6 



venture to indicate what the early plan must have been, and the reason why it 

 was soon afterwards chanpfed for the fine arrangement which we now see. Build- 

 was is a good example of their older churches, which had a rather long nave with 

 a very short choir, and transepts from which four chapels (sometimes six) pro- 

 jected towards the east. This gave them, besides the high altar for the more 

 important services, four minor altars, which would be sufficient in the early days 

 for the celebration of masses on less important occasions, and for the commemora- 

 tion of deceased benefactors to the community. The church was, like all the 

 Cistercian churches, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose name had then 

 for some long time been rising in importance, and greatly exciting the devotion of 

 all classes. 



It is hardly probable that the church could be quite completed on this 

 original plan before a great develoimient took place in the ideas, and growth in 

 the importance of the Cistercian order. When the wealthy laity began to desire 

 to be buried with the Cistercian monks, or to have their names commemorated 

 perpetually in their services, making large grants of lands to the abbeys, it became 

 necessary to extend the modest dimensions of the original choirs, so as to provide 

 several additional chapels with minor altars for these services. Now this might 

 be done in different ways. The French rather favoured the idea of a chevet of 

 chapels radiating round a semi-circular apse. Of this we have two English 

 examples — at the abbeys of Croxden, in Staffordshire, and Bealieu, in Hampshire. 

 But they were usually contented with adding aisles to the choir, and so obtaining 

 space for additional altars. At Fountain's abbey, in the 15th century, they built 

 an enormous transept east of the church, called the chapel of the seven altars. In 

 the church of Byland abbey, Yorkshire, built just before Dore, they carried the 

 aisle across the east end of the choir, affording space for more altars, but at Dore 

 this idea was much developed by adding a range of five complete chapels outside 

 the eastern aisle. Even these were found insufficient, as altars were afterwards 

 added against the outer wall of the south aisle. 



At Ebrach and Riddagshausen, in Germany, chapels were built out on both 

 sides of the choir aisles. Ebrach is known to have been built with special inten- 

 tion for the burial of the laity, and, as to Dore abbey, Camden says, it was a place 

 wherein very many of the nobility and gentry of tliese parts were buried ; amongst 

 them were Walter de Plokenet, Ganfrid de Geneville, Walter de Clifford and 

 Eoger de Clifford. 



The new work was done in about 1185, which was the thirty-first year of 

 Henry II. It is the most remarkable English example of the style called " trans- 

 itional," between the Norman work of the 12th century and the early English 

 work of the 13th century. All the arches are pointed and of beautiful propor- 

 tions, while the large number of carved capitals are of types peculiar to the reign 

 of Henry II., showing the early attempts of the sculptor towards the beautiful 

 foliage of the 13th century, such as we see in the Lady Chapel at Hereford 

 Cathedral. Some of these capitals, which are 700 years old, are, I think, un- 

 matched in style and workmanship by anything done either then or since. 



Ill the 13th century, a doorway, with beautiful ironwork, was made in the 



