Olnei'valions on Gothic Architecture. C^ay !, 



318 



were of moderate size ; those of the 

 Normans large, sumptuous, anil car- 

 ried up to a proportionate height with 

 two, and sometimes three, ranges of 

 pillars, one above another, conneeted 

 by circular arches forming an upper 

 and lower portico, and over them a 

 gallery. The Saxon cimrclies, more- 

 over, were formed on the plan of the 

 Basilica, or Roman courts of justice, 

 with a nave and side-aisles divided by 

 colonnades; the transept, surmounted 

 in the centre by a tower, was an addi- 

 tion of the Normans. 



Edward the Confessor had, indeed, 

 introduced this style of building, with 

 many other improvements, from Nor- 

 mandy, where he had passed many 

 years of his life. 'J'he abbey ciiurch of 

 St. Peter's, Westminster, rebuilt by 

 this famous monarch about the year 

 1050, and in wliieh he lies buried, is 

 spoken of by William of Malmesbury, 

 and Matthew Paris, as an edilice 

 orected upon the new construction. 

 The conqueror built many stately 

 churches and castles, with more than 

 thirty monasteries, among whlcb were 

 those of Battel and Selby. St. Paul's 

 cathedral, with a very great part of 

 . London, was burnt in lltrftj ; and, in 

 tiie reign of WilJiaru Rufus, " the 

 church was rebuilt by INJauritius, 

 bishop of that see, on a |)lan so exten- 

 sive, and a design so great, that most 

 people wIk) lived at that time censured 

 it as a rasli undertaking, and judged 

 that it never would be <iecomp!ishud." 

 — {Godwin dePrwsul. AnglicE.) 



Qf the succeeding reign, Urdericut 

 F»7rt/w, as quoted by j)r. Henry, (Hist. 

 G. B. vol. vi. p. 181,) says, "The 

 new cathedrals and innumerable 

 chufches that were built in all parts, 

 together with the many magnificent 

 cloisters and monasteries, and other 

 apartments of monks that were then 

 erected, afford a sufficient proof of the 

 great felicity of England in the reign of 

 Kenry I. 



Of this Norman style many noble 

 specimens remain, among which may 

 be reckoned, the transept of Winches- 

 ter cathedral, the two lowers of Exe- 

 ter, the nave of Gloucester, the west 

 front of Rochester, the parochial 

 church of Rumsey, the collegiate 

 church of Southwell, &.c. But, though 

 h^lf a century had elapsed since the 

 first Crusade, the circular arch, the 

 njassive column, the thick solid wall, 

 requiring no prominent buttresses, 

 svcrt) the characteristics of the main 



building; and, for ornaments, the spiral 

 groove, the net or lozenge work, the 

 chevron work, or zig-zag moulding, 

 the embattled and triangular fret, the 

 billet and patched mouldings, the 

 fillet, the nebule, &c. Of the few 

 Saxon remains, the ancient part of the 

 abbey church of St. Albau's, of the 

 cati»edral of Durham, of the Under 

 Croft of Canterbury, and the tower 

 called Bigod's Tower, adjoining the 

 east side of Norwich castle, are among 

 the most remarkable. The last is con- 

 jectured by Mr. King to have been 

 built in the time of Canute. — (Archao- 

 logia. Vol. IV. p. 396.) 



The church of St. Cross, near Win- 

 chester, was begun about the year 

 1132 by the celebrated Henry De 

 Blois, Bishop of Winchester, and bro- 

 ther to King Stephen. This prelate 

 appears to have been a magnificent 

 patron of the arts, as well as an elo- 

 quentorator, and a commanding states- 

 man. " This ancient church," says 

 Mr. MiJjier, "may perhaps be consi- 

 dered «,s the first regular step to the 

 introduction of that beautiful style of 

 architecture, properly stjlcd the point- 

 ed," that is, the Gothic. 



The Normans, in their lofty style of 

 building, not only piled arclves and pil- 

 lars upon each other, but imitated them 

 in the masonry of their walls, occasion- 

 ally causing those circular arches to 

 intersect eaeh other, as in the fine 

 transept of Wincliester cathedral, built 

 by Bishop Walkelin, cousin to the con- 

 queror ; though not aware of its happy 

 effect in forming the pointed arch, 

 until De Blois, resolving to ornament 

 the whole sanctuary of the church of 

 St. Cross with these intersected semi- 

 circles, conceived the idea of opening 

 them, by May of windows, to the num- 

 ber of four over the altar, and eight on 

 each side the choir, which at once pro- 

 duced a series of highly-pointed arches. 

 This naturally led to a long and nar- 

 row form of window, requiring that 

 the pillars placed on each side, by way 

 of support or ornament, should be pro- 

 portiouably t.aU and slender. Purbeck 

 marble was first adopted for this pur- 

 jiose ; but, this being deemed inade- 

 quate to the incumbent weight, caused 

 the slialts to be multiplied, and thus 

 tlie cluster-colunm was produced, la 

 the progress of impro-veraent, two of 

 these narrow windows were not un- 

 freqncntly placed under one common 

 arch, as in the low er tire of the church 

 of Netlcy abbey. This disposition 



