The Seven Periods of English Architecture Part 2

16 Parapet.

15 Cornice.

14 Gurgoyle.

13 Canopied Set-off.

12 Plain Set-off.

11 Tracery.

10 Window Arch.

9 Mullion.

8 Sill.

7 Bases of Window Shafts.

6 Capitals of do.

5 Jambs.

4 Canopied Niche.

3 String-Course.

2 b.u.t.tress.

1 Base-Course.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote C: "Treatise on the Rise and Progress of Window Tracery." Van Voorst, London.]

CHAPTER III.

EXTERIOR AND INTERIOR COMPARTMENTS.

The most perfect type of a church built in England, during the best ages of Church Architecture, may be said to contain the following essentials:--

1. The Ground Plan is after the form of the Latin Cross, and is divisible _longitudinally_ into three portions; namely,

THE CHOIR, THE TRANSEPTS, THE NAVE.

2. The Choir and the Nave, and occasionally the Transepts, are divided, by means of columns and arches, _transversely_ into three portions, consisting of the

CENTRE AISLE, NORTH AISLE, SOUTH AISLE.

3. The MAIN WALL of each of the first-mentioned separate portions of the building is divisible, in the interior _vertically_ into three portions, or Stories, consisting of

THE GROUND-STORY, THE TRIFORIUM OR BLIND-STORY, THE CLERE-STORY.

Now on viewing any of these Main Walls of a building, whether on the inside, or the outside, it will be at once seen that they consist, in their entire length, of a series of single and separate portions, or _Compartments_, tied together, and connected by the horizontal lines, or String courses, which traverse them from end to end; and that each of these single Compartments embodies within itself the spirit of the whole design, and may be said to represent, individually, the MAIN IDEA of the Building.

It is this portion of such a building then--a single Compartment of the Exterior and Interior of the Main Walls of the Choir or Nave, and its adjacent Aisle--that we have selected for the purpose of inst.i.tuting that comparison which will enable us to fix and define the characteristics of the Seven Periods of English Architecture.

Neglecting, therefore, for the present, the Gable Ends, the Towers and Turrets, the Porches, the Doorways, the Chapels, the Cloisters, and all the other adjuncts of an Ecclesiastical Building, and bestowing our entire attention upon these Exterior and Interior Compartments, we will proceed at once to a comparison of their several parts, and consider in order the mode of treatment they received at the hands of the builders, of each of these Seven Periods, commencing with the earliest and descending to the latest.

CHAPTER IV.

THE SAXON PERIOD.

A.D. ---- TO A.D. 1066.

Inasmuch as there does not remain to us a single Exterior or Interior Compartment in any Cathedral or Conventual Church of genuine Saxon Architecture, the comparative ill.u.s.tration of this Period is rendered impossible.

A few Piers and Arches exist indeed, in all probability, in the Churches of BRIXWORTH in Northamptons.h.i.+re, St. Michael's at ST. ALBANS, and REPTON in Derbys.h.i.+re; but they differ considerably in their character from one another, and as widely probably in their date. We have also a few Chancel and Tower arches left, which appear to belong to this Period; as well as some singular and interesting Towers, a few Doorways and Windows, and some considerable portions of masonry.

Altogether, however, these remains are not such as to enable us to define, with any degree of certainty, the nature and character of the _Main Walls_ of a Saxon Cathedral, and are, therefore, not available for our present purpose.

BUILDINGS

OF

THE SAXON PERIOD.

BRIXWORTH All Saints' Church Nave, Tower.

REPTON St. Wistan's Church Crypt, Chancel.

BARNACK St. John's Church Tower.

BARTON St. Peter's Church Tower.

EARL'S BARTON All Saints' Church Tower.

WHITTINGHAM St. Bartholomew's Church Tower and Pier-arch.

CAMBRIDGE St. Benet's Church Tower.

SOMPTING Parish Church Tower.

DEERHURST Holy Trinity Church Tower.

CORHAMPTON Parish Church Nave.

STANTON LACY St. Peter's Church Nave.

ST. ALBANS St. Michael's Church Nave.

STOW St. Mary's Church Transepts.

WORTH Parish Church Nave, Chancel.

WING All Saints' Church Chancel.

CHAPTER V.

NORMAN PERIOD.

PRINc.i.p.aL CHARACTERISTIC.

THE UNIVERSAL USE OF THE CIRCULAR ARCH IN EVERY PART OF A BUILDING THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE PERIOD.