CIVIL ARCHITECTURE. 



539 



Pointed 

 style com- 

 menced, 

 A.D. 1154. 



Lancet 

 style per- 

 fected. 



Distin- 

 guishing 

 teaturcs. 



Finep:rcs. 



Norman 

 style total- 

 ly gone. 



W. de 



Vjkcham. 



Knot! of 

 foliage, sta- 

 tue!, and 

 flying but- 

 treuet. 



Tracery. 



Clustered 

 columns. 



Windows, 



tracery, 



andpaiuted 



glasi. 



frown of 

 Beclcei' 

 lonih, sug- 

 gested the 

 Louvre, 

 Ely, and 

 Canter- 

 bury. 



Era 1272 

 M 1399. 



During the reign of Stephen, that is, from 1135 to 

 1154, the arches became slightly pointed: the heavy- 

 round pillar was divided and clustered, and by degrees 

 converted into the tall slender pillar, supporting the 

 sharply pointed arch, distinguished by the name of lan- 

 cet ; but still many ornaments of the preceding era con- 

 tinued to be used. In the reign of the third Henry, the 

 cathedrals of Westminster, Salisbury, and Ely, are evi- 

 dence of the perfection to which this elegant style had 

 then been carried. 



The distinguishing features of this style are tall and 

 slender pillars, some of them, as in the nave of Worces- 

 ter cathedral, are bound by fillets at certain distances, and 

 insulated and clustered into a single column, with narrow 

 lancet windows, and roofs upon simple cross springers ; 

 the arches sharply pointed, and the windows increased 

 to three lights : There was sometimes a combination of 

 circular and pointed, and still a mixture of the old orna- 

 ments ; but perhaps the most striking of all the features 

 of this period, is the lofty and finely tapered spire, 

 which, in 1222, was constructed of timber, covered with 

 lead, upon the lofty tower of Old St Paul's cathedral. 

 The tower itself was 260 feet high, and the spire being 

 274, made the total height ,"534 feet This was under 

 the reign of Henry III. See Stowe's Survey of London. 

 Under Edward I. every feature of the Norman style 

 was totally rejected. Slender pillars of Purbeck marble 

 were adopted. These were united under one capital, de- 

 corated with the leaves of the palm tret, ... d the pillars 

 and arcadee were modelled into an extreme of lightness. 



Early in the reign of Richard the II. under the cele- 

 brated W. de Wykeham, additional boldness and deco- 

 rations were thrown into the style. The capitals were 

 constructed and sculptured with more ingenuity ; the 

 vaults were studded with knots of foliage at the inter- 

 section of the ribs ; the western front was enriched with 

 statues; and the flying buttresses, formed of segments of 

 circle*, were rendered highly ornamental. Dallaway's 

 Observations. 



The ribs had also formed a considerable degree of 

 tracery upon the vaults. The small columns were at 

 last not placed separate from the body of the column, 

 but, being united, composed it. The windows were 

 greatly enlarged ; they were divided by stone mullions, 

 and spread, in the upper part, into many beautiful and 

 fanciful ramifications. The eastern and western win- 

 dows, in many instances, occupied the whole breadth of 

 the nave, and rose nearly as high as the vaultings. And 

 these windows, which were now filled with painted glass, 

 exhibiting portraits and historical subjects, produced a 

 magical effect, with which mankind had hitherto been 

 unacquainted. In the cathedral and St Mary's chapel, 

 now Trinity parish church at Ely, are pillars and win- 

 dows of this style, and the chapel is reckoned one of 

 the most perfect structures of that age. Bentham's 

 Essays. 



It has been thought that the crown of Becket, in Can- 

 terbury cathedral, suggested the plan of the Louvre, of 

 Ely, and Canterbury, which are fine specimens of this 

 style ; and that the crosses, erected bjr Edward I. af- 

 forded a model for the canopies, denominated tabernacle 

 work. Dallaway's Observations. 



