The Principles of Gothic Ecclesiastical Architecture, Elucidated by Question and Answer, 4th ed | Page 3

as yet so little studied
or known, as to render it difficult to point out, either generally or in
detail, in what their peculiarities consist: the style may, however, be
said to have approximated in appearance much nearer to the Debased
Roman style of masonry than the Norman, and to have been also much
ruder: and in the most ancient churches, as in that at Dover Castle, and
that at Bricksworth, we find arches constructed of flat bricks or tiles,
set edgewise, which was also a Roman fashion. The masonry was
chiefly composed of rubble, with ashlar or squared blocks of stone at
the angles, disposed in courses in a peculiar manner.
[Illustration: Anglo-Saxon Arches, Bricksworth Church,
Northamptonshire (7th. cent.)]

The most common characteristic by which the NORMAN style is
distinguished, is the semicircular or segmental arch, though this is to be
met with also in the rare specimens of Anglo-Saxon masonry; but the
Norman arches were more scientifically constructed: in their early state,
indeed, quite plain, but generally concentric, or one arch receding
within another, and in an advanced stage they were frequently
ornamented with zig-zag and other mouldings. A variety of mouldings
were also used in the decoration of the Norman portals or doorways,
which were besides often enriched with a profusion of sculptured
ornament. The Norman churches appear to have much excelled in size
the lowly structures of the Saxons, and the cathedral and conventual
churches were frequently carried to the height of three tiers or rows of
arches, one above another; blank arcades were also used to ornament
the walls.
[Illustration: Norman Arcade, St. Aldgate, Oxford.]
The Norman style, in which an innumerable number of churches and
monastic edifices were originally built or entirely reconstructed,
continued without any striking alteration till about the latter part of the
twelfth century, when a singular change began to take place: this was
no other than the introduction of the pointed arch, the origin of which
has never yet been satisfactorily explained, or the precise period clearly
ascertained in which it first appeared; but as the lightness and
simplicity of design to which the Early Pointed style was found to be
afterwards convertible was in its incipient state unknown, it retained to
the close of the twelfth century the heavy concomitants of the
semicircular arch, with which indeed it was often intermixed: and from
such intermixture it may be designated the SEMI or MIXED
NORMAN.
When the original Norman style of building was first broken through,
by the introduction of the pointed arch, which was often formed by the
intersection of semicircular arches, the facing of it, or architrave, was
often ornamented with the zig-zag, billet, and other mouldings, in the
same manner as the Norman semicircular arches: it also rested on round
massive piers, and still retained many other features of Norman

architecture. But from the time of its introduction to the close of the
twelfth century, the pointed arch was gradually struggling with the
semicircular arch for the mastery, and with success; for from the
commencement of the thirteenth century, as nearly as can be
ascertained, the style of building with semicircular arches was, with
very few exceptions, altogether discarded, and superseded by its more
elegant rival.
[Illustration: Canterbury Cathedral.]
The mode of building with semicircular arches, massive piers, and
thick walls with broad pilaster buttresses, was now laid aside; and the
pointed arch, supported by more slender piers, with walls strengthened
with graduating buttresses, of less width but of greater projection, were
universally substituted in their stead. The windows, one of the most
apparent marks of distinction, were at first long, narrow, and
lancet-shaped: the heavy Norman ornaments, the zig-zag and other
mouldings peculiar to the Norman and Semi-Norman styles, were now
discarded; yet we often meet with certain decorative ornaments, as the
tooth ornament, which, though sometimes found in late Norman work,
is almost peculiar to the Early Pointed style; also the ball-flower,
prevalent both in this and the style of the succeeding century. Many
church towers were also capped with spires, which now first appear.
This style prevailed generally throughout the thirteenth century, and is
usually designated as the EARLY ENGLISH.
[Illustration: Horsley Ch., Derbyshire.]
Towards the close of the thirteenth century a perceptible, though
gradual, transition took place to a richer and more ornamental mode of
architecture. This was the style of the fourteenth century, and is known
by the name of the DECORATED ENGLISH; but it chiefly flourished
during the reigns of Edward the Second and Edward the Third, in the
latter of which it attained a degree of perfection unequalled by
preceding or subsequent ages. Some of the most prominent and
distinctive marks of this style occur in the windows, which were greatly
enlarged, and divided into many lights by mullions or tracery-bars
running