The Saxon Church nt Brndford-oii-Avon. 379 



consequently their word for "to bnild " yvas gdimbrian" ; so that 

 the Saxon Chronicler can actually say of one who promised to build 

 a Church of stone, that he promised " to getimhrian a Church of 

 stone";but he proves that these "pilaster-strips" have nothing really 

 to do with " carpenters' masonry," but are derived from other 

 sources altogether. These are to be found in the German " Lisene," 

 or slightly-projecting buttress, which is characteristic of the Aus- 

 trasian province of the Carlovingian empire, with which the 

 Anglo-Saxon kings were in close communication — a communication 

 dating from and intensified by the labours of St. Boniface and other 

 Saxon missionaries on the Continent.^ So too, he shows that the 

 characteristic western tower is also derived from Austrasian sources. 

 This is not the time or place to discuss further the reasons for 

 his conclusions, but I think he has given amply sufficient proofs 

 for his contentions. The " long-and-short " quoins, which have 

 also been said to be derived from original wooden buildings, and 



' The buttress, a marked feature of Norman Romanesque, hardly occurs in 

 the Romanesque of Germany, where its place is taken by the so-called 

 "Lisene," a feature with some superficial resemblance to the buttress, but 

 differing therefrom in that it serves a decorative rather than a constructive 

 purpose. . . . 



The buttress in Early Norman buildings(as in the west wall atNorthborough) 

 is of slight projection, but it adds real strength to the building— the " Lisene " 

 does not. Moreover, these latter are more closely disposed along the wall 

 surfaces. 



It has been noticed about these German " Lisenen," as about our Anglo- 

 Saxon " pilaster-strips," that they look like the uprights of half-timber work. 

 We are fortunate, however, in being able to trace back the history of the 

 features in German buildings, till we find it originating, not in any form of 

 wood-construction, but in the classical pilaster that is so familiar a feature in 

 later Roman architecture. 



The Carolingian Gatehouse at Lorsch, near AVorms, and Gernrode, in the 

 Hartz Mountains, are examples. — Op. cit., p. 58. 



It may be noted that Mr. Francis Bond in his great work on Gothic 

 Architecture in England (1905) derives the Norman buttress from the 

 Roman pilaster-strip, as at S. Balbina, Rome, A.D. 600, &c., and that he 

 adds: "This pilaster-strip may be the descendant of the classical pilaster, 

 employed instead of a column to carry an entablature. In our Anglo-Saxon 

 work it seems to be a mark of late date ; e.g., at Barnack, Bradford-on-Avon, 

 Earl's Barton, Sompting." This writer therefore gives the weight of his 

 authority to our views as to the date of Bradford-on-Avon. 



2 D 2 