With regard to the era of this style, the first appear- 

 ance of the pointed arch was during the reign of Ste- 

 phen (1135 to 1154) ; but the Norman features were 

 not wholly rejected till Edward I. (1272 to 1307) ; 

 and the termination of this pure style may be placed 

 about the commencement of the fourth Henry (1399), 



so that the works which exhibit this particular style History. 

 were executed in the latter end of the 13th and the be- x " ~Y~~ I 

 ginning of the 14th century. 



The distinguishing features have already been men- 

 tioned j but it is necessary to add, that the arches of the 

 windows and niches, were ornamented with crockets tied at Crocket*, 

 the top, in a knot resembling the blossom of the Euphor- 

 bium ; the central towers became more lofty, and more 

 ornamented 5 the cloisters, altars, screens, canopies, 

 shrines, and even external western fronts, were highly- 

 enriched with sculptures, and the tapering spire was 

 brought into use. 



It is impracticable and unnecessary here to enumerate 

 all the instances where this style was executed ; for it 

 was extended to ecclesiastical buildings in every quarter 

 of the kingdom ; but the following are specimens which 

 will convey a satisfactory idea of its excellency : The Edificei m 

 western parts of York, Peterborough, and Litchfield ; this style, 

 the addition at Lincoln ; the naves of Canterbury, York, 

 Winchester, and Exeter ; the choirs of York and Clou- 

 cester ; and, for correctness of proportions and richness 

 of decorations, the screens of Abbot Whitehamstead at 

 St Alban's, and Bishop Fox at Winchester, deserve to be 

 noticed. 



From the accession of the fourth Henry to the death Style 

 of Henry the VII. in 1509, that is, during the course changed. 

 of the 15th century, the style of architecture was again Era i 399 

 completely changed. Mr Walpole is of opinion, that the to 1509. 

 Sepultural Saelta of the archbishops of Canterbury were 

 the models for the style of this century. The walls Wa!h thin 

 were made of great height, but remarkably thin. The and "'gn- 

 towers were ornamented with panelled arcades in every 

 part of their height ; and the parapets and pinnacles p arapet8 

 were formed of open embattled work. The vaultings of and piuna- 

 the roof were constructed with great ingenuity, and cle* open 

 were made to unite with the groins formed by the arches work, 

 over the windows ; they were also formed into pendants p e ndanti. 

 of singular shape and workmanship. Over the high al- 

 tar, instead of decorations, composed of architectural 

 members, or imitations of leaves or flowers, images of images of 

 angels and musical instruments in full choir were intro- angels, 

 duced. The cloisters, which had hitherto remained quite 

 plain, had now their roofs overspread with tracery, 

 which, rising from the springers, took the form and ap- 

 pellation of fan-work ; and even the windows of these Fan-work. 

 cloisters were filled with painted glass. Of this style, 

 the finest specimens are, the chapel of King's College, Edifices. 

 Cambridge, begun by Henry VI., and finished by Hen- 

 ry VIII., and the sepultural chapel of Henry VII. at 

 Westminster. The number and variety of ornaments, 

 among which the armorial bearings had long been intro- 

 duced, the exquisite delicacy of workmanship, and the 

 extent of windows filled with painted glass, in walls of 

 incredible thinness, but, above all, the singularity of the 

 roof, produces a wonderful degree of surprise and admi- 

 ration. 



From this period, an insatiable disposition to vary and proftnion 

 increase decorations, already so profuse, the dreadful ha- of decora- 

 voc which took place at the Reformation, and the incli- t ' u * 

 nation which began to prevail of introducing the ancient 

 Roman style, (which, early in the 16th century, had 

 been revived in Italy,) led to all the confusion and des- 

 picable intermixtures which took place for almost a cen- 

 tury. 



Having now given as full an account of the state of 

 architecture, from the decline of the Roman style to the 

 period of its revival, as a work of this nature admits of, 

 the reader is referred for farther particulars to the au- 



