1845,] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHlTECrS JOURNAL. 



83 



those recesses, which must be regarded ns partakinp of the character of 

 niches. A vast niimber of ancient mural tombs of tliis kind remain ; many 

 cxiiiUtins the finest possible Horkinanship, and the [jreatest profusion of 

 ball-flowers, mouldings, fealhered cusps, and other decorative delail. We 

 need hardly cite the incomparable tombs of M'eslminater Aliliey, nor observe 

 that the Percy .Shrine, at Beverley, may indeed have once been the wonder 

 of England for its chaslcness and extraordinary richness of ornament. 



Some examples of Perpendicular date, by their enormous size and height, 

 violate true principles, which require that such features .should always be 

 subordinate. Such an extravagant design is the tomb in the chancel of 

 St. Andrew, Ilingham, Norfolk, which extends from the ground to the roof. 



This kind of monument, however, in no respect defends that favourite 

 modem deformity, a Gothic mural tablet. We object to these altogether as 

 most faulty on the grounds both of principle and effect. It is just like trying 

 to make galleries look tolerable by panelled (iolhic fronts. A white marble 

 slab, enclosed between two buttressed pinnacles, and reccsssed some few 

 inches behind a crockctted canopy, the whole standing out perhaps on a 

 moulded bracket between two windows, or over a door ; this is often erected, 

 at a very great cost, under the mistaken idea that because its details are 

 Golhic, it is therefore consistent with (iothic principles." 



A priest's monument must be devoid of high pretension.' Either a brass, 

 or a floor-cross, with a chalice sculptured on one side of the stem, is the most 

 fitting. It should be laid down in the chancel floor, in our opinion, whether 

 it immediately covers the body or not. For a grave-stone, in its highest use, 

 is not so much intended to mark the exact spot of sepulture, as to record the 

 fact, and commemorate the event in the prayers of the Church. Monuments 

 form 50 conspicuous a part of decoration, as well as of the moral of church 

 architecture, that to deny them a place in the interior of the sacred fabric 

 would be to deprive it of no inconsiderable portion of its religious effects. 



High tombs occur principally in chancels, or near Altars, and usually 

 attached or at least close to the wall. They were often used for Easter sepul- 

 chres. The position on the north side of the High Altar is well known. At 

 All Saints, Milton, and St. Mary's, .Sawston, near Cambridge, there are high 

 tombs in this place which date after the "Reformation." The latter was 

 erected during the reign of Queen Mary. The best place, however for these 

 tombs is a chantry chapel. Here they may be rendered gorgeous with he- 

 raldries and painted efligies. In other parts of a church they are apt to be 

 too cumbrous, as well as too prominent and conspicuous. For example, the 

 alabaster effigies so commonly in vogue from the time of Queen Elizabeth 

 downwards, generally partake too much of pride and ostentatious display in 

 their great size and the exuberance of their ornament. Thus they encumber 

 rather than decorate a church. Nevertheless, they are infinitely better than 

 the modern pagan marbles. I'pon the whole, however, they appear to us the 

 least desirable to revive of any kind of mounment ; and, indeed, they were 

 the invention of a late period, at least in their isolated and allar-like form • 

 for when placed under rich canopies, their nature and effect are materially 

 changed, principally from their recessed position within a wall. 



There is an unusual but very becoming kind of monument, which may be 

 called the coped high tomb, of which a specimen from the church-yard of St. 

 Giles, Bredon, Worcestershire, is given in the histrumcnta Ecdcsiaslka, Part 

 III. There is a fine example at St. Mary's, Sallord, Bedfordshire. In this 

 case, the design resembles a low coffin-shaped sarcophagus, standing about 

 two feet above the floor. 



The sunken effigy is a device which might perhaps be fit for modern adop- 

 tion, though ancient examples are either so rare, or so little appreciated, that 

 we doubt whether a single attempt has been yet made to revive their use. 

 For this reason it may be well to describe them in detail. A thick slab of 

 stone or marble has a deep circle, ijuatrefoil, or other geometric aperture 

 sunk in its upper face at one extremity, in which, a little below the level of 

 the surface, is represented the head and neck of the deceased, and sometimes 

 part of the clasped hands, as if the w hole figure were encased, and but par- 

 tially revealed from within the solid stone. At St. Andrew's, Uttcrby, St. 

 Oswald's. Howel. St. Nicholas, Normanton, and St. Stephen's, Careby, all in 

 Lincolnshire, very good examples occur. Sometimes the feet are shown at 

 the bottom, as well as the head at the top ot the slab ; but this is not very 

 olten found. 



Cofl^n-stones are often raised on low plinths of masonry, even when not 

 placed under an arch. At St. Germans, Scothcrn, Lincolnshire, there is a 

 beautilul one sculptured in relief, of Early English date. It is placed close to 



occuJ^L"'Jr AiT's f 7' Tl'^'V-" V'" °P""°"' ^''•" "^■"■B" " '^'•y f™ ""'"'1 '"Wets 

 occur (as at All Sa.uts, Bakewcll), of ante-reformation date. There is a itreat ivaiit of 



»of?onu'e'j';wrh"ea;z:rrJiVa„t's^*u^ri;:^^ 



r^Lt'l^^^^^'f '•"''""'''• " 'lescrlbd above under the third head.' wit), effigy in fuU vest- 

 ments, are not very uncommon. But even these ar» more usual in the nave or aish- wall 



c'r L'n'of'ned'f'- d "»■' Y-'"P'r' ?f '",- ".onumenl'mL; be found 1" ' K^^r' s 

 Collection ol Hedfordshire Antiquities,' and in that noUe work. 'The SeuuUhral Monu- 



llustralions of every kind, styl., ami period. At St. Mary's, Fulbourn near Camliriduc 

 there u aa .maciated cfBgy of a former Hector, close to the Altar. t-amiiridi,. , 



the western entrance; a remarkable position, which we remember to have 

 observed elsewhere, and one that may perhaps have been dictated by a sense 

 of unworthiness to approach nearer to the Aliifr. 



