REMINISCENCES OF OLD ALLESTREE. 177 
or heads of oxen or other animals, as was originally the case ; the 
beaded ornament is not of common occurrence in these doorways, 
so far as we know, but the heads or skulls are; of these there are 
examples on the jambs of the south door of Kedleston Church, 
and other examples may be found in the remains of Romanesque 
architecture scattered over the country, and they appear to us to 
indicate that the Romano-British, Saxon, and Norman architects 
imitated what they had seen done by the Roman architects during 
their occupation of both countries. 
The Romano-British imbibed much of the manners and the 
tastes of their Roman masters, both in dress and the various acces- 
sories of a high state of civilisation, one of the most important 
of which was architecture; numerous examples of temples, and 
doubtless Christian churches remained; for there seems no doubt 
at all that to the Romans we are indebted in the first instance for 
the introduction of Christianity. During the execrable reign of 
Nero, many left Rome, and some would, doubtless, find refuge in 
this country, which had been since the third year of Claudius, 
A.D. 43, a part of the Roman empire; it was only about thirty 
years after the Romans had left Britain, a.p. 449—577, that the 
Saxons—or whoever the people were—came and occupied, and 
are reported to have driven out the Britons and destroyed 
Christianity. We do not think this has been proved ; we think, if 
some of the rudely sculptured stones around us had a voice they 
would tell a different tale. May not these heads be rude imita- 
tions of the skulls of animals slain in sacrifice, with which the 
Romans were so fond of ornamenting their temples and altars, 
placing them as they did in the square J/efopes between the 
triglyphs of the friezes. It is not a little singular that the 
corbel head and zigzag ornament of the 12th century may be 
found on the consoles of Diocletian’s palace of Spalatro,* proving 
clearly that both the Anglo-Saxons and the Anglo-Normans 
copied the Roman edifices remaining either in England or on 
the Continent. The long occupation by the Romans, of 400 
years, could not fail to exercise a great influence of an artistic 
* Eccleston’s Introduction, p. 53. 
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