E S SAYS ON GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE, BY THE REV. T. WARTON, REV. J. BENTHAM, CAPTAIN GROSE, AND THE REV. J. MILNER. (WITH A LETTER TO THE PUBLISHERS ILLUSTRATED WITH TWELVE PLATES OF ORNAMENTS, 8cc, SELECTED FROM gntfent fttOMns*; CALCULATED To exhibit the various Styles of different Periods, THE SECOND EDITION. TO WHICH IS ADDED, A LIST OF THE CATHEDRALS OF ENGLAND, WITH THEIR DIMENSIONS : ALSO TWO NEW PLATES. -Et nos aliquod nomenque decufque Gcffimus— Virgil. &n. lib. «. LONDON: Printed by S. Gosnell, Little Queen Street, Holborn, TOR J. TAYLOR, AT THE ARCHITECTURAL LIBRARY; HIGH HOLBORN. l802. ADVERTISEMENT TO THE SECOND EDITION X UBLIC approbation having rendered a Second Edition of thefe Effays neceffary, the opportu- nity has been embraced of rendering the volume further interefting and ufeful, by the addition of two new plates, and the dimenfions of all the Cathedrals in England. Of the plates, one is an interior view of Durham cathedral, from a drawing by Mr. Turner ; the other, of Weft- minfter Abbey, from a drawing by Mr. Barrow. The points of view here mown are intended to exhibit the difference of character and effect, of a the *1V ADVERTISEMENT TO the circular and of the pointed ftyles of ancient Englifh architecture. Durham cathedral is juftly confidered one of the bell; and pureft fpecimens of the early, circular, or Saxon ityle. This view, taken from near the weft entrance, looking down the nave towards the eaffc, exhibits an interefting fpecimen of circular arches fpringing from maf- five round pillars, decorated with appropriate ornaments, the zig-zag, billet, &c. The view in Weftminfter Abbey is taken from near the principal entrance into the choir, look- ing up the great ille or nave ; and mows the lightnefs of highly-pointed arches, fpringing from flender cluftered columns, from which irTue mouldings and ribs fancifully fp reading over the adjoining parts and the vault of the roof. A view is alfo given of the elegant tracery and magnificence of the great weftern window. An attentive infpection and comparifon of thefe prints will give a pretty clear and accurate idea THE SECOND EDITION. *V Idea of the two ftyles, in which confift the dif- tinguifhing characters of our ancient architec- ture. The meafurements of the Cathedrals, it is prefumed, will be particularly acceptable ; their real or comparative magnitude is very intereft- ing, and is clofely connected with our ideas of the grand and fublime : I know of no book in which the fame can be found entire. For eafe of confulting, they are arranged alphabetically ; and every endeavour has been ufed to be accurate in the dimenfions, which have been taken prin- cipally from Willis's Survey of the Cathedrals, and the Mitred Abbies : however, every fub- fequent authority has been examined, and every poflible inquiry amongft an extenflve acquaint- ance has been exercifed j fo that it is prefumed the meafurements may be relied upon with con- fiderable certainty, and from which the abfolute or comparative magnitude of any of our Cathe- drals may eafHy be known, The *vi ADVERTISEMENT. The regular Cathedrals only of England arc noticed in this lift, with the exception of Weft- minfter Abbey, which, for its elegance and magnitude, it would have been unjuft to have omitted : if needful, it may be pleaded it was once numbered among our Cathedrals, The dimenfions of old St. Paul's, London, are added, from Dugdale, as highly curious, and without which the fubjecl: would not have been com- plete. PREFACE. PREFACE. ThE want of a concife hiftorical account of Gothic architecture has been a juft caufe of complaint : the fubject is peculiarly interefting to every Englilhman, as his country contains the beft fpecimens of a ftyle of building not unequal in grace, beauty, and ornament, to the moft celebrated remains of Greece or Rome. This ftyle of architecture may pro- perly be called Englifh. architecture, for if it had not its origin in this country, it certainly arrived at maturity here*; under the Saxon dynafty * Since the publication of the firft edition of this work, I am highly- gratified by a note which has appeared to the account of Durham Cathedral, which accompanies the Plans, &c. of that ftructure, pub- lilhed by the Antiquarian Society. " It is much to be wifhed that the word Gothic Ihould not be ufed in fpeaking of the architecture of England, from the thirteenth to the fixteenth century. The term tends to give falfe ideas on the fubject, and originates with the Italian writers of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries ; who applied the expreffion of ' La Maniera Gotica,' in contempt to all the works of art of the middle ages. " From thefe writers it was borrowed by Sir Chriftopher Wren, the firft Englifh writer who has applied it to Englifh architecture. There is very Uttle doubt that the light and elegant ftyle of building, whofe a % principal iv PREFACE. dynafty this ftyle of building was introduced, and under the Norman dynafty it received its ultimate degree of beauty and perfection. To remedy this want of a convenient manual on this interefting fubject, it appeared beft to collect what had been already faid by feveral authors of celebrity, in detached works, and which had been received as authorities. In this view, the Rev. Mr. Bentha?n*s Effay on Saxon and Norman architecture, in his ela- borate Hifloryof Ely Cathedral, ftood foremoft for felection, arrangement, and accurate dif- crimination of hiftorical facts : next to this, Captain Grofe's Preface on Architecture to his Antiquities of England is to be valued ; which, although founded in a great degree on Mr, principal and chara&eriftic feature is the high-pointed arch ftruck from two centres, was invented in this country : it is certain that it was here brought to its higheft ftate of perfection ; and the teftimonies of other countries, whofe national traditions afcribe their moft beau- tiful churches to