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THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



I Mabch, 



to tlie lineation or prevalence of upright lines in the tracery of 

 the windows. In fact, horizoiitnlity expresses itself quite as much 

 or even still more strongly than perpendicularity, owing to the 

 openings, arches, as well as doors and windows, being framed into 

 square-headed compartments forming panels upon a larger scale. 

 As frequently as not, the windows themselves are actually square- 

 headed; and whether so or not, their "lights" form a congeries of 

 square-headed panels, differing from others only in being per- 

 forated and glazed. Horizontality, again, manifests itself plainly 

 enough in the transoming of the windows; so that together with 

 sqnare-hendiness and panelling, it characterises the style far more 

 distinctly than perpendicularity does. Still, as "Perpendicular" 

 is the designation which has now generally obtained in this 

 country, it may as well be allowed to remain undisturbed, it being 

 highly inconvenient to be always altering terms which, whether 

 correct or not, answer the purpose of mere names. What is here 

 said is chiefly intended to show how many other indicial and 

 strongly-marked traits of style had been overlooked by those who 

 brought up the term in question. 



IV. With regard, too, to the Gothic style generally, many of its 

 influential elements have been overlooked — at least, are not taken 

 into account by those who pretend to trace its origin and develop- 

 ment. It is usual to consider the Pointed Arch as the germ of 

 the whole style in all its varieties, as the punctum saliens, out of 

 which all the rest grew naturally. Now, in the first place, the 

 Pointed Arch is in itself, and considered merely as a form, anything 

 but beautiful; it being ofl^ensively harsh, ilither a square or 

 semicircular-headed opening, on the contrary, although it be left 

 quite bare, and may so far be unsatisfactory, is not positively dis- 

 pleasing; but a pointed-arch one, forming a mere aperture in a 

 wall, has a villainously barbarous look. Nevertheless, houses with 

 such-shaped holes in the walls for doors and windows have ere 

 now been erected, and have passed for "Gothic," — at any rate, for 

 neat Modern-Gothic. That there was a good deal of fancy exer- 

 cised on such occasions is not to be denied, since it required a 

 more than ordinary share of it to fancy that things of the kind 

 had anything at all in common with the style which we call Gothic. 

 People had got it into their heads, and some of them have it there 

 still, that the Pointed Arch taken abstractedly and per se was the 

 very essence, or rather quintessence of the Gothic style. Even 

 granting it to be such, that essence was so diluted and wishy- 

 washed as to bear the same resemblance to the original style as 

 the nasty and nauseous rinsings of wine-bottles do to the generous 

 beverage they once contained. The truth however is, that so far 

 •from constituting the essence of the style in question, the Pointed 

 Arch is only one of its rudiments, — certainly the most obvious, 

 and an exceedingly influential one. Still, the same form of arch 

 might have been — in fact, has been employed without leading to 

 the same style or anything like it. One highly important charac- 

 teristic in it, is diagonalism or the employment of oblique planes 

 and surfaces — for instance, in splays and the sloping "offsets" on 

 the faces of walls or of buttresses. Another is, that with the ex- 

 ception of what are termed "weather-mouldings," the mouldings 

 to apertures are recessed within the general plane or surface of 

 the wall, instead of projecting out from it. Besides receding 

 planes or surfaces connected by splays sloping upwards, one pe- 

 culiarity of the style is, that it admits of what is precisely the 

 reverse — namely, projecting surfaces or members supported upon 

 corbelling, which alone constitutes a marked distinction of the 

 style. The Pointed Arch is therefore only one element of it, and 

 one which might have been adopted without the others resulting 

 from it as of course. Supposing a person otherwise well-skilled 

 in architecture, but ignorant of the existence of Gothic, to have 

 the figure of a Pointed Arch shown him, we may safely say that 

 it would be utterly impossible for him to form any idea from such 

 sample of it what the style itself really was. In all probability, 

 he would conclude it to be exceedingly dry and bald — exceedingly 

 limited in expression, and exhibiting itself only in the forms of 

 arches and openings in the wall. 



