1843.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



281 



fcrent qualities of iron, and had been found perfectly satisfactory for 

 practical purposes. A wrought iron bar. 1 inch square, was bent into a 

 deeply indented serpentine or zig-zag figure, having three or four bends, 

 each end of the bar terminating in an eye. This was used as a pattern, 

 from which several serpentines were cast at each running of the blast 

 furnace ; they were suspended by the upper eye, and a scale being attached 

 to the lower one, weights were gradually added until the castings broke. 

 Such a figure was fractured with very little weight, and the method did not 

 afford any test of the actual strength of the metal; but it was simple, and as 

 the foundrymen could conduct the experiment, it enabled a correct opinion 

 to be formed of the comparative strength of the different kinds of iron 

 under trial, and to make the necessary mixture. The system was used in 

 his foundry whenever new kinds of iron were purchased, and he obtained 

 good results from it. 



ROYAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS. 



June 26, 1843. — Mr. Britton gave an essay on the fine Anglo-Norman 

 Torch to Malmsbury Abbey Church, which was illustrated by several draw- 

 ings. He also referred to, and made incidental remarks on several other 

 Christian porches, comparing and contrasting them with the famed Grecian 

 and Roman Porticos of Pagan architecture. The subject afforded scope for 

 interesting criticism, and was well calculated for a large auditory of young 

 architects. We fully agree with our veteran antiquary in reprobating the 

 absurd and tasteless practice of copying and applying, or rather misapplying, 

 the portico of a Greek or Roman temple to a modern chapel, church, 

 theatre, and common street house, when perhaps no other part of the 

 building has a classical feature ; and certainly the whole has no analogy, 

 either in purpose, scenery, or association to ancient eastern edifices. It would 

 be as congruous and correct to place the counsel's, or bishop's, wig on the 

 sconce of the chimney-sweep or dustman ; on the contrary, the porch can 

 be applied with harmony and propriety to almost every variety of building — 

 from the church to the workhouse, from the palace to the cottage. Mr. 

 Britton exemplified this very forcibly, and justly, by referring to many diver- 

 sified examples in England, and also commented on the great varieties of 

 edifice which the monastic architects of the middle ages designed and 

 erected for the use of their contemporaries, and for the admiration of their 

 descendants. The following were particularly noticed : — those attached to 

 the cathedrals of Salisbury, Wells, Ely, Peterborough, Lincoln, Gloucester, 

 Hereford, &c. ; also to many in parish churches and chapels, particularly to 

 the unique and extraordinary double porch on the north side of Redcliffe 

 church, and to those of Taunton, Grantham, St. Mary's at Bury, Bishop's 

 Cleve, King's College chapel, &c. His illustrations and comments were, 

 however, more immediately directed to the north Porch of Malmsbury Abbey 

 church in Wiltshire, which he has partly illustrated and described iu his 

 " Architectural Antiquities, vols. I. and V., and also in his "Dictionary of the 

 Architecture of the Middle Ages." We quote part of the description of this 

 bold and highly adorned architectural appendage to a church, which must 

 have been originally, when in a perfect state, one of the finest and most im- 

 pressive Anglo-Norman edifices in the country. 



" The door-way, with the whole of the porch, may be referred to and con- 

 sidered as constituting the finest specimen of Anglo-Norman architecture in 

 England. I believe it is unparalleled in arrangement, in elaborate sculp- 

 tured details, and in its whole design. A large receding archway, with a 

 series of eight mouldings, which extend from the base on one side to the 

 base on the opposite side, are all covered with sculptured enrichments of 

 varied design. Some of the patterns resemble those in Greek architec- 

 ture and on vases. They are scroll, diamond, and oval-shaped frames, in- 

 closing groups of human figures, animals, &c., intended to delineate passages 

 from the bible and the testament. A label, or hood moulding, with 

 serpent's heads at each extremity, encircle the arch. Within this archway is 

 a large square room, or vestibule, having a stone seat at each side, with 

 columns attached to the walls ; a series of arcades, two compartments of 

 bold alto-relievi, representing the twelve apostles, seated on two benches, 

 and two figures apparently flying over their heads. The ceiling was vaulted 

 and ribbed ; and, opening to the church there was a smaller doorway, with a 

 profusion of sculptured ornaments, and a basso-relievo of the Deity, or the 

 Saviour, with incensing angels on the lintel. On the right, or eastern side, of 

 this doorway was a piscina, and above the ceiling was a room, with a fire- 

 place, for a monk or porter, who had charge of the church." 



July 10. — This evening was occupied by reading the Prize Essay, " Are 

 Synchronism and Uniformity of Style essential to Beauty and Propriety in 

 Architecture," by Mr. Chamberlain, for which the medal of the Institute 

 was awarded. 



On Monday evening, the 21th July, the session closed, with a full at- 

 tendance of members and visitors. Mr. Donaldson read a paper on the 

 domestic architecture of the Belgian cities, illustrated by numerous draw- 

 ings, displaying the peculiarities of the street buildings of Flanders during 

 the middle ages, as compared with our own. The more general use of 

 stone and brick in the Belgian houses of this class forms one striking con- 

 trast with those of England in which timber was, with few exceptions, the 

 principal material. 