Englifh artifts, adds great weight to this affertion, and pecular propriety to the term English, now propofed to be fubftituted to the word Gothic. " The architecture ufed by the Saxons, is very properly called Saxon. The improvements introduced after the Norman Conqueft, juftify the application of Norman to the edifices of that period. The nation affumed a new character about the time of Henry II. The language, properly called Englifh, was then formed ; and an architecture founded on the Norman and Saxon, but extremely different from both, was invented by Englilh artifts : it is, furely, equally juft and proper to diftinguifh this ftyle by the honourable appellation of Englifh. This term will therefore be ufed inftead of Gothic, in the courfe of the work ; and it is hoped no Englifh antiquary will be offended at the fubftitution of an accurate and honourable name, in the place of one which is both contemptuous and inappropriate." Bentham's PREFACE. V Bentham's opinions, yet contains fome new points and authorities ; in particular, his co- pious notes will be found very interefting, and to contain nearly all that has been faid by Sir Chrijlopher Wren on the fubject, which, being difperfed through many pages of the Parentalia, could not be given as a regular narrative. The concife hiftory by Profeflbr War ton, in his notes on Spenfer's Fairy Queen, has received too much applaufe to be neglected ; his words, though few, are important on the fubject. To thefe the liberality of the Rev. Mr. Milner has allowed me to add, for the gratification of the public, the Hiftory of the origin andprogrefs of the pointed arch, lately publiftied by that gentle- man , in his learned work on the Hiftory and Anti- quities of Winchefter. He alfo has been pleafed to fuperintend the felecting of the feries of ex- amples on Plates VIII. IX. and X. which tend ftrongly to corroborate the opinions he maintains. This gentleman has further been pleafed to addrefs to me an important letter, which is given in this volume, in which the inquiring antiquary will find many hints worthy his de- liberate attention, refpe&ing an accurate claf. iificatiorj Vi PREFACE. lifkation of ftyles, characters, and facts, whereby to afcertain dates, and on which principle only can be accomplifhed that great defideratum, the adopting fuch terms and definitions as lliall be applicable to the feveral characters, and which confequently may become of univerfal acceptance and ufage. The anxious inquirer alfo is kindly guarded againfl certain errors which elfe he may be led into, in perilling the productions of the feveral celebrated pens now laid before him. Thefe Eflays are arranged according to the priority of their publication, that whoever lliall read the whole may receive the arguments in the chronological order wherein they have fallen from the pens of their feveral writers. They are alfo printed without any variation from the ori- ginal texts : and to render this edition completely ufeful for reference, the pages of Mr. Bentham's quarto volume are retained in this work. By rendering the laborious refearches of thefe celebrated antiquaries on the ancient archi- tecture of England eafy of accefs, and at a fmall cofl, it is hoped many perfons who are anxious for information on this interefting fubject, will be led to a higher relifli for and obtain more juft ideas of a branch of antiquarian Hudy pecu- liarly PREFACE. Vii liarly interefting to every Englilhman, whether confidered historically or nationally ; for though many perfons eminent in the ftudy of the arts may differ, as tafte or fancy inclines them, refpecting the inferior or fuperior grace and beauty of the Gothic or Grecian ftyles of architecture, yet few, very few, on entering the ftupendous fabrics of our pious an ceftors, but have felt and acknowledg- ed their fuperior fkill in producing on the human mind thofe religious and fublime ideas fully cor- refpondent with the holy intent of the Structure. It may be proper to fay a word or two re- fpecting the title of this volume, Effays on Gothic Architecture. In this inftance, the word Gothic is ufed, being, as I conceive, at pre- fent more general and better underftood than any other, when applied to our ancient archi- tecture ; and as the motive for this felection is general information, it appeared necefTary to fpeak in language generally underftood : at the fame time it is much to be wifhed fome term or terms more appropriate, and of general ufe, were adopted ; which ihould convey correct ideas of this peculiar fpecies of architecture. The term Gothic architecture does not occur in 4 any Vlll PREFACE. any of our ancient hiftorians, it muft therefore; be of modern introduction; and it has been well conjectured by feveral eminent antiquaries was applied folely for the purpofe of catting an opprobrious epithet on it, at the period of in- troducing the Greek or Roman ftyle into this country ; and when the ancient religion was to be exploded, fo alfo was the ancient ftyle of its facred edifices : the more appropriate terms, I conceive, would be, to call that fpecies of it diftinguifhed by the circular arch, Saxon, and that diftinguifhed by the pointed arch, Norman ; for under the guidance of thefe nations did each principally difplay its grandeur and peculiarities. Mr. Milner has endeavoured with fome (kill to afcertain this point. There naturally will be much blending of characters in the period, before one ilyle had completely taken the place of the other. Having no defire to mine in borrowed plumes, it is necefTary to fay the fubjects of the firft fix plates are chiefly felected from the delineations by Mr. Wilkins of Cambridge, as given by the learned Society of Antiquaries, in the 1 2th volume of their Archaeologia : of the accuracy of thefe reprefentations I have no doubt, PREFACE. ix doubt, and being taken from really ancient examples, they appear better calculated to con-, vey correct ideas of the feveral ornaments and