Somerset, 81 + Pugin, 78, 79 + Pulpits, 90 + Pyecombe, 84 + Pylle Church, 86 + + Radipole Church, Dorset, 98 + Ravenna, 33 + Reculver, 25 + Reform Club, 79 + Renaissance, The, 74 + Repton Church, Derby, 109, 110 + Reredos, The, 94 + Richard I., 48, 49 + Richborough, 25 + Rickman (quoted), 35 + Ripon Cathedral, 32, 109 + Rievaulx, 47 + Rochester Cathedral, 42, 57, 109 + Rolvenden Church, Kent, 86 + Romanesque Style, The, 27 + Rome, 33 + Ross, 101 + Rotherham Church, Yorks., 70 + Rothwell Church, 87 + Round Churches, The, 44 + Routledge, Rev. C. F., M.A., F.S.A., 24 + + Saffron Walden, 73 + Saint Alban's Cathedral, 54, 94 + Saint Andrew's, Norwich, 73 + Saint Anselm, 110 + Saint Augustine, 19 + Saint Benet's, Cambridge, 32 + Saint Chad's Cathedral, Birmingham, 79 + Saint Clement's, Norfolk, 73 + Saint Cross, Winchester, 39 + Saint David's, Cathedral, 57, 73 + Saint Dunstan, 96 + Saint Edmundsbury, 97 + Saint Edmund, Martyr, 35 + Saint Etheldreda, 58 + Saint Ethelwold, 103 + Saint Giles', Oxford, 81 + Saint Hilda, 96 + Saint Lawrence, Bradford-on-Avon, 32, 33 + Saint Margaret's, Westminster, 107 + Saint Mark's, Venice, 28 + Saint Mary Abchurch, 76 + Saint Mary Magdalene, Ripon, 81 + Saint Mary Redcliffe, Bristol, 73 + Saint Mary's, Cambridge, 73 + Saint Mary's, Dover, 22 + Saint Mary's, Lincoln, 32 + Saint Mary's, Luton, 84 + Saint Mary's, Newark, 101 + Saint Mary's, Norwich, 73 + Saint Mary's, Ottery, 92 + Saint Mary's, Oxford, 73, 101 + Saint Mary's, Stamford, 92 + Saint Mary's, Taunton, 73 + Saint Mary's, Wareham, 81, 84 + Saint Mary's, Woolnoth, 76 + Saint Mary's, York, 32 + Saint Martin's, Canterbury, 22 + Saint Martin's, Wareham, 32 + Saint Michael's, Coventry, 73 + Saint Michael's, Oxford, 32, 34, 94 + Saint Nicholas, Lynn, 73 + Saint Nicholas, Newcastle, 73 + Saint Nicholas, Yarmouth, 63 + Saint Paul the Apostle, 19 + Saint Paul's Cathedral, 75, 76, 101 + Saint Paul's Churchyard, 90 + Saint Patrick, 21 + Saint Peter Port, Guernsey, 98 + Saint Peter's in the East, Oxford 110 + Saint Peter's, Lincoln, 32 + Saint Peter's, Norwich, 73 + Saint Peter's, Rome, 75, 76 + Saint Pierre, Caen, 101 + Saint Piran's, Perranporth, 21 + Saint Saviour's, Dartmouth, 90, 92 + Saint Saviour's Southwark, 94 + Saint Sepulchre, Cambridge, 44 + Saint Sepulchre, Northampton, 44 + Saint Sophia, Constantinople, 28 + Saint Stephen's, Bristol, 73 + Saint Stephen's Chapel, Westminster, 58 + Saint Stephen's, Walbrook, 76 + Saint Thomas à Becket, 110 + Saint Wilfrid's Needle, 109 + Saint Wolfstan, 103 + Salisbury Cathedral, 47, 57, 101, 106 + Sanctuary Knockers, 82 + Saxon Architecture, 31 + Saxon Churches, 32 + Scott (quoted), 31 + Screens, 92 + Sedilia, 87 + Shottesbrook Church, Berks, 66, 103 + Shrewsbury, 90 + Silchester, 25 + Snettisham, Norfolk, 101 + Solihull, Warwickshire, 94 + Sompting, Sussex, 32, 99 + Southwell, 57, 87 + Southwold Church, Suffolk, 73 + Speyer Cathedral, 29 + Spires, 73, 99 + Squints, 90 + Stalls, 88 + Stanford, Leicester, 106 + Stone Church, Kent, 54 + Stoups, 86 + + Temple Balsall, 44 + Temple Church, London, 44 + Tenby, 90 + Tewkesbury Abbey, 106 + Thaxted Church, Essex, 73 + Thornham Church, Kent, 86 + Towers, 33, 72 + Transom, The, 46, 49 + Trinity Church, Ely, 58 + Tympana, 41 + + Uffendon, Devon, 92 + + Vitruvius, 74 + + Wakefield Church, Yorkshire, 73 + Walpole, Horace, 78 + Walton-on-the-Hill, Surrey, 84 + Wansted, Oxford, 101 + Wantsume, 25 + Warmington, Warwickshire, 81 + Wells Cathedral, 53, 57, 110 + West Horsley, Surrey, 106 + Westminster Abbey, 48, 57, 63, 76, 78, 103 + Westminster Hall, 73 + Westminster, Henry's VII.'s Chapel, 68, 88, 89 + Westwell, Kent, 106 + Wilford Church, Oxford, 101 + William the Conqueror, 96 + Wimborne Minster, 110 + Wimmington Church, Bedfordshire, 66 + Winchester Cathedral, 43, 63, 72, 85, 88, 103, 110 + Winchester College, 72 + Windows-- + Saxon, 32 + Norman, 39 + Early English, 52 + Decorated, 58 + Perpendicular, 68 + Wing, 32 + Wootton Wawen, 32 + Worcester Cathedral, 57, 109, 110 + Worms Cathedral, 29 + Wren, Sir Christopher, 75, 76 + Wrexham Church, 72 + Wroxhall Abbey, 106 + Wykeham, William of, 72, 84 + Wymondham Church, 72 + + York Minster, 32, 57, 63, 66, 73, 94, 106, 109 + + + + +THE HOMELAND HANDBOOKS + +Copiously Illustrated and provided with Ordnance Maps and Plans. + + +JANUARY, 1907. + + No. Cloth. Paper. + + 1 TONBRIDGE FOR THE ANGLER, THE HOLIDAY-MAKER, AND THE RESIDENT. + By Stanley Martin and Prescott Row 1/- 6d. + 2 TUNBRIDGE WELLS OF TO-DAY. By Stanley Martin and + Prescott Row. Ordnance Map and Plans. Second Edition 1/- 6d. + 3 "LONDON TOWN." By Eric Hammond 1/- 6d. + 4 "LYONESSE": THE ISLES OF SCILLY. By J. C. Tonkin and + Prescott Row. Fourth Edition. Map 2/- 1/- + 5 "WOLFE-LAND": THE WESTERHAM DISTRICT, KENT. By Gibson + Thompson. Third Edition. Ordnance Map 1/6 1/- + 6 "KENT'S CAPITAL": MAIDSTONE. By Stanley Martin and Prescott + Row. Second Edition. With Map 1/- 6d. + 7 CROYDON, NEW AND OLD. By Edward A. Martin, F.G.S., and + J. E. Morris, B.A. Third Edition. With Map 1/- 6d. + 8 DARTMOOR AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. By Beatrix F. Cresswell. + Edited by William Crossing. Fourth Edition. Ordnance Maps 2/- 1/- + 9 ROCHESTER AND CHATHAM WITH PEN AND CAMERA. By + A. G. Munro, B.A. Second Edition. With Map 1/6 6d. + 10 REIGATE AND REDHILL. By T. F. W. Hamilton and W. Hodgson. + Second Edition. Ordnance Map 1/- 6d. + 11 "SURREY'S CAPITAL": GUILDFORD AND DISTRICT. + By J. E. Morris, B.A. Third Edition. With Map 1/6 6d. + 12 DULVERTON AND DISTRICT: THE COUNTRY OF THE WILD RED DEER. + By F. J. Snell, B.A. Second Edition. + Cloth Edition contains Map 1/6 6d. + 13 FARNHAM AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. By Gordon Home. With Map 2/- 1/- + 14 GODALMING AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. Edited by Prescott Row. + Second Edition. With Ordnance Map 1/- 6d. + 15 TEIGNMOUTH AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. By Beatrix F. Cresswell. + Second Edition. With Ordnance Map 1/- 6d. + 16 HASTINGS AND ST. LEONARDS. By W. H. Sanders. With Plan 1/6 6d. + 17 EPSOM AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. By Gordon Home. Ordnance Map 1/6 9d. + 18 MINEHEAD, PORLOCK, AND DUNSTER: THE SEA-BOARD OF EXMOOR. + By C. E. Larter. Second Edition. Ordnance Map 1/- 6d. + 19 CRANBROOK: THE TOWN OF THE KENTISH WEALD. + By Stanley Martin. Second Edition. With Map 1/6 6d. + 20 DAWLISH, AND THE ESTUARY OF THE EXE. + By Beatrix F. Cresswell. Cloth Edition contains Map 1/- 6d. + 21 ST. ALBANS: ITS ABBEY AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. + By C. H. Ashdown, F.R.G.S., F.C.S. With Ordnance Map 2/6 1/- + 22 BROMLEY, BECKENHAM, AND CHISLEHURST. By George Clinch, + F.G.S. Ordnance