THE DEVELOPMENT OF ARCHITECTURE IN ESSEX. 171 



D. The Perpendicular, from Richard II., 1377, to the death of 

 Henry VIII., in 1546. To which I have added, 



E. The Tudor, froiu Edward VI., 1546, to the death of 

 Eh'zabeth, in 1602. 



The sudden access of wealth by the captains of the Conqueror's 

 army, and by others who were related to him, or had assisted him in 

 the invasion of England, combined with the natural characteristics of 

 the Norman race, namely, a love of building and fighting, impelled 

 them to enter upon a building mania, the like of which has never 

 since been seen. 



The castles and fortified houses were a necessity to those who 

 had to hold what they had obtained by the strong arm. And the 

 religious edifices, the churches, the abbeys, and the priories were 

 the outcome of their religious zeal. Whatever the Norman took in 

 hand, he did to the best of his power. If he built a castle, he built 

 it for all time, and according to the instinct of the day against all 

 attacks of the then known implements of war and of surprise. If 

 he engaged in a fight he fought as well as he knew how. If he 

 desired possession of another man's land or propert) he did his very 

 best to secure them ; and so in his soberer moments, and when 

 appealed to by the ecclesiastics of the day, he laid the foundations 

 of his abbey or his priory with a princely disregard of its ultimate 

 cost. The erection of a church in every parish was a duty not to 

 be neglected under any circumstances ; and when we remember that 

 the great ecclesiastics of that period were as eager and as active on 

 the field of battle and in the senate as their military and judicial 

 brethren, and possessed of great influence and power, we can readily 

 understand that they would not allow the erection of the parish 

 church to be forgotten or postponed. 



Amongst the Conqueror's followers to whom he made con- 

 siderable grants of manors and lands in Essex were Eustace, Earl 

 of Boulogne, Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, Suene of Essex, Aubrey de 

 Vere, Ralph Baynard, Geoffrey de Mandeville, Eudo Dapifer, 

 Robert Gernon, all well-known names to readers of Essex history 

 as heads of families, and who, either themselves or through their 

 posterity, were connected with many of the churches and castles 

 and other buildings of the county. 



As the question of mouldings is one of considerable importance, 

 often in point of fact determining the date of a window or door, I 

 think it will be advisable at this point to draw your attention to this 