parts characleriftic of the different periods and ftyles, than any inventions poffibly could be ; befides which, they are reprefentations of fo many exifting fpecimens of antiquity, often exhibiting much more than the mere part referred to. The print of Bigod's tower is given to mow entire a beautiful example of the ancient circular arch, or Saxon ftyle, and that of the tower of York cathedral, to mow, in contraft, a beautiful example of the more modern pointed arch, or Norman ftyle. It may be of ufe to obferve, that whoever willies to fee a large alfortment of both Saxon and Norman ornaments will have much plea- fure in examining the volume of Archaeologia, whence thefe were taken. Many alfo of the buildings referred to as authorities in the fol- lowing ElTays may be found delineated in Mr. Carter's publication on the ancient architecture of England ; a work of great refearch and indus- try, in which the fkill and tafte of our ancient builders will be handed down to pofterity in defiance of the deftroying hands of time, or b modern X PREFACE. modern innovators. The elegant plates of the Ornaments of York Cathedral, by Mr. Half- penny, afford a great variety of curious and elegant examples of ornaments in the florid ilyle, accurately difplayed, and feleclxd with tafte. Of the fame kind is the work of Spe- cimens of Gothic Ornaments, felected from the Church of Lavenham in Suffolk. Mr. Murphy's publication of the Plans, Eleva- tions, &c. of the Monaftery of Batalha in Portugal, will afford many accurate and inte- refting examples, and much important informa- tion to the inquiring antiquary. The felection here prefented, it is hoped, will be found fully fufficient to illuftrate the fubjeel:, and give clear ideas of the parts and their peculiarities, as referred to by the feveral writers. Thus, with an ordinary degree of atten- tion, it is hoped every perfon may obtain clear notions on this fubjeel:, who perhaps would not have bought, or even examined, the coftly and bulky works whence this little volume has been extracted ; if fo, it may be hoped the mite of labour will not have been bejftowed in vain. J.T. OBSERVATIONS ON The Means neceffary for further illujlrating the ecclejiajlical Architecture of the middle Ages y IN A LETTER FROM THE Rev. JOHN MILNER, M.A.F.S.A. to Mr. TAYLOR. Sir, I CONGRATULATE the Public on your at- tempt to elucidate the architecture of the middle ages, by the collection of EfTays which you are about to publiiti on this fubject ; and 1 cannot refrain from pointing out to thofe antiquaries, who, like myfelf, delight in this branch of their characteriflical fcience, certain matters, which feem to me particularly deferving of their atten- tion, for promoting its progrefs, for fixing it on clear and fure principles, and for furniming artifts with rules to go by when conftructing and repairing works in the ftyle in queftion. The firfl requifite for the better illuftration of this fubject is, that thofe perfons who treat of it mould come to a right underftanding, and agree in the ufe of the fame terms for convey- b 2 ing xii rev. j. milner's ing the fame ideas relative to it. In proof of the confufion which ftill prevails on this fub- jecl; among men who are moft converfant with it, I may refer to thefe EfTays, in one of which the celebrated cathedral of Salifbury is declared to be, not properly a Gothic ftructure a , while in two others it is as pofitively afferted to be entirely Gothic b . Again, one of thefe eminent authors teftifies, that " fome writers call all our ancient architecture, without any diftinction of round or pointed arches, Gothic ; though of late," he adds, " the fafhion has been to apply the term folely to the latter ." The other has much the fame obfervation d ; and they both agree in condemning the opprobrious term Go- thic, as applied to that " light, neat, and ele- gant form of building, with arches pointed, and pillars fmall and flender 6 ," which, in fact, was not invented until about 600 years after . * " The ftyle which fucceeded to this (the Saxon) was not the abfolute Gothic, or Gothic {imply fo called, but a fort of Gothic Saxon, in which the pure Saxon began to re- ceive fome tincture of the Saracen fafhion. — In this ftyle is Salifbury cathedral." Warton's Effay, p. 4, 5. b (t The cathedral of Salifbury confifts entirely of that ftyle which is now called (though I think improperly) Gothic." Bentham's Effay, p. 73. " The prefent cathe- dral of Salifbury is entirely in the Gothic ftyle." Grofe's Effay, p. 116. * Bentham's Effay, p. 74, 75. d Grofe's Effay, p. 95. . • J3entham, p. 73, 74. the LETTER. Xlll the Goths difappeared from the theatre of the world. Finally, they all defcribe the Saxon and the Norman ftyles as agreeing in their form and differing only in their dimensions f j whereas fome ingenious and refpectable writers of the prefent day, by way of exploding the term Gothic , make ufe of the word 'Norman, to iig- nify the pointed ftyle. The confufion that mull: arife in the minds of uninformed readers from the ufe of thefe leading terms, in contradiftin- guifhed fenfes by eminent writers, is eafily con- ceived. My prefent object, Sir, is merely to fuggeft the necelTity of an agreement amongft the learned in the ufe of fcientific language on the prefent fubject, and not to dictate the con- ditions of that agreement. I flatter myfelf, however, that, when fpeaking of that light and elegant fpecies of architecture which properly began in the reign of our firft Tudors, I call it the pointed Jiyle ; and when defcribing this, in conjunction with the heavy circular order which preceded it, in the time of the Saxons and firft Normans, I term them both together, the archi- tecture of the middle ages, I fay, I flatter myfelf that I am clearly underflood by perfons of in- formation, and that the fubject s themfelves are characteriftically denominated. f Warton, p. 4. Bentham, p. 6i> 62, 63, 64. Grofe, p. 100. b 3 The xiv rev. j. milner's