918 PROCEEDINGS OP SECTION J. 



dant in many parts of the Roman world, but buildings still in 

 use yet remain as living* Avitnesses. 



The great Central Tower of St. Alban's Cathedral was 

 built in Norman times, but with Roman bricks which had 

 previously formed the walls of Verulam. 



Ordinary building-stone would long ago have crumbled 

 away under the trying influence of English climate, but the 

 material of which this tower is built still promises to bid defiance 

 to the denuding ravages of time for many ages yet to come. 



I was present during the excavations tor the extension of 

 one of the Metropolitan railways, when a portion of the old 

 Roman London Wall was laid ])are, and I had the good 

 fortune to secure some of the bricks ; tliey were of the usual 

 Roman type, long, broad and thin, but perfectly sound and 

 so hard that they might still be pronounced as most desirable 

 building material. 



Another type of brick often used by Roman builders is the 

 triangular. This was built with one base to the face of the 

 wall and the apex pointing to the centre, which was after- 

 wards filled up with concrete, and formed a construction of 

 great strength and durability. 



Tesselated pavements, whose beauty and utility are so 

 generally recognised, were often employed by the Romans ; 

 whilst their frequent discovei'y in a climate such as that of 

 England is sufficient guarantee as to their surprising endu- 

 rance resisting the effect of wear and time. 



During the middle ages brickwork Avas little used in 

 England, at least for important buildings, but towards the 

 closing years of the Tudor dynasty its revival was most 

 marked, and we find shortly after that time such important 

 buildings as Hampton Court Palace and St. James' Palace 

 were executed with bricks of good quality. 



In the north of Italy a composite style of brick and 

 marble architecture dating back to the Middle Ages was 

 largely used, and so meritorious are many of these construc- 

 tions that one of the most renowned of modern architects, 

 the late Mr. G. E. Street, R.A., did not deem it waste of 

 time to write a professional work, entitled " The Brick and 

 Marble Architecture of Northern Italy." 



Other oreat centres of brick-buildin<>; durino- the last few 

 centuries also exist, notably Hollaiid, Belgium, and Northern 

 Germany. These great districts are ill supplied with good 

 building-stone, l)ut have shown what can be accomplished in 

 brickwork . 



