TIVIL ARCHITECTURE. 



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CLXXVI. 

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Interior. 



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( I. XXVI. 



in the vil- 

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(tandt within the precinctt of the old cattle of Bridge- 

 north in Shropthire. It was completed in ) 79ti. The 

 extreme length oer the walls it 1'21 feet, the breadth 

 Se height of the side wall*, including the plinth 

 upon which the order stands, and exclusive of the para- 

 pet, it 36 feet 6 inches. The hright of the tower is 1 14 

 feet. The plan and elevation will be seen in Plate 

 CLXXVI. From these it will appear, that externally 

 Tuscan order is continued round the fabric, and that, 

 excepting two columns at the entrance, it is composed of 

 pilasters. There is a pediment at each end, a:id a 

 pet in every other place. In the body of the church 

 there are no breaks ; those near the extremities are made 

 to distinguish the several parts of the edifice ; also by di- 

 viding the length, the elevation acquires some appearance 

 of loftiness, and some resemblance of the ancient porti- 

 cos is thereby obtained. The Tuscan order, besides be- 

 ing the most economical, has, when constructed of this 

 magnitude, an air of majestic gravity ; it is also in due 

 subordination to the decorations of the outside of the su- 

 perior part of the tower, and the interior of the church. 

 There is only one row of windows 21 feet 3 inches high. 

 In the tower, the belfry story has the Doric order in 

 strong relief, and its entablature is carried along each 

 face without any break. Over this is the apartment for 

 the clock, and the whole is covered with a dome. 



Internally, the body of the church is a parallelogram 

 77 X 60 feet j the middle aisle is 29 feet 9 inches in 

 height from the pavement to the ceiling. The side aisles 

 27 feet. Six Ionic columns are placed along each side 

 of the middle aisle, and two of larger dimensions stand at 

 the entrance into the chancel, so that the full Ionic en- 

 tablature is continued quite round the middle aisle. The 

 chancel is square, and, to render it more solemn, is light- 

 ed from the top. This also makes room for paintings 

 or statuary over the altar, and on each side of it. On 

 one side of the chancel is a vestry room for the clergy- 

 man, on the other side is one for the parish officers. The 

 church is sufficiently lighted by the three large windows 

 on each side. Originally, there was only a narrow gal- 

 lery at the entrance end for the singers ; but some years 

 after the church was completed, in order to obtain more 

 pews, a gallery was erected along each side. On each 

 tide of the circular entrance lobby, are stairs which com- 

 municate with the galleries. The space contained in 

 the body of the church corresponds to that recommended 

 by Sir C. Wren, as the maximum for an audience hearing 

 distinctly, viz. 50 feet in front, 30 on each side, and 20 

 behind the tpraker. 



Plate CLXXVI. is the plan of a church for the village 

 of Madely, near Coalbrookdale, in the county of Salop. 

 It was with some slight changes erected there, and a si- 

 milar one at the adjacent parish of Dawley. Galleries 

 being here considered absolutely necessary, the design 

 was made with the view of forming and lighting the body 

 of the church independent of them. For this puspose it 

 was made 70 feet by 50, from which a space at each end 

 of the four angles is cut off, to admit of large windows. 

 From each of the longest sides there is a recess of 38 

 feet by 12, to contain galleries, &c. At the entrance 

 end is a projection, to receive the bell tower, and, at the 

 opposite cud, it one for the chancel and two vestries. 

 Externally, this arrangement affords great regularity of 

 front in each direction. The dimensions being marked 

 in the plan, every part will be evident by inspection. 

 This church contains 1000 commodious sittings, besides 

 what may be placed in the passages. The pulpit may be 

 placed Dearly in the middle of the chord line of a semi- 

 circle, which shall extend to the opposite sides, and be- 

 ing perhaps the most suitable of all positions. 



Having neen the progress that the revived Roman ar- Practice. 

 ctiitecture made in sacred edifices, we shall next endea- ^T~ ""^ 



vonr totrace it in the private dwellings of different periods. L 



- dwelling*, 



rrom a very well written account of the town of 



Shrewsbury, we have the following particulars respecting 

 old English habitations. 



The town houses of our forefathers, as far ai they re- Town 

 late to the present subject, may be divided into the ker- huutrs. 

 nelled or embattled mansion, the hall or uncmbattled 

 gentleman's house, and the tradesman's habitation. The 

 embattled mansion partook both of the castellated and 

 collegiate forms. Like the former, it was crowned with 

 embrasures, and surrounded always in the country, and 

 sometimes even in towns, with a moat, but had seldom 

 more than one tower placed at tiie point of most strength, 

 which consisted of three or four stories, containing on 

 each floor a single room. These were doubtless built 

 on the principles of the keeps of castles. Like colleges, 

 the embattled houses were uniformly constructed round 

 a quadrangle, with a turretted gate-house of entrance, 

 though not fortified with the massive round towers and 

 portcullis of the castle gate. The principal apartments 

 were the hall, the great chamber, kitchen, and chapel. 

 The hall was a copy of those in colleges, which in their 

 tuin were of conventual origin. Here the master, with 

 his family and superior guests, dined every day at a long 

 oak table, elevated on two or three steps called the high- 

 dees at the upper end, whilst the tenants, and those of 

 inferior rank, were seated at a table below, at right an- 

 gles with the former. The hall was lighted with one or 

 more Gothic windows, and a long bow window, forming 

 a recess near the high table. It had no fire-place, but 

 was warmed by a brazier of live coals in the middle, the 

 smoke escaping from a hole in the top. This apart- 

 ment being anciently always open to the roof, the 

 timbers were formed into a pointed arch, carved and 

 adorned with arms, rebusses, and quaterfoils. At 

 the tower end was a wooden screen of latticed work, 

 which supported a gallery for the minstrelsy on great 

 days. Under it ran a narrow lobby with a passage 

 through, which communicated with the buttery hatch, 

 where the butler attended, to administer ale to the nume- 

 rous applicants at all times of the day, and beyond these 

 were the offices. The great chamber adjoined the hall 

 at the upper end. In this apartment was the luxury 

 of a fire place, if the wide open chimney-pieces of our 

 ancestors deserve to be called luxuries, and it was the 

 usual resort of the family when not at their meals. It is 

 conceived also, that, as in the combination-room of col- 

 leges, and the locutorium, or parlour of monasteries, the 

 master with his chief guests often retired soon after din- 

 ner from the cold atmosphere of the hall, to the social 

 comfort of its hearth, while the inferior visitors were left 

 to carouse by the dying embers of the brazier they had 

 left. 



The chapel was a small room often over the gateway, 

 and sometimes adjoining it, and was rather an oratory 

 for private devotion than for the assembling of a congre- 

 gation. 



To these ancient fortified houses succeeded the cmbat- Embattle 

 tied mansion of Queen Elizabeth, or James I. This was manion i I 

 of two kinds, the greater and the less ; one an improve- the c 

 ment upon the rude quadrangle, the other an expansion trv ' 

 of the ancient castlet ; one luminous and magnificent, 

 with deep projecting bow windows, and the other l"fty, 

 square, and compact. Of the great square windows in 

 such houses, it is a well known c >n>plaint of Lord Ba- 

 con, " that one knows not where to become to bv out of 

 the sun." The characteristic accompaniments of these 

 houses within, were huge arched lire-place, in their halls 