The next point which, I think, requires to be clearly afcertained amongfl architectural an- tiquaries is, the true origin of the pointed ftyle. I have already expofed in part the abfurdity and contradictions into which thofe perfons fall who derive it from the Goths and Vandals of the North, or from the Saracens of the Eaft, or, finally, from the Moors of the Weft, ra- ther than admit our own anceftors to have been capable of inventing it. I mall farther obferve, that whatfoever has been advanced in fupport of any one of thefe fyftems, is the pro- duce of mere conjecture, without a fhadow of any kind of hiftorical evidence. For example, we no where read of any architect from Ara- bia, Morocco, or Spain, arriving in England, France, or Italy, to teach the inhabitants how to conftruct their churches : nor do we hear of any Englifhman, Frenchman, or Italian, that ever travelled into thofe countries in order to learn architecture. But we find, on the other hand, fuch an emulation amongft the prelates and princes of the times in queftion, in our own and the neighbouring countries, but chiefly in our own, to outvie each other in the mag- nificence and beauty of their buildings ; particu- larly of the ecclefiaftical kind; and fuch en- couragement held out to architects and artifts of this country, that it would be extraordinary if LETTER. XV if thefe were productive of no new inventions or improvements in the various branches of architecture. In a word, Sir, I think it plain, that even Mr. Warton, who follows Sir Chrif- topher Wren's confufed and prejudiced account of this matters, confutes his own fyftem whilft he demon urates, as Bentham and Grofe alfo do, the flow and regular degrees by which this fpecies of architecture rofe up and attained to perfection amongft ourfelves, inftead of being imported in any regular fhape from a foreign country. Laftly, Sir, I natter myfelf that the Effay which you have honoured with infertion in the prefent collection, taken from my Hifiory g To {how how ill informed this celebrated architect was in the hiftory of the ftru&ures of the middle ages, I may remind the learned reader of his afcribing the building of St. Crofs and Winchefter cathedral to the Saxons ee before the Conqueft," p. 60; likewife of his denying the faid people the ufe of glafs for their windows, ibid. : and af- cribing the invention of tracery work to the neceffity there was " of difpofing the mullions for the better fixing in of glafs," which, he fays, then, viz. at the end of the thir- teenth century, "began to be ufed in windows," p. 105, 14. See alfo p. 32. Finally, to prove the confufion of his ideas on this fubjecl:, I may mention, that he himfelf afcribes the invention of the pointed order to the Arabian Mahometans, when they overturned a great part of the Eaftern empire, and began to build their mofques and cara- vanferies, in the feventh and eighth centuries, p. 104; and that he neverthelefs cites Mr. Evelyn in fupport of his fyf- tem, who afferts, that this fame " fantaftical, light fpecies of building," as he is pleafed to call it, " was introduced by the Goths and Vandals of the North, when they fub- verted the Weftern empire two centuries earlier!" p. 106. b 4 and xvi REV. j. milner's and Survey of the Antiquities of Winchejler, places this fact in a new and Still clearer light, while it fhows how the fucceffive members and ornaments of this ityle of architecture grew out of others which preceded them, and that the adoption of the pointed arch was, as it were, the parent germ which produced the whole fyftem. The moll: curious and interesting fact, however, in my opinion, for the investigation of archi- tectural antiquaries, is, to afcertain the true prin- ciples of the Sublime and Beautiful, as applied to thofe facred fabrics which are the undoubted masterpieces and glory of the pointed order. It is in vain that Sir Christopher Wren and Mr. Evelyn, who are cited in the notes, page 106, Stigmatize thefe Structures, as being * i con- gestions of heavy, dark, melancholy, monkifh. piles, without any jult proportion, ufe, or beauty. " For it is confeSTedly true, that every man who has an eye to fee, and a foul to feel, on entering into York minfter and Chapter- houfe, or into King's college or Windfor chapel, or into the cathedrals of Lincoln or Winchester, is irreSiStibly Struck with mingled impreffions of awe and pleafure, which no other buildings are capable of producing ; and however he may approve oS the Grecian architecture for the pur- pofes of civil and focial life, yet he inftinc- tively experiences in the former a frame of mind LETTER. Xvii mind that fits him for prayer and contemplation, which all the boafted regularity and magnifi- cence of Sir Chriftopher's and the nation's pride, I mean St. Paul's cathedral, cannot com- municate, at leaft in the fame degree. To explain in detail the principles on which the above-mentioned effects are produced, would be to defcribe the whole ftructure of an ancient cathedral ; and, at the fame time, to form the befr. panegyric on the architects who raifed them. This, however, it is not my prefent intention to do, but merely to enumerate a few of thefe principles which are more obvious. In the firft place, then, it is well known that height and length are amongfl the primary fources of the Sublime^-, it is equally agreed that thefe are the proportions which our ancient architects chiefly affected in their religious flructures. But befides the real effect of thefe proportions, which were generally carried as far as they were capable of, the mind was far- ther imprelfed by an artificial height and length, which were the natural produce of the ftyle employed. For the afpiring form of the pointed arches, the lofty pediments, and the tapering pinnacles with which our cathedrals are adorned, contribute perhaps frill more to give an idea of h See Burke's Treatife on the Sublime and Beautiful. height xviii REV. J. MILNER'S height