V. In fact, the form of the arch goes but a very little way to- 

 wards the system of the Gothic style, which derives its most cha- 

 racteristic motives of embellishment from windows, and the neces- 

 sity for glazing them. In the earlier stages of mediaeval architec- 

 ture, and while windows were merely single apertures, they were 

 small — at least narrow, insignificant, and more mean than beau- 

 tiful features. Fortunately, they could not be greatly enlarged — 

 certainly not to anything like the magnitude they afterwards fre- 

 quently attained, except by combining two or more apertures 

 framed together into one general composition, or what amounts to 

 the same thing, by subdividing the entire general aperture into 

 several lesser ones, in order that the glass and its leadding might be 



securely supported. Could intervening shafts or mullions have 

 been dispensed with, or had they been so, instead of the admirable 

 designs for windows we now see, we should have had merely large 

 arches tilled in with glazing. To the employment of mullions or 

 intervening supports — a happy idea in itself — we are indebted for 

 what may be called the efflorescence of decoration peculiar to the 

 style — viz., Traceby. Mullions being introduced, it became ne- 

 cessary to fill up the head of the arch by ribs in continuation of 

 tliem, which being variously combined, become that peculiar species 

 of decoration known by tlie name of Traceky — a main and very 

 fertile source of decoration, nothing corresponding to which exists 

 in classical architecture or the styles copied from it. Yet, in esti- 

 mating Gothic, its above-mentioned characteristics have been ge- 

 nerally, if not entirely overlooked — certainly slighted, and treated 

 as very secondary matters ; while more than enough has been said 

 on the subject of the Pointed Arch, and many absurdities uttered 

 in the idle attempt to account for its origin. And if it could be 

 accounted for conclusively, upon the very strongest evidence, all 

 that would be gained would be the knowledge of an historic fact, 

 without any further insight into or power over the style itself. 

 We already know that it was evolved — whether partly through ac- 

 cident or not makes no difference — out of a few simple elements 

 and circumstances. Yet what are we at all the better for knowing 

 as n.uch, when it does not enable us to work out by degrees a 

 style for ourselves at the present day, by doing now what the 

 mediaeval arcliitects did, in and for their own time. On the con- 

 trary, the knowledge of what has been done is now made a posi- 

 tive hindrance to anything further being done. 



VI. However learned some of them may be, and thoroughly fa- 

 miliar with all that has been done before, not only in one, but in 

 every style of the art, the architects of the present day seem to 

 be visited by the curse — if curse it be — of impotence and sterility : 

 they appear to have utterly lost all generative power, and to be in- 

 capable of producing new ideas. Can a single really new and 

 fructifying idea — one that opens fresh ground, be pointed out in 

 any work of the present century .'' Improvement there has been ; 

 but instead of being such as results from fresh artistic vigour and 

 energy, it is of a kind which may be ascribed more to the extended 

 employment and more numerous opportunities afforded to archi- 

 tects — in a word, to comparatively favourable matter-of-fact cir- 

 cumstances, than to any particular talent of their own displayed 

 by the profession themselves. Be it ever so unbecoming or il- 

 liberal to say so, they do seem greatly at a loss for ideas ; and ac- 

 cordingly contented to take up with and abide by those of other 

 minds, who worked out theirs when architects were allowed the 

 privilege of all other artists, and availed themselves of it by 

 daring to think for themselves, and impress original mind upon 

 their creations. Nor is it any wonder that by the utter disuse of 

 it, the inventive faculty, which was wont in former times to be 

 displayed, should now be paralysed. In fact, so far from their 

 being encouraged, germinating ideas are repressed and stifled, 

 as if absolutely noxious and dangerous. 



VII. The toleration of every crude whim and sickly caprice is 

 most assuredly to be deprecated. When we speak of new ideas 

 being adopted, it is, of course, only worthy and meritorious ones 

 that are meant — such as are the result of invention guided by 

 study and reflection. And presumed it may be, that those who 

 have really studied the style or styles they profess to follow, and 

 have accordingly familiarised themselves with them, and imbibed 

 their taste, do not require constant prompting from actual ex- 

 amples for every particular, but are so capable of entering into the 

 general spirit of the original models, as to be able to modify them 

 pertinently, and be faithful to their genius, although deviating 

 from the exact letter of tliem. Hamlet's instructions to the 

 players not to utter more than was actually set down for them, do 

 not apply to architects. The observance of the mere letter of a 

 style by no means ensures the spirit of it ; the latter being some- 

 thing of so fine and volatile a nature, that it is apt to evaporate 

 altogether while we are fumbling at rules, and poking after pre- 

 cedents. 



VIII. Neither are my remarks to be understood too literally : 

 by no means do I intend to say that the mere deviation from ordi- 

 nary rules and practice will ensure some fresh and previously un- 

 tried assthetic beauty. It is not every idea which may chance to 

 present itself that deserves to be adopted, or can be made any- 

 thing of. Many may be dismissed forthwith ; and even really good 

 ideas require to be carefully considered, studied, and worked out. 

 If it be asked what is to be understood by a really good idea, the 

 answer is, one its author himself perceives the value of, and feels 

 confident of being able to turn to useful account on more occa- 

 sions than one. That those who have no ideas of their own, or 



