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called the Queen's Oriel is remarkable for the fancy, luxuriance, and elegance of the workmanship. Nor is the contrivance of the little terraced garden below, considering the

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history of the times, a matter of small curiosity, where, though all the surrounding country were hostile, fresh air might be safely enjoyed; and the commanding view of the singularly beautiful landscape around, from both that little herbary or garden, and the bay window or oriel, is so managed as to leave no doubt of its purpose."

403. The model of Conway Castle has little resemblance to that we have just left. It resembles rather the fortresses of the last Greek emperors, or of the chieftains of the north of Italy. The towers are mostly circular, as are their turrets, with a

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single slender one rising from each; and machicolations, not seen at Caernarvon, are introduced. The greater part of the castles of Wales and Scotland for the defence of the

Fig. 192.

TREFOIL AND CINQUEFOIL HEADS.

marches were built in the reign of Edward I. On the subjugation of the former country, and its partition into lordships among Edward's followers, many castles were reared upon the general plan of those he had erected, though varying in dimensions and situation, according to the means of defence proposed to be secured to their founders and possessors. We may here observe, that in the castle at Conway Edward I. erected a hall 129 ft. by 31, and 22 ft. high, which is formed to suit the curvature of the rock; and that from that period no residence of consequence, either for the nobility or feudal lords, was erected without one, varying, however, of course, in their minuter parts, according to circumstances, and in degree of magnificence.

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404. Caer-Philly Castle, in Glamorganshire (fig. 191.), was another

Fig. 193. COLUMNS OF WESTMINSTER ABBEY.

of the castles of this period. It was the strong-hold of the De Spencers in the reign of The hall was much the second Edward. Its vallations and remains are very extensive.

larger than that at Conway.

405. The characteristics of this style are, that the arches are sharply (lancet) pointed, and lofty in proportion to their span. In the upper tiers two or more are comprehended under one, finished in trefoil or cinquefoil heads (fig. 192.) instead of points, the Columns on which separating columns being very slender. the arches rest (fig. 193.) are very slender in proportion to their height, and usually consist of a central shaft surThe base rounded by several smaller ones (fig. 194.). takes the general form of the cluster, and the capital (fig. 195.) is frequently decorated with foliage very elegantly composed. The windows are long, narrow, and lancet shaped, whence some writers have called this style the Lancet Gothic. They are divided by one plain mullion,

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Fig. 195.

CAPITAL OF COLUMN.

or in upper tiers by two at most, finished at the top with some simple ornament, as a lozenge or a trefoil. They have commonly small marble shafts on each side, both internally and externally; two, three, or more together at the east or west end, and tier above tier. Roofs are high pitched and the ceilings vaulted, exhibiting the first examples of arches with cross springers only, which in a short period diverged into many more, rising from the capitals of the columns, and almost overspreading the whole surface of the vaulting. The longitudinal horizontal line which reigned along the apex of the vault was decorated with bosses of flowers, figures, and other fancies. Walls much reduced in thickness from those of the preceding period: they are, however, externally strengthened with buttresses, which, as it were, lean against them for the purpose of counteracting the thrust exerted by the stone vaults which form the ceilings, and which the walls and piers by their own gravity could not resist. The buttresses are moreover aided in their office by the pinnacles, adorned with crockets at their angles, and crowned with finial flowers, by which they are surmounted. The ornaments now become numerous, but they are simple and elegant. The mouldings are not so much varied as in the Norman style, and are generally, perhaps universally, formed of some combination of leaves and flowers, used not only in the circumference of arches, especially of windows, but the columns or pilasters are completely laid down with them. Trefoils, quatrefoils, cinquefoils, roses, mullets, bosses, pateræ, &c. in the spandrils, or above the keystones of the arches and elsewhere. The ornamental pinnacles on shrines, tombs, &c. are extremely high and acute, sometimes with and sometimes without niches under them. In east and west fronts the niches are filled with statues of the size of life and larger, and are crowned with trefoil, &c. heads, or extremely acute pediments, formed by the meeting of two straight lines instead of arcs. All these ornaments are more sparingly introduced into large entire edifices than in smaller buildings or added parts. The plans are generally similar to those of the second period; but that important feature the tower now begins to rise to a great height, and lanterns and lofty spires are frequent accompaniments to the structure. It will naturally occur to the reader, that in the transition from the second to the third style, the architects left one extreme for another, though it has been contended that the latter has its germ in the former. However that may be, the period of which we are now speaking was undoubtedly the parent of the succeeding styles, and that by no very forced or unnatural relationship.

