24 



ENGLAND. (ARCHITECTURE, TOPOGRAPHY.) 



headed arches. This style received successive 

 improvements aiul alterations, between the reigns of 

 Henry II. and Edward VI., whence the buildings 

 then erected have been classified as examples of 

 the Early Pointed style, the Decorated Pointed 

 style, or the Perpendicular Pointed style. Of the 

 first kind is Salisbury cathedral, erected about 

 1220 ; of the second, the nave of Winchester cathe- 

 dral, and the choir of that of Gloucester ; and of the 

 third, Henry the Seventh's chapel, Westminster. 

 But a great many ancient churches exhibit a variety 

 of styles, and some every style in use since the Nor- 

 man Conquest, owing to alteration, addition, or par- 

 tial re-erection at different periods. The castles 

 founded between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries 

 are, in general, in a state of ruin and decay, except 

 those which, like Norwich castle, have been sub- 

 jected to the restorative skill and taste of modern 

 architects. Some ideas of the state of secular archi- 

 tecture at different periods, while the Pointed style 

 prevailed, may be furnished from the statement that 

 old London bridge, now pulled down, was begun in 

 1176 and finished in 1209 ; Westminster hall was 

 erected in the reign of Richard II.; Windsor castle 

 was the work of the celebrated William of Wykehain, 

 bishop of Winchester, who died in 1404 ; his suc- 

 cessor, Waynfleet, built Magdalen college, Oxford ; 

 and cardinal Wolsey that of Christchurch. After 

 the Reformation, the Pointed style declined ; and 

 during the long reign of Elizabeth, a mixed kind of 

 architecture prevailed, which has been called the Eliza- 

 betlian style, many specimens of which remain in old 

 country mansions. Under James I., Inigo Jones 

 reformed the national taste, and introduced the classic 

 orders, as displayed in the works of Palladio and other 

 Italian architects ; and among his productions may 

 be mentioned, the Banquetting House, Whitehall ; 

 the Surgeon's college, Lincoln's Inn Fields ; St Paul's 

 church, Covent Garden (the present edifice being an 

 exact model of the original, which was destroyed by 

 fire); and the older part of Charlton House, in North 

 Wiltshire, belonging to the earl of Suffolk. Our next 

 great architect was Sir Christopher Wren, who left a 

 noble monument of his genius in St Paul's cathedral, 

 London ; and his works, and those of his disciples 

 and imitators, are numerous, especially in the metro- 

 polis. His contemporary, Sir John Vanbrugh, built 

 Blenheim house, the gift of the nation to the great 

 duke of Marlborough. Towards the close of the last 

 century, a taste for Gothic architecture revived in this 

 country, as displayed in the productions of James 

 Wyatt ; but his efforts, whether directed to the re- 

 storation of ancient buildings, as at Windsor castle, 

 or to the execution of new designs, like Fonthill 

 abbey, have been surpassed by later, and especially 

 by living artists. The edifices of a country, whether 

 public or private, detached and insulated, or collected 

 in towns and cities, alike indicate the relative state of 

 society in which they were erected. England, at 

 former periods, has been divided among petty sove- 

 reigns, exposed to the incursions of maritime foes 

 and hostile neighbours, or subjected to the violence 

 and rapine of domestic warfare ; hence, strength and 

 security were the principal requisites of our ancient 

 architecture. Even the votaries of religion were not 

 exempt from danger ; therefore, in the middle ages, 

 every monastery was a fortress; and several churches 

 in the counties adjoining Scotland were obviously de- 

 signed as places of refuge from the marauding bor- 

 derers. The barons and knights dwelt in moated 

 castles, with their military retainers, and the armed 

 citizens and burgesses occupied walled towns, to 

 which the inhabitants of the open country also occa- 

 sionally retreated. The state of comparative con- 

 fidence and tranquillity happily subsisting in modem 



times, lias shown itself in the destruction or dilapidn 

 tion and decay of castles and city-walls, except a few 

 of the former, preserved as memorials of antiquity, 

 or converted into jails for the custody of offenders 

 against the laws. At present, the buildings in our 

 principal cities and towns, as London, Oxford, Bath, 

 Bristol, Cheltenham, Brighton, Liverpool, and Man- 

 chester, with the country seats and mansions belong- 

 ing to persons of rank and property, rival, in elegance, 

 and magnificence, those of any other part of Europe; 

 whilst the habitations of the less elevated orders of 

 the people display a degree of neatness and conve- 

 nience hardly to be found elsewhere. 