than their real elevation. In like man- ner, the perfpective of uniform columns, ribs, and arches, repeated at equal distances, as they are feen in the ifles of thofe fabrics, produces an artificial infinite in the mind of the fpecta- tor 1 , when the fame extent of plain furface would perhaps hardly affect it at all k . For a limilar reafon, I think the effect of the ancient cathedrals is greatly helped by the variety of their conftituent parts and ornaments, though I fuppofe them all to be executed in one uni- form flyle. The eye is quickly fatiated bv any object, however great and magnificent, which it can take in all at once, as the mind is with what it can completely comprehend; but when the former, having wandered through the intricate and interminable length of a pointed vault in an 1 See Burke's Treatife on the Sublime and Beautiful. k This obfervation on the artificial infinite does not apply- to the modern practice of deftroying the altar-fcreen of ca- thedrals, and taking the Lady chapel into the grand per- fpeftive of them. For, firft, a villa, by being too long drawn, dcftroys its proper effect, as Burke proves. Secondly, it is eflential that the objects of fight, which are repeated for the above-mentioned purpofe, mould be uniform in their appearance ; otherwife the illufion is deftroyed, and intellectual diforder and pain enfues, inftead of pleafure. Now this inevitably happens in the cafe under confider- ation, where the eye, mooting down the vifta, perceives the great columns and lofty arches of the nave (brink all at once into the (lender (hafts and low vaulting of the faid Lady chapel. See a work on this fubje6t, entitled, A Dif- fertation on the modern Style of altering ancient Cathedrals* Nichols. ancient LETTER. xix ancient cathedral, difcovers two parallel lines of equal length and richnefs with it ; thence pro- ceeding, difcovers the tranfepts, the fide chapels, the choir, the fanctuary, and the Lady chapel, all equally interefling for their defign and execution, and all of them calculated for different purpofes, the eye, I fay, in thefe circumflances, is cer- tainly much more entertained, and the mind more dilated and gratified, than can poffibly be effected by any fingle view, even though our modern architects mould fucceed in their attempts to make one entire fweep of the contents of a ca- thedral, in order to lhow it all at a fingle view, and to make one vaft empty room of the whole. It is not neceffary for me to dwell upon the effect of that folemn gloom which reigns in thefe venerable flructures, from the ftudied ex- clufion of too glaring a light, or upon that glowing effect produced by appropriate paint- ing and carving in the windows, and other parts of them, or upon the effential beauty and juft proportions in which they are raifed, where the infinite variety of ribs, arches, boffes, and other ornaments, all grow out of the main columns, with the regularity of Nature in the vegetable kingdom, and alfo with her wife contrivance to combine ftrength with beauty ; I fay, it is not neceffary for me to dwell upon thefe points, becaufe, however they may be carped at by in- terelted XX REV. J. MILNEr's terefted men, they are obvious of themfelves, and admitted by all perfons of candour and fen- timent. There is one circumftance, however, to which thefe venerable ftructures are indebted for the impreflion they make, that is not fo evident at firft fight, and which therefore I here mention, namely, the arrangement and difpo- fition of their feveral parts, in due fubordina- tion to that which is their principal member ; by which means that unity of defign fo necef- fary in every compofition is maintained in them. This principal member in our cathedral churches is the choir and fanctuary, deftined for the per- formance of the fervice and myfteries of religion : accordingly all the other portions of the facred fabric will be found fubfervient, and as it were converging, to this, as to their centre. On the fame account, the moll: exquifite productions of art, and the greateft profuiion of wealth, were uniformly beftowed on this particular part. We may judge from hence what mull: be the effect of deftroying the altar-fcreen of a cathedral, and removing the altar itfelf, according to a modern inftance, under an idea of improving its appear- ance. It is like removing the head from the human figure, or placing it on fome other mem- ber, for the purpofe of increafing its beauty. Laftly, as there are different periods or fa- fhions in pointed architecture, it is worthy the attention LETTER. xxi attention of the curious antiquary, to diftribute thefe fubjects of his ftudy into their proper clalTes, and to determine the refpective merits of each clafs or fafhion. The late poet laureat has divided the architecture in queftion into the abfolute Gothic, the ornamental Gothic, and the florid Gothic K I do not find fault with this di virion, but I am by no means fatisfied with the application of it. For, not to mention other objections, we have feen that this author excludes by name, the beautiful and highly pointed cathedral of Salifbury from holding a place in any of his clafles. Now, fo far from there being ground for fuch an exclusion, I think it admits of a queftion, whether that fpe- cies of early pointed architecture in which this cathedral and that of Lincoln, alfo the abbey churches of Weftminfter, Beaulieu, Letley m , and other facred edifices, were conftructed, from the firft invention of that ftyle down to its enlargement in the reign of Edward I. was, upon the whole, exceeded at any later period. In cafe, however, we admit the tracery work, which was invented about the latter period, and with which the cathedrals of York and Winchefter are adorned, to be a confiderable 1 Pages 4, 5. 8. ■ ^Called anciently Ahbatia de Lata Loco, now vulgarly and improperly Netley Abbey. 