176 ENGLISH MEDIAEVAL ARCHITECTURE. 



became narrower, but of still greater projection, and had 

 more sets-off or stages in it, as at Checkley. Sometimes 

 its sets-off are treated ornamentally, being run into pedi- 

 ments and finished with carved crockets. In Perpendicular 

 work the buttress is still more ornamentally treated: its 

 tablings are moulded, its faces sometimes paneled and at 

 others niched, often terminating in pinnacles having 

 carved crockets at their angles, as in the tower of Penk- 

 ridge. Norman and Early English buttresses were always 

 placed at right angles to the wall they abutted upon, but 

 in Decorated times a change took place by placing corner 

 buttresses angle-wise, as at Swinnerton, Arley, and in 

 many other places. This continued through Perpendicular 

 times, as at Penkridge. 



Next we come to the Parapet or upper finish of the 

 wall. In the Norman times, this is always plain, being 

 supported on projecting corbels often carved into heads 

 and other grotesques, the coping being simply moulded. 

 In Early English work the parapet is still plain and sup- 

 ported on corbels, simply shaped, but not carved, and the 

 coping plainly moulded. In Decorated work the parapet 

 becomes pierced, either in the form of tracery, as at 

 Draycot, or of battlements. In Perpendicular work the 

 parapet is always pierced, and almost invariably in the form of 

 battlements, as at Checkley, Penkridge, and many other 

 places. Parapets have been added to very many churches 

 in Perpendicular times, and if they be taken as a guide to 

 the date of a building without consideration of the wall they 

 cover, mistaken conclusions will certainly ensue. 



We now come to the openings in the walls, consist- 

 ing of doorways, windows, and archways, and these are 