Mr. Maugham explained Mr. Payne's patent process of saturating timber 

 with sulphate of lime for preserving it from dry rot. 



Mr. Tite, V. P., who occupied the chair, closed the session with some 

 observations on the progress and prospects of the Institute, and on the 

 state of architecture as an art, on which he took occasion to make some 

 remarks on the present tendency to an abuse of the Gothic style. 



ORNAMENTAL GLASS. 



Charles Robert Avers, of John Street, Berkeley Square, architect, has ob- 

 tained a patent for improvements in ornamenting and colouring glass, earth- 

 enware, porcelain, and metals.— Patent dated July 23, 1S42. Specification 

 enrolled January 23, 1843. — If the surface of the glass, earthenware, &c, is 

 to be covered with a plain ground, it is first to be coated with some adhe- 

 sive substance, such as essence of lavender. A piece of net, or other thin 

 tissue, is then laid over the article, which is to be dusted over with the 

 colouring matter in the state of fine powder. The colouring matter, passing 

 through the holes of the tissue, attaches itself to the adhesive coating. The 

 tissue is then to be removed, and the article submitted to the action -of the 

 fire, taking care, in the case of metals, not to bring them to a red heat, as 

 the colour is more easily fixed thereon than on earthenware, porcelain, &c. 

 When the articles are to be ornamented with figures, &c, they are first 

 coated with the adhesive substance, and covered with net, or other tissue, as 

 before. Stencil plates, made of paper or any other convenient substance, in 

 which the figures have been cut out, are then laid above the tissue, and the 

 colours dusted on ; after which, without taking off the net, paper, Sfc, the 

 goods are subjected to the firing process. Another method of ornamenting 

 such goods, described by the patentee, consists in having the figures cut in 

 blocks similar to woodcuts, which are covered with turpentine varnish, and 

 impressed on the article to be ornamented, which is then dusted with the 

 colour or colours, and fixed as in ordinary cases. Claims — 1. The patentee 

 does not claim the application of colour to earthenware, &c, in a state of 

 powder, but its application in a state of powder with net or other tissue 

 intervening. 2. The application of stencil plates, of various figures, as 

 above described. 3. The impressing the figures or ornaments by means%f 

 blocks, and then dusting on the colour. 



WESTMINSTER BRIDGE. 



Letter from Mr. Barry to the Speaker, in answer to a Report of Messrs 

 Walker and Burges, upon the proposed alterations. 



Sir — As Messrs. Walker and Burges have thought proper to print and 

 publish a Letter, addressed to you as Chairman of the Commissioners of 

 Westminster Bridge, relative to the suggestions I ventured to offer for the 

 improvement of that bridge, in a Report which I made to the Fine Arts 

 Commissioners, of the 22nd February last, I feel called upon to address to 

 you a few observation, for the information of the Board over which you 

 preside, chiefly with the view of removing several misconstructions which 

 that letter is calculated to occasion. 



Westminster Bridge has long been considered extremely inconvenient, as 

 well as unsightly, and, from its proximity to the new Houses of Parliament, 

 is generally felt to have a most injurious effect upon the appearance of that 

 building. As a remedy for these defects, the main objects to be attained 

 are obviously to lower the road-way, to increase the water-way and head- 

 room under the arches, and to reduce the mass of the bridge to the greatest 

 practicable extent. In order to accomplish these objects in the most effec- 

 tual manner, it appears to me to be necessary to rebuild the bridge ; but as 

 the Commissioners were incurring a large outlay in securing and extending 

 the foundations. I recommended in my report above alluded to, that the re- 

 building should be confined to the superstructure. 



Previously to noticing the several points of Messrs. Walker and Burges' 

 Letter, I would beg to observe, that the suggestions contained in my report 

 were offered merely as hints for the consideration of the Fine Arts Commis- 

 sioners, and not as mature opinions founded upon a careful practical investi- 

 gation with reference to execution, in which I stated most distinctly I did 

 not wish to be engaged. I presumed that if the Fine Arts Commissioners 

 deemed those suggestions worthy of attention, they would refer them to the 

 Commissioners of the bridge, by whom they would be duly considered, and, 

 if approved, carried into effect by their own oflicers. 



I now proceed to notice the several observations of Messrs. Walker and 

 Burges upon the suggestions contained in my report. With reference to 

 those upon the relative properties of circular and pointed arches, and to the 

 authorities which they quote in depreciation of the pointed arch as applied 

 to bridge-building, I beg to state, that the hypothesis in which those au- 

 thorities are said to concur, namely, that a pointed arch requires a greater 

 pressure titan a circular arch at the crown, is at direct variance with the 

 opinion of Professor Moscley, of King's College, oue of the highest autho- 

 rities in such matters, who in a letter to me upon the subject states, " that a 

 pointed arch does not necessarily require a great pressure, or indeed any 

 pressure,' upon its crown, to prevent it from falling, and that the reasoning 



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