406. The principal examples of the early English style in the cathedral churches of England are to be seen at Oxford, in the chapter-house. Lincoln, in the nave and arches beyond the transept. York, in the north and south transept. At Durham, in the additional transept. Wells, the tower and the whole western front. Carlisle, the choir. Ely, the presbytery. Worcester, the transept and choir. Salisbury, the whole cathedral; the only unmixed example. At Rochester, the choir and transept. "It is well worthy of observation," says Mr. Dallaway, "that though the ground plans of sacred edifices are, generally speaking, similar and systematic, yet in no single instance which occurs to my memory do we find an exact and unvaried copy of any building which preceded it in any part of the structure. A striking analogy or resemblance may occur, but that rarely."

407. The examples of conventual architecture of this period, to which we beg to refer the reader, are those of Lanercost, in Cumberland; Rivaulx, Yorkshire; Westminster Abbey. At Fountains, the choir and east end; Tinterne Abbey, in Monmouthshire; Netley, Hampshire; Whitby, in Yorkshire; Valle Crucis, in Denbighshire; Ripon Minster and the south transept of Beverley Minster, in Yorkshire; Milton Abbey, Dorsetshire; part of the nave of St. Alban's; Tinemouth and Brinkbourn, Northumberland; Vale Royal, in Cheshire; and the eastern façade of Howden, in Yorkshire.

408. Among the examples of parochial churches in this style are Grantham, in Lincolnshire, whose tower is 180 ft. high; Attelborough, in Norfolk; Higham Ferrars, in Northamptonshire; St. Michael, Coventry; Truro, in Cornwall; Witney, in Oxfordshire; Stratford upon Avon, in Warwickshire; St. Peter Mancroft, Norwich; Boston, Lincolnshire, remarkable for its lantern tower rising 262 ft. from the ground, and perhaps almost belonging to the succeeding period; St. Mary, Edmund's Bury, Suffolk; Maidstone, in Kent; and Ludlow, in Shropshire.

SECT. IV.

ORNAMENTED ENGLISH ARCHITECTURE.

409. The fourth period in the architecture of Britain is that which Mr. Millers calls the Ornamented English Style, which begins about 1300 and lasts till 1460, and comprises, therefore, the latter portion of the reign of Edward I., and the reigns of Edward II., Edward III., Richard II., Henry IV., Henry V., and Henry VI.

410. This æra has by Dallaway and others been subdivided into two parts, viz. first

from 1300 to 1400, which they call that of the Transition Style or pure Gothic, and from 1400 to 1460, called the Decorated Gothic; but the change between the latest examples of the first and the earliest of the last is marked by such nice and almost imperceptible distinctions, that it is next to impossible to mark their boundaries with precision; and we have therefore preferred adhering, as we have in the other ages of the art, to the arrangement adopted by Mr. Millers. In the early part of the period the change, or rather progress, was extremely slow, and marked by little variation, and, indeed, until 1400, the style can scarcely be said to have been perfected; but after that time, rapidly attained all the improvement whereof it was susceptible, and so proceeded till about 1460; after which, as we shall hereafter see, it assumed an exuberance of ornament, beyond which as it was impossible to advance, it was in a predicament from which no change could be' effected but by its total abandonment.

