146 The Field Naturalist' s Quarterly May 



new position, as when aisles were added to churches 

 previously without them. In such cases the builders very 

 often numbered the stones, and rebuilt the Norman door- 

 way stone by stone. The simplest and best way of realising 

 the exceeding beauty and magnificence of such Norman 

 doorways or chancel arches is by advancing and retiring, 

 with eyes fixed on the repeated rings of mouldings. This 

 procedure will show up the work in different light and 

 shade, and thereby disclose the full force and beauty of 

 concentric rings. 



The windows as well as the doorways show the same 

 readiness of the Norman mason to utilise the massive walls. 

 Glass, or perhaps one should say stained glass, had not 

 yet come into general use ; therefore very small openings 

 or slits high up in the walls were made to admit light. 

 But in order to secure the fullest advantage on the inside 

 from these slits as seen from the outside, the Norman 

 builders gave a very wide splay to the interior, so that 

 within the building the windows appear much larger and 

 wider, and thereby admit the greatest possible amount of 

 light to the inside. Along the side walls, north and south, 

 these narrow openings or slits were arranged at equal 

 distances or intervals ; but at the ends, east and west, of 

 the building, they were generally three in number — the 

 middle one rising higher than those on either side — 

 grouped together. The later windows of the Norman 

 style became longer and wider on the outside, with the 

 splays on the inside remaining as wide, if not becoming 

 wider. The walling between the splays became in some 

 instances a mere edge, thus giving the appearance of a single 

 or continued window with two or three or more lights ; the 

 edges also suggesting the idea of shafts in the later style. 



As to the apsidal chancel, and the vaulted ceilings of the 

 Norman period, I have little to say. I do not take apsidal 

 chancels as characteristic of Norman style : what are termed 

 apsidal chancels were built after the model of the Roman 

 basilicas ^ or halls ; and this form of the east end of a church 



^ Basilica churches consisted generally of a nave and two aisles. Round the 

 apse against the wall were stone seats for the clerg)'. The altar was in front of 

 these, standing by itself, away from the wall. S. Nicholas', Wilton, has this 

 apsidal arrangement of seats. 