4 improve- xxii rev. j. milner's improvement upon the former chafte and fimplc fafhion, yet 1 cannot by any means agree that the gorgeous or florid ftyle, as Warton calls it, which began in the reign of Henry VI. and continued until the explofion of the pointed order under Henry VIII. was, upon a thorough comparifon, more excellent than that kind which had immediately preceded it. I grant, there is a greater profufion of ornament, and generally more exquifite workmanmip, for example, in the chapels of King's college, of Windfor and of Henry VII. than in the two laft mentioned cathedrals ; the fame may be faid of Fox's chantry, compared with that of Wykeham ; but I maintain that what was gained to our ecclefiaftical ftructures after the middle of the fifteenth century in beauty, was loft in fublimity ; which latter quality, I have intimated, forms their proper character. This falling off in facred architecture is principally to be attributed to the lowering of the pointed arch, which then began to prevail. The firfl: arches of this order in the reigns of Henry I. Stephen, and Henry II. were exceedingly rude and ir- regular, fometimes forming the moft acute and fometimes the moll; obtufe angle that can well be conceived ; but when the ftyle was further improved under Henry III. and the three Ed- wards, it was difcovered that the moft beauti- ful LETTER. XX111 ful and perfect kind of pointed arch was that which was formed by fegments of a circle, in- cluding an equilateral triangle, from the im- ports to the crown of the arch; accordingly, this proportion was generally followed down to the aforefaid period ; when the architects and artifts, being more anxious about their own reputation than the proper effect of the ftruc- ture, began to lower the arches as much as pof- fible, and in fome cafes to invert them, in order to bring the fans, pendents, and other curious or furprifing ornaments, with which they loaded the vaulting, within the compafs of the fpectator's diftincT: fight. If thefe hafty remarks upon a fubject which, treated as a fcience, may ftill be confidered as almoft new, have the effed: of exciting perfons who are better qualified than myfelf for the un- dertaking, to do more complete juftice to it, I (hall at all events think them well beftowed, and (hall be enabled to fay with more truth than Horace did, Fungar vice cotis, acutum Reddere quae ferrum valet, exfors ipfa fecandi. De Art, Poeilca, Wtnchefler, Feb. 15, 1800. I remain, Sir, Your faithful fervant, JOHN MILNER, ESSAYS ON GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. REV. THOMAS WARTON's ESSAY'. Did arife On ftately pillours framd afer the Doricke guife. ALTHOUGH the Roman or Grecian archi- tecture did not begin to prevail in England till the time of Inigo Jones, yet our communication with the Italians, and our imitation of their manners, produced fome fpecimens of that ltyle much earlier : perhaps the earlieft is Somerfet houfe in the Strand, built about the year 1549, by the duke of Somerfet, uncle to Edward VI. a Obfervations on the Fairy Queen of Spenfer, edit, 1762, vol. ii. page 184. b The 2 REV. T. WARTON's The monument of bifhop Gardiner in Win- chefter cathedral, made in the reign of Mary, about 1555, is decorated with Ionic pillars. Spenfer's verfes here quoted bear an allufion to fome of thefe fafhionable improvements in, building, which, at this time, were growing more and more into efteem. Thus, alfo, bifhop Hall, who wrote about the fame time, viz. 1598: There findeft thou fome {lately Doricke frame, Or neat Ionicke worke. B. v. f. 2. But thefe ornaments were often abfurdly in- troduced into the old Gothic ftyle ; as in the magnificent portico of the Schools at Oxford, erected about the year 161 3, where the builder, in a Gothic edifice, has affectedly difplayed his univerfal fkill in the modern architecture by giving us all the five orders together. However, mofl of the great buildings of queen Elizabeth's reign have a ftyle peculiar to themfelves, both in form and finifhing ; where, though much of the old Gothic is retained, and great part of the new tafte is adopted, yet neither predominates ; while both, thus indiftinctly blended, compofe a fantaftic fpecies hardly reducible to any clafs or name. One of its characterises is the af- fectation of large and lofty windows, where, fays ESSAY. 3 fays Bacon, " you mall have fometimes faire houfes fo full of glafs that one cannot tell where to become to be out of the fun, Sec.'* Ejjayes t xii. After what has been here incidentally faid on this fubject, it may not be amifs to trace it higher, and to give fome obfervations on the beginning and progreflive ftate of architecture in England, down to the reign of Henry VIII.; a period, in which, or thereabouts, the true Gothic ftyle is fuppofed to have expired. The Normans, at the Conqueft, introduced arts and civility. The churches before this were of timber, or otherwife of very mean conftruction. The Conqueror imported a more magnificent though not a different plan, and erected feveral ftately churches and caflles d . He built more than thirty monafteries, among which were the noble abbies of Battel and Selby. He granted a charter to Mauritius, bifhop of London, for rebuilding St. Paul's church with flone brought out of Normandy. He built the White tower in the Tower of Lon- don. The ftyle then ufed confifted of round arches, round-headed windows, and round mafTy pillars, with a fort of regular capital and * (C Videas ubique in villis ecclefias, in vicis et urbibuS monafteria, novo edificandi genere exfurgere." Will. Malmefbur. Rex Willhelmus, de Geft. Reg. Ang. lib. iii. p. 57, fol, Lond. 1596, ed. Savil. b 2 bafe, 4 REV. T. WARTON'S bafe, being an adulteration or a rude imitation of the genuine Grecian or Roman manner. This has been named the Saxon ftyle, being the national architecture of our Saxon anceftors before the Conqueft : for the Normans only extended its proportions and enlarged its fcale. But I fuppofe at that time it was the common architecture of all Europe. Of this