IGO 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[May, 



honour on all its members, generally and individually; may it give 

 to Knjilish arrliitpctiire a character and dijrnity rivalliii;;:, nut 

 merely tliat of ch.s.^ical and nu'dia'val antiiiuity, hut of all co- 

 existent nations iii the world; — may laudable rivalry — diveiiteil of 

 envy anil all other bad passions — frovern and he diffu-^ed throu;,'h 

 the society; — and may all its councils and jiroccediMjrs lie cha- 

 racterised by liberality of sentiment and action, and by devotion 

 to the credit and welfre of the prufcssion." 



,Mr. liritton tlien read part of the fcdhnvinfj pai)er which he had 

 prepared for the occasion ; but weakness of the (irf^ans of the 

 throat, from long illness, rendered him unable to go through the 

 wliole. 



In the subdivision, and in the distinctive parts of churches, there 

 is not one which more strikingly contra-distingni>lies the buildings 

 of the medijeval age frijni those of tlie Pagan world, tiian tlie 

 Tower, Steeple, and Spire. This marked feature of a churchwas 

 invented by the earliest Christian ardiitects, wlio in the first jjlace 

 designed and raised a plain, simple, and rude pile, small in size, and 

 devoid of of all ornamentation. In every succeeding age and era 

 they produced changes ami imjirovements in this architectural 

 member; and it is e(pially evident, that every architect invented 

 something new in form, jiroporlion, and detail, in each and every 

 new tower that was progressively erected. I believe, it may be 

 safely said, that there are not two of these buildings in England 

 precisely alike. 



It has been erroneously supposed by writers on medlle^•al archi- 

 tecture, that the employment of spires, or pyramidal terminations 

 of towers, was a consequence of the introduction of tlie pointed 

 arch; and that the towers of churciies, erected before that im- 

 ])ortant era in the history of architecture, were designed to be 

 ]ierfectly flat at the top. This mistake has arisen from the circum- 

 stance, that tlie most ancient towers have lost their original finish; 

 some being now covered with flat roofs; others having spires, 

 pinnacles, and certain appendages of much later date; scarcely 

 any, indeed, remaining unaltered at the present time. But if we 

 examine the representations of churches in ancient drawings, and 

 on seals, — a species of evidence of the greatest possible value, — we 

 find that spires were very common in the eleventh and twelfth 

 centuries; aiul even among the Anglo-Saxons lung before. Tlie 

 engravings from ancient Saxon MSS., in the works of Strutl, 

 comprise many spires, finished with crosses and weathercocks; and 

 tlie well-known drawing of Canterbury Cathedral, made by Kadwin 

 the monk before the destruction of the church by fire, in 117 t, 

 displays no less than five spires on the church itself, besides some 

 on the out-buildings. Compared with those of the fourteenth and 

 fifteenth centuries these primitive spires were very clumsy; they 

 were square in plan, and either covered with lead, tiles, or shin- 

 gles; and the loftiest were not more in height than twice the 

 diameter of their base. Two ancient spires of this form remained 

 till the beginning of the present century, on the western towers of 

 the collegiate church of Southwell; and there are still two small 

 ones at the angles of the west front of Bishop's Cleeve church, 

 (iloucestersbire. ^V great improvement was effected in the form of 

 s])ires, by reducing them to an octangular shape; though the 

 earlier examples of that kind had still a square base, the angles 

 being sbqied upwards to the spire. By this alteration, though their 

 height was not actually increased, t ley had an appearance, when 

 viewed at an angle, of mucli greater loftiness. There are many 

 stone spires of this kind in Lincolnshire and in the adjacent coun- 

 ties. 



Though the builders of stone spires appear to have been cau- 

 tious of increasing their height, those of timber soon assumed a 

 great altitude with jn-oportionate elegance of form; and were at 

 length made of much less breadth than the towers on which they 

 were built, and with a degree of slenderncss never attained in 

 stone. There is a fine timber spire at Long Sutton, Lincolnshire; 

 and one of the earliest stone spires is at Sleaford Church, in the 

 same county. 



Stone sjiires, as well as those of timber, were gradually reduced 

 to a more slender proptjrtiim. In Die fmirteenth century their 

 angles were decorated with crockets; and the jiinnacles at tlie 

 angles of the tower below were frequently connected witli the 

 s]nre by arch or flying buttresses. 



The forms, proportions, and details of Towers and Sjiires were 

 infinitely varied and di\ersilied. They were most usually placed 

 at the western end of churches; and some of the larger and more 

 elaborate edifices, — as Vmk, Lichfield, Canterbury, Linccdn and 

 AVells Cathedrals, have each two towers at the west end, and a 

 third at the centre, or intersection of the nave and traiisiqits. In 

 Lichlield Cathedral each of the three toivers is crouned by a lofty 



and elaborate spire. Exeter Cathedral presents the uuiipie ex- 

 ample of a tower at the extremity of each transept. 