ON THE MARBLES OK IRIOLAND. 

 By Mr. Wilkinson. 



Read htfurc the Geological Society of Dublin, Januanj 8, 1845. The 

 paper was illustrated by upwards of 80 fine specimens of polished marbles 

 from various localities in Ireland. Some of these were cweedingly beautiful 

 and much admired by the members present, mo t of whom were not aware 

 that Ireland possessed so many varieties of native marljle. 



In bringing under the notice of the society the accompanying specimens of 

 the marbles of Ireland, I have thought it would not be altogether uninterest- 

 ing, nor alien to the objects of the society, that a few remarks should be 

 made on the subject. The designation 'marble' implies, as every one is 

 aware, a quality of stone which admiis of comparatively easy conversion, 

 and is worked to a smooth surface susceptible of polish. Those stones « hich 

 are capable of receiving a high degree of polish and brilliancy of effect, like 

 the variety of diamonds, gypsum and spar, Sic, have been by most nations 

 held in estimation, and have in various ways been used for ornamental pur- 

 poses. The word marble does not however apply to the latter, but to those 

 which arc harder than gypsum, and being found in considerable masses are 

 suitable for larger operations, and in its most restricted sense to the lime- 

 stone formations only. The marbles of a country are amongst those geolo- 

 gical products, which in an economic point of view are perhaps the most in- 

 teresting in consequence of the various useful and ornamental purposes to 

 which they may be applied. 



The use of marble in Ireland during past periods has been very limited, and 

 even at present the purposes for which it is used are very circumscribed. This 

 arises possibly to some extent from the very little general information which 

 exists relative to their varieties, and to the uses of which they are susceptible. 

 The specimens now on the table, with a few brief observations relative to their 

 external characteristics, and the localities where they were found, are there- 

 fore submitted, in the hope that some little advance, however small, may be 

 thereby made in their more general application. While the marble rocks of 

 Ireland have been quietly reposing in their native beds for many centuries 

 past, the marble of other nations, where the arts and sciences have flourished, 

 has been extensively used. Tliere is an aphorism which prefers " use before 

 ornament," and it is well illustrated in connexion with the various rocks— 

 those alone which were necessary for the construction of habitations, for the 

 formation of places of security, or for ordinary public works of utility, have 

 been brought into use. The refinement of the age, and the consequent in- 

 fluence of higher feelings, have, however, brought into use those finer-tex- 

 tured and variegated-coloured rocks, which, while they furnish ornament 

 and delight the eye, enable the skilful sculptor, by the clear and delicate out- 

 line they are capable of forming, to imitate and almost indefinitely to perpe- 

 tuate those triumphs of art in which, by unity of expression and perfect 

 harmony of outline. Nature seems almost to have been sur[iassed. Of such 

 may be mentioned those celebrated sculptures of beautiful forms which have, 

 by means of marble, perpetuated the elegant aud expressive allegories of the 

 ancient Greeks to the admiration, if not to the emulation, of the present 

 generation. The use of marble by the ancient Greeks and Romans appears 

 to have been carried to an almost unbounded extenl. The number oi marble 

 statues in the city of Rome alone almost exceeds belief. In the writings of 

 historians wc are made acquainted with the extensive use made of the marble 

 rock by the most refined nations. Thus we read of the very elaborate mar- 

 ble L-mbellishments of the ancient Indian temples, of the elegant and luxurious, 

 baths in which the ancient Romans and the inhabitants of eastern nations 

 indulged, and of the refreshing coolness which the polished surface of the 

 marble produced. The use of the marble was, however, but little known in 

 Europe during the dark ages which succeeded the fall of Rome ; and even 

 until the revival of the fine arts in the fifteenth century, when the Italian 

 school of architecture produced a different tase, the use of marble was com- 

 paratively very limited. The resuscitation of art prevailed in dilierent ap- 

 plications of marble ; and it was then exclusively used for forming the inter- 

 nal faces of the walls, for the embellishment of buildings, by using variegated 

 coloured marbles. In Ihe age of Elizabeth marble was extensively used in 

 England for large monumental tombs, the decorations of fire-places. &c. At 

 this period variety of colour was the chief object sought, and to a limited 

 extent marble was then used in Ireland for the same purposes. The mate- 

 rials so used were almost without exception procureil from Italy. During the 

 last century marble wis chiefly employed in the decoration of clnmiiej pieces, 

 for ornamental slabs or similar purposes, the material being worked accord- 

 ing to the fashion or taste then prevailing, in imitation ot the oinamen; com- 

 mon to the revival of the Italian architecture, and familiarly known a.i the 



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