ftyle many fpecimens remain : the tranfept of Winchefter cathedral, built 1080; the two towers of Exeter cathedral, 11 12; Chrift Church cathedral at Oxford, 1 1 80 j the nave of Glocefter cathedral, 1100; with many others. The moft complete monuments of it I can at prefent recollect: are, the church of St. Crofs near Winchefter, built by Henry de Blois, 1 1 30 ; and the abbey church at Rumfey in Hampfhire : efpecially the latter, built by the fame princely benefactor. Another evidence of this ftyle is a circular feries of zig- zag fculpture applied as a facing to porticos and other arches. The ftyle which fucceeded to this was not the abfolute Gothic ', or Gothic fimply fo called, but a fort of Gothic Saxon, in which the pure Saxon began to receive fome tincture of the Saracen fafhion. In this the mafly ro- tund column became fplit into a clufter of ag- glomerated pilafters, preferving a bafe and capital as before ; and the fhort round-headed window was lengthened into a narrow oblong % form, ESSAY. 5 form, with a pointed top, in every refpecl much in the fhape of a lancet ; often decorated in the infide with flender pillars. Thefe windows we frequently find three together, the centre one being higher than the two lights on each fide. This ftyle commenced about 1200. Another of its marks is a feries of fmall, low, and clofe arch- work, fometimes with a pointed head, placed on outfide fronts for a finifhing, as in the weft end of Lincoln and Rochefter cathedrals, and in the end of the fouthern tranfept of that of Can- terbury. In this ftyle, to mention no more, is Salifbury cathedral. Here we find indeed the pointed arch, and the angular though fimple vaulting ; but ftill we have not, in fuch edifices of the improved or Saxon Gothic, the ramified window, one diftinguifhing characteriftic of the abfolute Gothic*. It is difficult to define thefe gradations ; but ftill harder to explain conjec- tures of this kind in writing, which require ocular demonftration and a converfation on the fpot to be clearly proved and illufirated. The absolute Gothic, or that which is free from all Saxon mixture, began with rami- fied windows of an enlarged dimenfion, divided into feveral lights, and branched out at the top into a multiplicity of whimfical lhapes and e They then feem to have had no idea of a great eajlern or wejiern window. b 3 com- 6 REV. T. WARTON's compartments, after the year 1300. The cru- fades had before dictated the pointed arch, which was here ftill preferved ; but, befides the alter- ation in the windows, fantaftic capitals to the columns, and more ornament in the vaulting and other parts, were introduced. Of this fa- fhion the body of Winchefter cathedral, built by that munificent encourager of all public works, William of Wykeham, about the year 139b, will afford the jufteft idea. But a tafte for a more ornamental ftyle had for fome time before begun to difcover itfelf. This appears from the choir of St. Mary's church at War- wick, begun f , at leaft, before Wykeham's improvements at Winchefter, and remarkable for a freedom and elegance unknown before. That certain refinements in architecture began to grow fafhionable early in the reign of Ed- ward III. perhaps before, we learn from Chau- cer's defcription of the ftructure of his Houfe of Fame : " And eke the hall and everie boure, Without peeces or joynings, But many fubtell compaffings As habenries and pinnacles, Imageries and tabernacles^ I fawe, and full eke of windowes E ." 1 Viz. 1 341 ; fmifhed before 1395. Dugdale's War- wickftiire, p. 345. f B, iii. fol. 267. col. 2. edit. Speght, And ESSAY. And afterwards, 7 " I needeth not you more to tellen, Of thefe yates flourifliings, Ne of compaces ne of carvings, Ne how the hacking in mafonries, As corbetts and imageries h ." And in an old poem, called Pierce the Plow- man* s Creede, written perhaps before Chaucer's, where the author is defcribing an abbey-church : (C Than I munte me forth the minstre for to knowen. And awayted a woon, wonderly well ybild ; With arches on everich half, and bellyche ycorven With crochetes on corneres, with knottes of gold. Wyd windowes ywrought, ywriten full thicke. ##* **####*** Tombes upon tabernacles, tyld opon loft, Houfed in homes, harde fett abouten Of armed alabauflre." Thefe innovations at length were mofr. beau- tifully difplayed in the roof of the divinity fchool at Oxford, which began to be built 1427. The univerfity, in their letters to Kempe bifhop of London quoted by Wood 1 , fpeak of this edifice as one of the miracles of the age : they mention particularly, ct Ornamenta ad naturalis coeli imaginem variis picturis, fubtilique artifi- h B. iii. fol. 267, verfo. col. 2. i Hift. Antiq. Univ. Oxon. lib, ii. p. 22. b*4 cio, 8 REV. T. WARTON's cio, caelataj valvarum fingularillima opera: tur- ricularum apparatum, &c." Yet even here there is nothing of that minute finishing which afterwards appeared ; there is ftill a maffinefs, though great intricacy and variety. About the fame time the collegiate church of Fotheringay in Northamptonmire was defigned : and we learn from the orders k of Henry VI. delivered to the architect, how much their notions in architecture were improved. The orna- mental Gothic at length received its confirm- ation about 1 44 1, in the chapel of the fame King's college at Cambridge 1 . Here ftrength united with ornament, or fubftance with ele- gance, feems to have ceafed. Afterwards what I would call the florid Gothic arofe, the firft confiderable appearance of which was in the chapel of St. George at Wind for, begun by Edward IV. about 1480™; and which, laftly, was completed in the fuperb chapel of Henry VII. at Weftminfter. The florid Gothic diftinguiflies itfelf by an exuberance of decoration, by roofs where the mofl delicate fretwork is exprefTed in flone, and by a certain lightnefs of finifhing, as in the k In Dugdale's Monafticon, vol. iii. p. 163. 