411. Notwithstanding the wars of the rival houses of York and Lancaster, which occupied a considerable portion of the interval whereof we are speaking, and deluged, as the reader will recollect, our land with the blood of the bravest of men, the art did not appear to suffer; a circumstance apparently extraordinary, but satisfactorily accounted for by the zeal of both the contending parties for the religion they in common professed. True it is that the taste for founding and building monasteries and churches was not so universal as in the period last described; the decline, however, of that taste might in some measure have arisen not only from the unhappy state of the country just alluded to, but also from the doubts raised in the minds of many persons of all ranks by Wickliffe and his followers as to the merit attached to those pious and expensive works. "It cannot," says Henry, "be denied that the style of sacred architecture commonly called Gothic continued to be greatly improved, and in the course of this period was brought to the highest perfection." To account in some measure for this, it must be recollected that during the civil wars the superior ecclesiastics were confined to their cloisters, as few of them had taken an active part in the dispute which agitated the realm; and, indeed, some of the finest structures now remaining were reared from the accumulation of wealth amassed by instigating the noble and affluent to contribute to churches built under their own inspection. The choir at Gloucester, a most beautiful example, was completed during these turbulent times by Abbot Sebroke, together with the arcade that supports the magnificent tower of that cathedral.

412. During this period the efforts of painting and sculpture were superadded to those of architecture; and to these must be joined the enchanting effects produced by expanded windows glowing with the richest colours that stained glass could bestow on them. Το enter into a history of the rise, progress, and perfection of this art, would here be out of place. A separate work would be required to trace it from its introduction in this country as connected with our art in the reign of Henry III., to that point when it reached its zenith in the fifteenth century. Dallaway observes, with much truth, that it is a vulgar error to suppose the art was ever lost, inasmuch as we had eminent professors of it in the reign of Charles I.

413. In military architecture, from the reign of Edward III. to the close of the contention between the houses of York and Lancaster, many improvements were effected. Within that period a great number of the castellated edifices of which the country could boast were erected or renewed. Their style is marked by turrets and hanging galleries over the salient angles and gateways, of great variety in design. In the fortress at Amberley, in Sussex, built by William Rede, Bishop of Chichester, about 1370, and one of the ablest geometricians of the age, the ground plan is nearly a parallelogram with four large towers at the angles, not projecting externally, but inserted into the side walls. Of this æra is also, at Swansea Castle, the lofty perforated parapet or arcade, through which the water was conveyed from the roof. Upon this plan Henry Gower, Bishop of St. David's, in 1335, improved, in his magnificent castellated palace at Llanphey Court. 414. From the circumstance of the circuit of many of the castles encompassing several acres of ground, the base court was proportionably spacious; hence the halls and other state apartments were lighted by windows, smaller, but similar in form, to those used in churches. The rest of the apartments were unavoidably incommodious, defence being the chief consideration. In the castles and palaces of the period, the halls, which formed a principal feature in them, require some notice. The earliest whereof mention is made was that built by William Rufus in his palace at Westminster. Hugh Lupus erected one at Chester, and one was executed for Robert Consul at Bristol. Others we find erected by Henry I. at Woodstock and Beaumont in Oxford; probably of rude construction, and divided into two aisles by piers of arcades or timber posts. In the following century, when castles began to be constantly inhabited, and space became requisite for holding the numerous feudal dependents on various occasions, the size of the hall was of course increased, and internal architecture and characteristic ornaments were applied to it. At the upper end, where the high table was placed, the floor was elevated, forming a haut pas or dais, a little above the general level of the floor. The example afforded by Edward III. at

Windsor was followed during his own and the succeeding reign. The halls of Westminster and Eltham were rebuilt by Richard II.; Kenilworth by John of Gaunt; Dartington, in Devonshire, by Holland Duke of Exeter. Crosby Hall, in London, was finished by the Duke of Gloucester, afterwards Richard III. We here subjoin the dimensions of some of the principal halls in castles and palaces before the end of the fifteenth century, ranged in order of their size :

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At

415. Generally, in respect of plan, the internal arrangement of these halls was very similar. The high table, as we have observed, was elevated on a platform above the level of the floor, and was reserved for the lord and his family, with the superior guests. Round the walls separate tables and benches were distributed for the officers of the household and dependents. The centre was occupied by the great open fire-place, directly over which in the roof was placed a turret, denominated a louvre, for conveying away the smoke. Bolton Castle we find the chimneys in the walls; but, perhaps, those at Conway and Kenilworth are earlier proof of the alteration. The roofs with which some of these halls are spanned exhibit mechanical and artistic skill of the first order. The thrust, by the simplest means, is thrown comparatively low down in the best examples, so as to lessen the horizontal effect against the walls, and thus dispense with considerable solidity in the buttresses. Fig. 196. is a section of the celebrated Hall of Westminster, by which our observation will be better understood. These roofs were framed of oak or ches

nut.