Map 2/6 1/- + 23 EXETER AND ITS CATHEDRAL. + By Beatrix F. Cresswell. With Plan 1/- 6d. + 24 KINGSTON-UPON-THAMES AND SURBITON. + By Dr. W. E. St. L. Finny. With Ordnance Map 2/6 1/- + 25 EVESHAM AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD, INCLUDING BROADWAY. + By William Smith. With Map 1/6 1/- + 26 PETWORTH AND MID WEST SUSSEX. By L. C. Barnes. With Map. + (Cloth only) 1/- -- + 27 NEWQUAY, THE VALE OF LANHERNE, AND PERRANZABULOE. + By Fannie Goddard. Second Edition. Ordnance Map 1/- 6d. + 28 HASLEMERE AND HINDHEAD WITH THEIR SURROUNDINGS. + By J. E. Morris, B.A. Second Edition. Ordnance Map 2/- 1/- + 29 TAUNTON AND TAUNTON DEANE. By Beatrix F. Cresswell. + Ordnance Map 2/6 1/- + 30 LITTLEHAMPTON, ARUNDEL, AND AMBERLEY. + By Rev. W. Goodliffe, M.A. Ordnance Map 1/- 6d. + 31 "THE WESTERN GATE OF DARTMOOR": TAVISTOCK AND THE DISTRICT. + By William Crossing. With Ordnance Map 1/- 6d. + 32 PLYMOUTH: "THE METROPOLIS OF THE WEST." + By W. H. K. Wright. With Ordnance Map 1/- 6d. + 33 THE CHALFONT COUNTRY (SOUTH BUCKS). By S. Graveson. + Ordnance Map 1/6 1/- + 34 DUNSTABLE, THE DOWNS, AND THE DISTRICT. By. G. Worthington + Smith, F.L.S., etc. With Maps 2/- 1/- + 35 THE QUANTOCK HILLS, THEIR COMBES AND VILLAGES. + By Beatrix F. Cresswell. Ordnance Map. (Cloth only) 2/6 -- + 36 OXTED, LIMPSFIELD, AND EDENBRIDGE. By Gordon Home. + Ordnance Map 1/- 6d. + 37 LYNTON, LYNMOUTH, AND THE LORNA DOONE COUNTRY. + By J. E. Morris, B.A. Ordnance Map 1/- 6d. + 38 HORSHAM AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. By Rev. W. Goodliffe, M.A. + Ordnance Map 2/- 1/- + 39 SEAFORD AND NEWHAVEN. By Geo. Day. Ordnance Map 1/- 6d. + 40 THE GREAT OUSE. HUNTINGDON, ST. NEOTS, AND ST IVES. By + H. L. Jackson, M.A., and G. R. Holt Shafto. Ordnance Map 2/- 1/- + 41 KING'S LYNN WITH ITS SURROUNDINGS, INCLUDING SANDRINGHAM. + By W. A. Dutt. Ordnance Map 2/- 1/- + 42 WOKING AND RIPLEY WITH THEIR SURROUNDINGS. + By A. H. Anderson. Ordnance Map 2/- 1/- + 43 HERTFORD AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. By W. Graveson. + Ordnance Map. 2/- 1/- + 44 DORKING AND LEATHERHEAD. + By Joseph E. Morris, M.A. Ordnance Map 2/- 1/- + 45 WALTHAM AND CHESHUNT. By Freeman Bunting. Ordnance Map 1/- 6d. + 46 DORCHESTER WITH ITS SURROUNDINGS. By F. W. and Sidney + Heath. with a Foreword by Thomas Hardy. Ordnance Map 2/- 1/- + 47 LUTON CHURCH. By Constance Isherwood. With Plan 1/- 6d. + 48 READING AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. By A. H. Anderson. + Ordnance Map 2/- 1/- + 49 SUTTON AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. + By F. Richards. Ordnance Map 2/- 1/- + 50 WATFORD AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. By Walter Moore. + Ordnance Map 2/- 1/- + 51 YEOVIL AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. By Frank Heath. Ordnance Map 2/- 1/- + 52 AYLESBURY AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. By Walter Moore. + Ordnance Map 2/- 1/- + 53 GRAVESEND AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. By A. J. Philip. + Ordnance Map 2/- 1/- + 54 HIGH WYCOMBE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. By Henry Harbour -- -- + 55 OUR HOMELAND CHURCHES, AND HOW TO STUDY THEM. + By Sidney Heath 2/- -- + + +HANDBOOKS FOR MANY OTHER TOWNS AND DISTRICTS ARE IN ACTIVE PREPARATION. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30290 *** |