THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY &> NATURALIST. 



being the date of the bishop's death. Various additions 

 were made subsequently during the next century up to 

 1292. Gilbert Scott says of the Norman portion of the 

 church that "it is of agrand and severe, but highly refined 

 character, but with pointed arches to all the principal 

 parts." The foliage is as yet untinged by French taste. 

 The style is " massive, without being heavy ;" it is " im- 

 pressive but not oppressive." The choir is 

 the earliest portion of the present church, 

 and must have been built, Mr. Parker thinks at any rate 

 before 1156. Here the pointed arch is used as an arch of 

 construction, but the semi-circular arch is retained as an 

 arch of decoration. Above the pier arches is a beautiful 

 triforium arcade of intersecting round arches, to which 

 some have attributed the origin of the Pointed style. The 

 similar arcading at Christchurch was earlier, however, 

 than this example, as has already been noticed. The 

 transepts are somewhat later than the choir. The eastern- 

 most bay of the nave is Transition Norman, the other bays 

 Early English, the clerestory and west window are De- 

 corated. The ancient buildings of the original foundation of 

 Henry de Blois were situate on the south side of the 

 church (as was usually the case in conventual and monastic 

 establishments, and as may be seen at Christchurch, Rom- 

 sey, Winchester, Westminster, and elsewhere), and here 

 are now the only existing remains of those olcl buildings at 

 the end of the south transept. Here in the outer wall is 

 the "triple arch," which guide-books call "exquisite," 

 but which is, I think, more curious than beautiful ; pro- 

 bably it led into the cloister, but why the angle of the 

 transept and choir walls should have been selected in 

 which to place an arched doorway is hard to understand. 



On the south wall of the south transept are still to be 

 seen remains of an ancient fresco, representing the 

 " Descent from the Cross." It must always be remembered 

 that the Normans intended the inner surface of the walls 

 of their churches to be covered with paintings, or, at any 

 rate, colour ; the roughness of the masonry was hidden by 

 plaster, and the plaster was the medium for paintings of 

 scriptural subjects, that, no doubt, contributed very largely 

 to the religious education of the mass of the people. 

 Whether the colouring was applied as well to the mould- 

 ings and architectural details is a different matter ; as Mr. 

 Butterfiald has decorated the choir of St. Cross in this 

 manner, at any rate some authorities hold the view that it 

 was so employed originally. I am inclined to think that 

 the colour is rather too pronounced ; but that is a matter 

 of opinion. I also would prefer the details of mouldings 

 and ornaments uncoloured. 



The conventual church of Romsey was founded, it is 

 supposed, early in the loth century, but the present build- 

 ing dates mostly from the i2th century. There seems, 

 however, to be some doubt as to what part of this century 

 we are really to refer its erection. A description by Mr. 

 Littlehales gives about 1130 as the date of the principal 

 part of the church. Parker gives 1160, and some say 1180. 

 I should be inclined to suppose the later date more prob- 

 able, and that it is, at any rate, not earlier than St. Cross. 

 The choir, transepts, and four eastern bays of the nave 

 are of one period, one of the dates just mentioned; the 

 clerestory of the eastern part of the nave is later, perhaps 

 about 1190 ; and the three western bays, with the north and 

 south doorways, are Early English, as is the west window, 

 erected about the middle of the i3th century. The east 

 window, and two windows in the eastern aisle, or 

 ambulatory, are early Decorated, dating from the end of the 

 i3th century. This church presents several points of 

 great interest to the architectural student. Throughout 

 the choir, transepts and the Norman part of the nave, there 



are round pier arches; above which is a triforium gallery 

 consisting of round arches, but differing greatly either in 

 height or width from the pier arches ; and above this again 

 a clerestory consisting of a central and two lateral 

 arches, that is, a triple arch for each arch of the main 

 series below. The height of the clerestory is much greater, 

 relatively to the other tiers of arches, than at Christchurch : 

 and accordingly Romsey approaches more nearly to the 

 general Norman plan, already alluded to, of dividing the 

 height into three nearly equal portions, and allotting one 

 each to pier arch, triforium, and clerestory. The trilorium 

 arches are each divided into two sub-arches, with a central 

 shaft ; and here occurs a feature, with which I am not 

 acquainted elsewhere, and which I cannot find alluded to 

 in books, but which seems tome very extraordinary. From 

 the union of these two sub-arches a small shaft is carried 

 up to the centre of the arch above; a proceeding that must 

 obviously be useless constructively, because there cannot 

 possibly be any thrust downwards at the centre of the arch, 

 and by no means pleasing artistically. Whilst Christ- 

 church presents a marked advance on Winchester in 

 respect to the carving of the capitals and the use of orna- 

 mental mouldings, Romsey shows this advance to a much 

 greater degree. A few capitals are plain cushions, but 

 with these few exceptions all of them are carved, and the 

 diversity and variety is wonderful ; hardly any design is 

 repeated. Besides the capitals there is great profusion of 

 ornament in the mouldings, which are more used and used 

 in greater variety, than at Christchurch. 



An interesting point in this church is the occurrence of 

 classical ornament in two or three places, derived, no 

 doubt, through a Byzantine channel. Thus, in the choir 

 arch, at the level of the triforium is a shaft on each side, 

 semi-cylindrical, resting on a corbel. This corbel is 

 carved with a distinctly classical pattern of a 

 kind of acanthus leaf. The same pattern occurs as a 

 moulding over the south doorway leading into the cloister. 

 Again, the easternmost pier arch on the south side of the 

 nave is enriched with three mouldings ; internally a treble 

 zigzag, externally, a hatched, and between the two an 

 ornament resembling the ccliinus, or egg and anchor, with- 

 out the anchor or dart, but still obviously of classical 

 origin. In the south choir aisle is a capital with very well 

 carved acanthus foliage. Thus there are three as it were 

 reminders of classical styles in this Gothic church, nearly 

 400 years before the classical revival, which gave us a pro- 

 fusion of similar ornamentation, as seen, for instance, in 

 Bishop Gardiner's chantry at Winchester. But there is 

 another " reminder" here, which is perhaps more curious, 

 and not so commonly met with. In the ambulatory, or 

 eastern aisle, beyond the altar, leading from the north to 

 the south choir aisle, are four shafts possessing capitals, 

 that distinctly recall a form of ornamentation called 

 " stalactite," that was a very favourable one with the 

 Arabian Mosque builders, throughout the palmy period of 

 Arabian architecture. Whoever carved the capital must 

 have taken his idea from an Arabian capital that he had 

 seen in the East. The first crusade was in 1099 ; the 

 second, 1144 ; and the third, 1187-1192. Therefore we may 

 suppose that the classical and Arabian influences just 

 noted reached Romsey en the return of some knight or 

 priest or monk from one or other of these expeditions. 

 Of course, it is well known that many features of Norman 

 architecture are derived from Byzantine and Saracenic or 

 Arabian sources. A very unusual feature in the plan of 

 Romsey Abbey is seen in its four apsidal chapels, one at 

 the east end of each aisle of the choir, and one on the 

 eastern side of each transept. While Walkelin was build- 

 ing Winchester, 1079-1093, whose crypt and transept we 



