1850.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



281 



TOWN HALL, BRUNSWICK. 



The portion here given forms part of the left wing of a consi- 

 derable building, which is a good specimen of the fine halls of the 

 middle ages, of which we have several examples in our own 

 country. In the north of Europe the Rathhaus, or Hotel de Ville, 

 is always among the chief structures in any town of moderate pre- 

 tensions. 



The building now under consideration dates from the fourteenth 

 century, and exhibits the peculiarities of an open-worked screen of 

 the Decorated style, carried along the whole of the principal front 

 of the building. This is of a particularly pleasing character, and 

 shows considerable ingenuity in design, and freedom in execution. 

 The tracery in the head of each compartment is carried on a semi- 

 circular arch, and the heads of the windows are liliewise circular. 

 The details are executed in much the same manner as those of the 

 corresponding period in England; and the statues in the niches are 

 those of the reigning dukes and duchesses of Brunswick. A similar 

 arrangement is sometimes found in the cloisters of cathedrals and 

 conventual buildings. 



The centre piece of the tracery is a pleasing combination. It 

 is a cinquefoil clustered round a circle, and contained within a 

 circle. The lower part is divided into semicircular-headed arches, 

 and these again are divided by trefoil heads. The whole is treated 

 so as to produce an effect of great richness. 



SANITARY MEASURES. 



In another column will be found the report of the Sewers Com- 

 mission on the amended plan of drainage they now propose for the 

 metropolis. This speaks for itself, and we need not describe it; 

 but we are glad to find that the Commissioners have attended to 

 the voice of the press, and that one important object is secured — 

 the non-pollution of the Thames in its course through the metro- 

 polis. The nuisance of the sewers has become so great that it can 

 'i no longer be borne, had Sir John Burgoyne or any other of the 



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