52 ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



that which we see admitted in the most ancient clois- 

 ters. There must have been a transition which escapes 

 us for lack of monuments described, or buildings still 

 existing. For there is a well-de- 

 fined demarcation between the 

 Roman impluvium and the Chris- 

 tian cloisters of Europe. In the 

 first, the columns rest directly 

 upon the soil, and one can pass 

 from the colonnade to the plot 

 of ground in the area intervening 

 between the columns; while in the 

 second, the pillars or columns are always placed on a 

 pedestal, or a parapet, separating the gallery from the 

 open ground, and only interrupted by rare breaks serv- 

 ing as exits. This latter disposition and the lowness 

 of the columns are characteristic of cloisters in the 

 West, and form a particular style of architecture, which 

 has less connection with the courts enclosed by porticoes 

 of the Romans." 



Location of The cloisters were enclosed by the church and the 

 ten. other principal buildings of the monastery, the refec- 



tory, the dormitory, and the chapter-house, just as 

 the classic peristyle was surrounded by the living 

 rooms occupied in common by the family. These 

 cloisters were ordinarily placed south of the church 

 in order that, unshadowed by its lofty walls, the 