The Towers of churches are either s<|uare, round, or octagonal; 

 the first being tiie most frequent. Large doorways and windows, 

 buttresses, stringcourses, and other decorations diversify them. In 

 some examples (as at St. Mary's, Cheltenham; Almondbiiry Church, 

 (iloucestersbire; the church at Ileculvers, Kent; and many others), 

 the bases of the spires cover the whole upper surface of the tower. 

 Occasionally, indeed, they form projecting eaves; but at a latertime 

 the tower was se|)arated from the spire in a marked manner, by a 

 ))arapet, either plain, embattled, or perforated. The buttresses 

 forming the angles of the tower were terminated by elaborate 

 turrets, or pinnacles, the whole forming a richly ornamented group. 



There are numerous towers of all ages without spires; and some 

 (as at Ely C'atbedral, and the churciies of Fotheringay, Northamp- 

 tonshire, and Boston, Lincidnsbire), are terminated with octagonal 

 turrets, or lanterns. At Sutton Benger Church, ^V'iltsbire, is a 

 plain square tower, with a rii'b embattled parapet. From each 

 angle of the parapet rises a small pinnacle, whilst the centre of the 

 face of the tower sustains another, somewhat larger, and of florid 

 decoration, but more diminutive than the ordinary npire. 



The towers of the Somersetshire churches present many beauti- 

 ful and interesting characteristics, worthy of the ages of Henries 

 VI. and VII. 



It would be irrelevant to the present purpose to advert to the 

 fine and elaborate towers and spires of Continental churches and 

 cathedrals; — those of Antwerp, Strasbiirg, Freiburg, St. Stephen's, 

 A'ienna, and Malines, will readily occur to the memory of the 

 architectural student. 



In more remote connection with the subject, the Round Towers 

 of India, of Ireland, and of the eastern counties of England, the 

 Keep, and Bastion Towers of ancient fortresses, as well as the 

 Tower Gate-houses ot old English cities, claim a passing allusion; 

 as at a more favourable opportunity they would well repay atten- 

 tive consideration and lengthened comment. 



It cannot fail to be a subject well worthy investigation and illus- 

 tration, for an architect to inquire into the history, peculiarities, 

 construction, design, and endlessly-varied features of towers and 

 spires, and also to prepare such a series of drawings as would 

 clearly and amply illustrate the progressive improvements made 

 in this department of the architect's professional career. 



Actuated by a laudable desire to accomplish a publication of this 

 kind, Mr. W'ickes, of Leicester, has visited several of the cathe- 

 dral, collegiate, and parish churches of England, and made draw- 

 ings of their interesting towers and spires, which he proposes to 

 have lithographed and published. In a prospectus which that 

 gentleman has issued, he mentions his intended work as "a de- 

 sideratum in the history of our national architecture." He adds, 

 with equal truth, that "among the many beautiful and striking 

 relics of mediseval art scattered throughout the land, the spires 

 and towers of our churches stand pre-eminent for richness, variety, 

 and elegance, and hence deservedly claim the tribute of our praise 

 and admiration. Reared by the hand of genius, and dedicated by 

 the spirit of piety, these stupendous fabrics, — 



" i'uint as with aileul tinker to tlie sky and stars;" 



and after the lapse of centuries remain to bear indisputable evi- 

 dence to the taste and skill of our ancestral architects. The 

 grandeur of their composition, and the fineness of their outline, 

 their exquisite proportion, richly sculptured ornament, and yet 

 chaste detail, display the astonishing invention and aesthetic 

 ability of their designers; no less than the boldness of con- 

 struction and scientific arrangement of thrust and counterpoise 

 attest their wonderful skill, and the proficiency to which they 

 had attained in the study of architectural dynamics." 



Some of Mr. W'ickes's drawings are now exhibited; and should 

 the profession and the public be disposed to patronise his under- 

 taking, he will be enabled to publisli a series of illustrations, suf- 

 ficiently numerous to characterise all the leading varieties of tower 

 architecture in England. 



In order to direct the attention of the present meeting more 

 particularly to the subject, I have ventured to otfer these few 

 remarks on the leading peculiarities of ancient ecclesiastical towers 

 and spires. 



Remarks made at the Meethif/ after the lieadinij of the foregoing Paper. 



Mr. Godwin thnuebt tlie drawincs now exhibited beyond all praise. If 

 .iny proofs were required to relute the assertion of a recent writer, thai all 

 parish churches displaved |ia 1 architecture, the series of drawings now be- 

 I'nre the meeting wouhi do ihiit most triumphantly. The towers and spires 

 of England, comioeucing "itlithe Norman and ending with the early Engliiih 