Whether, when of the latter, it was imported from Portugal and Castile, is a question that has been discussed, but not determined, by antiquaries. Large stone corbels and projecting consoles were attached to the side walls, and were disposed in bays called severeys between each window. Upon their ends, demi-angels were generally carved, clasping a large escochion to their breasts. Near to the high table, a projecting or bay window, termed an oriel, was introduced. It was fully glazed, frequently containing stained glass of the arms of the family and its alliances. Here was the standing cupboard which contained the plain and parcel-gilt plate. The rere-dos was a sort of framed canopy hung with tapestry, and fixed behind the sovereign or chieftain. The walls were generally lined to about a third of their height with panelled oak or strained suits of tapestry. It was during this æra that privy chambers, parlours, and bowers found their way into the castle. Adjoining to, or nearly connected with the hall, a spacious room, generally with a bay window, looking on to the quadrangle, was planned as a receiving-room for the guests, as well before dinner as after. This was decorated with the richest tapestry and cushions embroidered by the ladies, and was distinguished by the name of the presence or privychamber. The females of the family had another similar apartment, in which their time was passed in domestic occupations and amusements. This last room was called my lady's bower or parlour, and here she received her visitors. Bay windows were never used in outer walls, and seldom others, excepting those of the narrowest shape.

416. The dawn of improvement in our domestic architecture opened in the latter part of the period, during which also brick came very much into use in England as a building material. "Michael de la Pole," as we learn from Leland's Itinerary, "marchant of Hull, came into such high favour with King Richard II. that he got many privileges for the towne. in hys tyme the toune was wonderfully augmented yn building, and was enclosyd with ditches, and the waul begun; and in continuance endid, and made all of brike, as most part of the houses at that time was. In the waul be four principal gates of brike." After

And

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enumerating twenty-five towers, " M. de la Pole," we find from Leland, "buildid a goodlie house of brike, against the west end of St. Marye's churche, lyke a palace, with goodly orcharde and garden at large, also three houses besides, every on of which hath a tower of brik." (Itin. vol. i. p. 57.) This was the first instance of so large an application of brick in England.

417. One of the most important parts of the castle was the great gateway of entrance, in which were combined, at the same time, the chief elements of architectural beauty and military defence. It usually occupied the central part of the screen wall, which had the aspect whence the castle could be most conveniently approached. Two or more lofty towers flanked either side, the whole being deeply corbelled; a mode of building brought by the Arabs into Europe, and afterwards adopted by the Lombards and Normans. The corbel is a projecting stone, the back part whereof, which lies in the wall, being balanced by the superincumbent mass, it is capable of supporting a parapet projecting beyond the face of the wall rising from the horizontal course laid immediately on the corbels, between which the said horizontal course was pierced for the purpose of enabling the besieged to drop missiles or molten metal on the heads of the assailants. The corbel is often carved with the head of a giant or monster, which thus seems attached to the walls. In John of Gaunt's entrance gateway at Lancaster, the arch is defended by overhanging corbels with pierced apertures between them, and on either side are two light watch-towers crested with battlements.

418. Of the military architecture of this time, a perfect idea may be obtained from the two remarkable towers of Warwick Castle (fig. 197.), which were erected (in 1395) by Thomas de Beauchamp Earl of Warwick. The taller one rises 105 ft. above its base, and is 38 ft. diameter, having five stories, which are separated from each other by groined ceilings. In the interior, the walls of the state chambers were painted; a practice introduced into England in the beginning of the thirteenth century; and they were

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