Topography. The territorial divisions of England 

 have been extremely different at different periods ; 

 and it is impossible to trace with accuracy the cor- 

 respondence between the limits of the various districts 

 into which the country was divided under successive 

 national governments. Instead therefore of attempt- 

 ing a complete enumeration of the British tribes, and 

 a description of the boundaries of their respective 

 domains, we shall describe the general situation of 

 the provinces constituted in the southern part of this 

 island after it was subjugated by the Romans, noticing 

 the aboriginal nations mentioned by ancient geo- 

 graphers ; and then proceed to state the existing 

 arrangements of counties and circuits, which pro- 

 bably originated with the Anglo-Saxons. The earliest 

 formed Roman province in Britain was called Bri- 

 tannia Prima, including the whole territory south of 

 the Thames from Kent to Cornwall. Within it dwelt 

 the British nations denominated Cantii, Bibroci, At- 

 trebates, Segontiaci, Belga?, Hedui, Durotriges, Cim- 

 bri, Carnabiior Cornubii, and Damnonii. The next 

 province was Britannia Secunda, comprehending the 

 tract westward of the Severn : of this only the south- 

 eastern angle belongs to England ; and its original 

 inhabitants were the Silures, a warlike people, whose 

 dominion, while independent, extended over South 

 Wales. The third was the Flavian province, Flavia 

 Caesariensis, between the Thames, the Severn, and 

 the Humber. Here were situated the nations called 

 Dobuni, Cassii or Cattieuchlani, Carnabii, Trino- 

 bantes, Iceni, -and Coritani. The fourth province 

 was Maxima Ceesariensis, north-eastward of the 

 foregoing, and extending to the wall of Severus, 

 between the Tyne and Solway Firth, where dwelt the 

 people called Parisii, Brigantes, Voluntii, and Sistun- 

 tii. Beyond the wall was a province styled Valentia, 

 reaching to the rivers Clyde and Forth, in Scotland. 

 The southern portion, now included in the counties 

 of Cumberland and Northumberland, was perhaps 

 partly inhabited by the Maaetae, the Gadeni, and the 

 Ottadini. 



After the Anglo-Saxons obtained possession of the 

 country, it was divided into seven independent king- 

 doms, the limits of which have been already given in 

 the historical sketch. The distribution of England into 

 counties and hundreds has been attributed to Alfred 

 the Great ; but without sufficient authority. The insti- 

 tution of circuits took place in the reign of Henry II. 



England is now divided into six circuits and forty 

 counties. 



Chief Towns. 



Middlesex . London, c.* 

 HOME CIRCUIT, 

 Essex 

 Hertford 



Kent 



Surrey 



Chelmsford, a.* . , n .._i, 

 Hertford, a. tBerk 

 r Canterbury, c. 

 i Rochester, c. 

 C Maidstone, a. 

 r Kingston, a- 

 -J Guildford, a. 

 CCroydon, a- 



( Chichcster, c. 



! Horsliam, a. 



(.Lewes, a. 



Chief Towns. 



OXFORD CIRCUIT, 



Oxon Oxford, c. a. 



Oxor, c. a. 

 ( Abingdoii, . 

 I Reading, a. 



Gloucester, 



Worchesters. 

 Monmouths. 

 Herefords. 

 Salop 



Staffords. 



Worcestcr.c. a. 

 MoBmontn, . 

 Hereford; c. a 



Shrewsbury, . 

 ( Stafford, n. 



c. stands for city ; a. for assize town. 



