184-2.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



6f) 



THE MAPLIN UGHTHOU.SE. 



Engineers, Messrs. Walker & Burges. 



(fVM an Engraving, Plate J II.) 



In the second volume of llie Juuroal, page 38, we announced tlie 

 oommencenient of this lightliouse, and at piige 132 of our l;ist volume, 

 «e bad the pleasure to notice its completion. We llien gave some 

 iiccount of its construction, to which we must now refer our readers. 

 The lighthouse, since its completion in October, 18 lU, has stood the 

 trst of several severe gales, and is ut this day as tirm as when first 

 I'rected. Coupling this with the equal success of the Fleetwood 

 lighthouse, it is in our opinion an indubitable proof of the utility of the 

 ^(rew pile system, and of the resources wliicli it presents to the en- 

 gineer in the construction of lighthouses on sands, in the place of 

 rioaling beacois as now adopted, which are so apt to drive from their 

 moorings in stormy weather, and which thea produce such disastrous 

 consequences. 



The annexed engraving is a correct view of the lighthouse, and 

 clearly shows its construction. 



PEN AND PENCIL SKETCHES IN POITIERS AND 



ANGOULEME: WITH SOME REMARKS ON EARLY 



ARCHITECTURE. 



By George Godwin Jun., F.R.S., &c. 



Chapter 1. 



Poitiers, the Limonum of the Romans, and present capital of the 

 department of Vienne, is nearly two hundred miles from Paris, on the 

 read to Bordeaux. It is memorable as the field of three of the most 

 important battles recorded in the annals of France ; by two of which, 

 at all events, the progress of society was materially affected.* The 

 Gauls, the Romans, the Vandals, the Visigoths, the Franks, the Nor- 

 mans, and the English, have alternately held dominion here, and have 

 left their impress on the soil, or in the customs of the people. To 

 llie passing traveller, Poitiers, ill-built and mean in appearance, seems 

 hardly to offer sufficient inducement for a stay, giving no evidence at 

 first sight of the many singularly interesting remains of ancient skill 

 which it possesses. It is in all respects an old town, — a bye-gone 

 tiling, — and takes one back to times when society had not educated 

 itself into so many wants as now, and men cared little for their own 

 habitatiiin, but raised magnificent temples to (jod. To the anticjuary, 

 the architect, the student in history, — in fact to all inquirers, — Poitiers 

 will afford a harvest of information, and be fruitful of suggestions : 

 moreover, being situated on a hill, at the cohfluence of two rivers, it 

 • (jinmands some pretty country, and becomes in itself a picturesque 

 ul ject, when viewed from a distance. 



The Gauls have lelt but one monument in the neighbourhood of 

 Poitiers. It is called there the pierre len'e, and is considered by 

 archtcologists to be either a tomb or a Druidical altar. It is said to be 

 ii block of calcareous stone, i'Z ft. 3 in. long, I .'i ft. wide, and 2 ft. 9 in. 

 in mean thickness. In form it is a lengthened oval, pointing south- 

 east and north-east, raised 3 ft. 4 in. from the ground at one end oulv, 

 the support at the north-eastern end, if there ever were one, having 

 been removed.-j- It is hardly necessary to remark, that many mar- 

 vellous stories are told touching the origin of this stone; but with 

 these we may not meddle. 



'Ihe remains of an amphitheatre at Poitiers, sufficiently large to 

 accommodate more than twenty thousand persons, show clearly the 



• In ihe sixth ccninry Alaric. kir.g of ihc Visigmlu. was dcfiMicd hero by 

 C'lovis; in the cikIhIi crnlury thi- Sariu-ens. vmilcr AljcJ-rl-ralinian, »rrc 

 \anuui'lieil Ijy Cliarlfs Marli-l ; and in the fuurucnth century EUwaril the 

 I'lUcK I'riiici' (lainCil here- his (jrrat renown. 



t " Memuirea de la 8uci<M6 des Anlii|uairc> de rOuvit." 



No. 54.— Vol. V.— Marcu, 1842. 



importance of the town in the Roman times. It is supposed to have 

 been built in the third century, and considerably exceeded in size both 

 tliat of Pompeii and of Nismes. The various ranges of steps, divided 

 by corridors and st.iircases, are still to be traced, as well as a large 

 arched vault, IS or 20 feet wide, and OU or "0 feet long, (formed of 

 rough flat pieces of stone, and mortar, now like a rock,) which inclining 

 rapidly, opens from the outside into the arena, and afforded entrance 

 to the wild beasts, or the little more civilized gladiators. 



The most ancient, and at the same time most interesting building 

 in Poitiers is known as the temple of St. Jean. The origin and date 

 of this very curious structure have afforded matter for many disqui- 

 sitions, and have been the cause of much controversy amongst the 

 French antiquaries. Some believe it to have been a Roman temple, 

 others a tomb erected at the end of the third or beginning of the 

 fourth century, in memory of Varenilla, a Roman lady, to whom the 

 city voted a statue and public monument; while a third set of writers, 

 amongst whom is the Abbe Leboeuf, consider that it was, even origi- 

 nally, a Christian church, in the erection of which the materials of 

 some pagan temple were used. From the discovery of an octagon 

 excivation beneath the pavement of the edifice, strengthened by tra- 

 dition, it is further supposed that it served as a baptistery as well as a 

 chapel. M. de Caumont, who inclines to this opinion, considers the 

 peculiar form of the building is accounted for by its double destination. 



Fia. 1. 



The accompanying sketch, fig. 1, shows the plan of what is supposed 

 to be the original building, in form a long square, measuring about 3ii 

 ft. by 42 ft., with an absis at the north-east end, raised one step nbov« 

 the main apartment, and measuring about IG ft. by IS ft. In the 

 opposite wall are three lofty arched entrances, beyond which is a 

 vestibule of more modem, although still ancient, construction, being 

 probably of the eleventh or twelfth century. The floor of the building 

 is several feet below the street level. 



Sketch No. 2 represents the general appearance of the north- 

 east end of the buihiiiig, and although slight, will enable the 

 reader more easily to comprehend the description. The walls, 

 about 4.') ft. in height, arc divi<led into two stories, the upper- 

 most of which contains two arched opening*, with small columns 

 at the angles, and a triangular-headed space between, and the 

 lower story, the entrance to the absis. The columns in the lower 

 story are of coloured marble, and were evidently brought from some 

 other building, being mostly different from one another In size and 



L 



