,1825,] 



Observations on Gothic Architecture. 



causing a space between their heads, 

 it was occupied by a tre-foil, or a 

 qiiatre-foil ; and <he pleasing eft'ect of 

 tbis simple ornament soon occasioned 

 its introduction into the heads of the 

 arches themselves. In time, the tre- 

 foil and quatre-foil became a cinque- 

 foil, the cinque-foil a Ian, and the fan 

 finally terminated in tlie rosette, forni- 

 inj? a single window of great magni- 

 tude and beauty, as (iiat over the north 

 entrance of Westminster abbey. The 

 large east and west windows re- 

 quired numerous divisions or mirllions ; 

 which, as wcil as the ribs and transoms 

 of the vaultings, gradually ramified 

 into all the varieties of tracer}-. The 

 pointed arch on the exterior of the 

 building was surmounted by an orna- 

 mented canopy of the same form, and 

 the buttresses tapered into light and 

 elegant pinnacles. These seem t<j 

 have suggested the idea of a spire, as 

 the proper finish oi' the square tawer ; 

 and then the Gothic cathedral was 

 completed. — (Vide Mihier's Essay an 

 the poinled Arch.) 



From the introduction of the pointed 

 arched window by Bisiiop Henry de 

 Blois, in the church of St. Cross, forty 

 years subsequent to the fust crusade, the 

 earliest period of tiie Gothic architec- 

 ture, or the Norman-Gothic, may be said 

 to commence. This lasted al>out a cen- 

 tury, during the reigns of Stephen. 

 Henry II. Richard I. King John, and 

 part of Henry III. Tiie noble paro- 

 cliial church of Rumsey, in Hampshire, 

 was the work of the princely De Blois 

 in the reign of Stephen. The west 

 end of the Temple-chureli in London 

 was erected in the reign of Henry II. 

 Here we find pointed and round arches 

 intermixed ; the great arches are 

 poinled, and tlic windows above are 

 round. The west door is a round 

 arch rieldy ornamented. The great 

 western tower of Ely cathedral, built 

 by Bishop Rydel, who died a>d. 1189, 

 the last of Henry II. consists of pointed 

 arches. In the reigns of Richard I. 

 and Jolin, the pointed stjle made 

 ?:reat a<lvaiices, as may be seen in the 

 ruins of IJeaulieu alibey, and diflercnt 

 parts of J)e Lucy's work in Winches- 

 ter catheilial, executed at that time. 

 During the reign of Henry III. the 

 new style attained, peiliaps, to its high- 

 est pcrlcction. 



The first building erected upon a 

 uniform plan, and which had no mix- 

 ture of the early Norman or Saxon 

 «(yle iii itti composition, sccuis to ha\« 



S\9 



been the cathedral of Salisbury. Tli« 

 former cathedral, situated at Old 

 Sarum, was begun after the conquest; 

 so that it could scarcely have been 

 finished more tlian a century, when 

 Bishop Poore laid the foundation of the 

 present justly-admired church in 1220, 

 the 5th of Henry IH. and the super- 

 structure was not wholly completed 

 till 12.58 ; at whicii time, the second 

 stage of the Gothic architecture, that 

 of the pure and absolute Gothic, may 

 be said to connnence. The elegant 

 structure at the east end of Ely cathe- 

 dral, iu tli(! same style, was finished in 

 1250. King Henry III. also rebuilt, iu 

 the new mann<;r, a great part of the 

 abbey ehurch at Westminster, erected 

 200 years before by Edward the Con- 

 fessor; and the high pointed arch, tlie 

 improved lancet-window, the clustered 

 column, the light and ribbed vault- 

 ings, encircled at their intersectioa 

 with orbs, foliage, and other devices, 

 became comnjon in all parts of tlie 

 kingdom. 



The pointed style in France, is said, 

 by Mr. Whittington, to have first ap- 

 peared in the church of the convent of 

 St. Denis, built by the famous Abbot 

 Soger, and begun in the year 1I37> 

 somewhat later than that of St. Cross, 

 but of a more decided character. The 

 church and monastery of the knights 

 templars,, at Paris, snon followed the 

 church of St. Denis. The choir of the 

 cathedral of Lyons, and the collegiate 

 church of St. Nicholas at Amiens, in 

 this style, were constructed about the 

 same period: and before the end of tlie 

 12th century, the ancient heavy man- 

 ner, as Mr. W. tells us, "was every- 

 where discontinued, and the new aiiy 

 unmixed Gothic universally adopted." 



The cathedrals of Rheims and 

 Amiens were erected during the reign 

 of Louis IX. or St. Louis. They were 

 nearly contemporary with Salisbury, 

 but in richness of ornament lar supe- 

 rior; though, perhaps, not in architec- 

 tural skill and real elegance. Tlie 

 \\ est front of lihoinis, in particular, is 

 extolled, as displaying the most exqui- 

 site combinations of grace and beauty. 

 Amiens, though niueii inferior in its 

 dimensions to Salisbury, is likcHise 

 said to exhibit a more advanced state 

 of the art; more especially in respect 

 to the side windows, which are of a 

 form and magnitude not known in 

 England till half a century afterwards ; 

 three noble rosettes, or circular lights 

 of stained {{lass, also adorning iho 

 transepts 



