I90O J. BELLOWS — ROMAN ARCHITECTURE 205 



was distinctly useful in a stormier climate such as that of 

 Britain, as a place for exercise, we find the earlier archi- 

 tects of the abbeys and cathedrals retained the atrium ; but 

 they placed it at the side of the building instead of at the 

 end. This change is well shown by a comparison of the 

 original Basihca at Rome, which was demolished to make 

 way for Michael Angelo's great cathedral, with the original 

 cathedral of Canterbury [Plate IV., figs. 3, 4.] In other 

 words, the atrium, with its covered walk in front, has 

 become, in ecclesiastical architecture, the cloisters at the 

 side of the main building, instead of remaining a fore-court. 



We must remember that this idea of an atrium, derived 

 from Eastern lands, was a governing one in the architec- 

 ture of all Greek and Roman mansions of importance, and 

 of inns for the accommodation of travellers. Examples 

 of such an arrangement in inns have come down to our 

 own century in the " Tabard," the " Bull and Mouth," the 

 " Talbot," the " White Hart," the " Four Swans," and 

 the " Saracen's Head," hostelries in London [see Plate V., 

 figs. 4, 5, 6] ; in the " George " at Hungerford, in the 

 " Falcon " at Cambridge, in the " Ram " at Cirencester 

 (of which, by the way, there is a drawing by Hogarth, 

 who once lodged in it), and in the " New .Inn " at 

 Gloucester [Plate V., fig. 3.] This "New Inn," built 

 nearly five centuries ago, is as real a survival of Roman 

 architecture, as to its style, as the Colosseum itself. In 

 most parts of Europe where the Roman influence was 

 felt, similar inns still exist ; as for example at Bucharest, 

 where one finds the same open galleries looking into a 

 courtyard, built by the Roumanians of to-day, who are de- 

 scended from Italian colonists, still speaking the language. 



It is worth noting for a moment that this Roman 

 atrium of the old hostelries has left a mark on our English 

 speech in a familiar word, the origin of which is not sus- 

 pected perhaps by many Englishmen. We call the room 



