By C. E. Pouting, F.S.A. 



225 



Edington Church. I think I ought to mention that on the occasion 

 of my visit to Winchester for the purposes of this paper I alluded 

 to this circumstance in conversation with the Dean as a proof of the 

 schooling which Wykeham received from his master and subse- 

 quently developed at Winchester ; but the Dean replied that his 

 view of this particular connexion was that the clerk of the works 

 came to Edington to shew the Bishop how to build Edington 

 Church ! 



I will first quote the late Mr. J. H. Parker on the subject of its 

 characteristics. He says, " It is a fine cruciform Church, all of 

 uniform character, and that character is neither Decorated nor 

 Perpendicular, but a very remarkable mixture of the two styles 

 throughout. The tracery of the windows looks at first sight like 

 Decorated, but, on looking more closely, the introduction of Per- 

 pendicular features is evident. The west doorway has the segmental 

 arch, common in Decorated work, over this is the usual square label 

 of the Perpendicular, and under the arch is Perpendicular panelling 

 over the heads of the two doors. The same curious mixture is 

 observable in the mouldings and in all the details. .' . . Bishop 

 Edington's work at Winchester was executed at a later period than 

 that at Edington, and, as might be expected, the new idea is more 

 fully developed, but on a comparison between the west window of 

 Winchester and the east window of Edington it will at once be 

 seen that the principle of construction is the same. There is a 

 central division carried up to the head of the window, and sub- 

 arches springing from it on each side." 



There are, however, many peculiarities in the tracery which Mr. 

 Parker does not mention. For instance, in the centre light of the 

 east window is (if we except the small window in the transept) the 

 only bit of transom to be found in the Church, and it indicates the 

 change of style in a pronounced manner; in other respects the 

 tracery of this window is quite " flowing " in character, and the 

 cusps of the middle light are terminated by carved bosses. Then 

 in the west window we have the central mullion springing off into 

 sub- arches, and none of the mullions carried through to the outer 

 arch, although this occurs in the east window, which is on the whole 