1 It was not finifhed till fome years after; but a defcrip- tion and plan of the intended fabric may be feen in the king's will. Stowe's Annals, by Howes, 1614, p. 479, feq. ™ Aflimole's Order of the Garter, feet. ii. chap. 4. p. 136. roof ESSAY. 9 roof of the choir of Glocefter n , where it is thrown like a web of embroidery over the old Saxon vaulting. Many monumental mrines, fo well calculated, on account of the fmallnefs of their plan, to admit a multiplicity of delicate ornaments highly finifhed, afford exquifite fpe- cimens of this ftyle. The moll: remarkable one I can recollect is that of bifhop Fox at Win- cheflerj which, before it was ftripped of its images and the painted glafs which filled part of its prefent open-work, mull: have been a moft beautiful fpectacle. How quickly tomb-archi- tecture improved in this way may be feen by two fumptuous fhrines in the fame church, which Hand oppoflte each other ; thofe of bimop Waynflete and cardinal Beaufort. The bilhop's is evidently conftructed in imitation of the cardinal's ; but, being forty years later, is infinitely richer in the variegation of its fretted roof, and the profufion of its ornamented fpire- » About the year 1470. The words of the infcrlption on the infide of the arch by which we enter the choir are remarkable : Hoc quod digestum fpecularis, opufque politum, Tullii haec ex onere Seabrooke abbate jubente. The tower was built at the fame time. The lady's chapel foon after, about 1490. It was broke and deftroyed by the Prefbyterians 1 643, as appears by a paflage in Mercurius Rufticus, p. 214. It is not commonly known or obferved that this fhrine was thus curioufly glazed, work. 10 REV. T. WARTON'S work p. The fcreen behind the altar in the fame cathedral, built 1525, far fuperior to that at St. Alban's, is alfo a ftriking pattern of this workmanfhip. We have fome epifcopal thrones highly executed in this tafte. Such is that at Wells, built by bifhop Beckington, 1450; and that at Exeter, by bifhop Boothe, who fucceeded to the fee, 1466. The firfr. is of wood, painted and gilded; the latter is likewife of wood, but painted in imitation, and has the effect, of ftone. They are both very lofty and light. Moft of the churches in Somerfetfhire, which are re- markably elegant, are in the ftyle of the flo- rid Gothic, The reafon is this : Somerfetfhire, in the civil wars between York and Lancafter, was flrongly and entirely attached to the Lan- castrian party. In reward for this fervice, Henry VII. when he came to the crown, rebuilt their churches. The tower of Glocefter cathe- dral, and the towers of the churches at Taunton and Glaflonbury, and of a parochial church at Wells, are confpicuous examples of this fafhion. Mofl of the churches of this reign are known, 5 Waynflete died i486. How greatly tomb -architecture, within 150 years, continued to alter, appears from an ex- preflion in Berthelette's preface to his edition of Gower's Confeffio Amantis, 1 554 : (i Gower prepared for his bones a reftynge place in the monafterie of St. Marie Overee, where, fomewhat after the old fashion, he lieth right fumptuoufly buried," Gower died 1402* 4 befides ESSAY. II befides other diftinctions, by latticed battle- ments, and broad open windows. In this ftyle Henry VIII. built the palace of Nonfuch i ; and cardinal Wolfey, Hampton Court, White- hall, Chrift church in Oxford, and the tomb- houfe at Wind for. I cannot more clearly recapitulate or illuftrate what has been faid, than by obferving, that the feals of our Englifh monarch s, from the reign of Henry III. difplay the tafte of architecture which refpectively prevailed under feveral fub- fequent reigns ; and confequently convey, as at one comprehenflve view, the feries of its fuc- ceflive revolutions ; infomuch that if no real models remained, they would be fufficient to fhow the modes and alterations of building in England r . In thefe each king is reprefented lifting enfhrined amid a fumptuous pile of ar- chitecture. Henry III. 1259, appears feated amidfr. an aflemblage of arches of the round Saxon form 5 . So are his fuccelfors Edward I. and II. Edward III. 1330, is the firft. whofe feal exhibits pointed Saracen arches j but thofe, of his firft feal at leaft l , are extremely fimple. * See a cut of its front, perhaps the only reprefentation of it extant, in Speed's Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine, 1614, fol. p. 11. Map of Surrey. In the fame is a cut of Richmond palace, built by Henry VII. * See Speed's Hiftory, &c. fol. London, 1627. 8 See his fecond feal, Speed, p. 547. I See his fecond feal, Speed, p. 584, In 12 REV. T. WARTON'S In the feals of Richard II. 1378, and his fuc- ceffor Henry IV. we find Gothic arches of a more complicated conftruction. At length the feal of Henry V. 1412, is adorned with a ftill more artificial fabric. And laflly, in the feals of Edward V. Richard III. and Henry VII. we difcern a more open, and lefs pointed Go- thic. I fubjoin fome general obfervations. The towers in Saxon cathedrals were not always intended for bells ; they were calculated to pro- duce the effect of the louvre, or open lantern, in the infide ; and, on this account, were ori- ginally continued open almoft to the covering. It is generally fuppofed that the tower of Win- chefter cathedral, which is remarkably thick and fhort, was left as the foundation for a projected fpire ; but this idea never entered into the plan of the architect. Nearly the whole infide of this tower was formerly feen from below ; and for that reafon, its fide arches or windows, of the firft ftory at leaft, are artificially wrought and ornamented. With this fole effect in view, the builder faw no neceffity to carry it higher. An inftance of this vifibly fubfifts at prefent in the infide of the tower of the neighbouring Saxon church of St. Crofs, built about the fame time. The fame effect was firft defigned at Salifbury ; where, for the fame purpofc folely, was ESSAY. was a lliort tower, the end of which is eafily difcerned by critical obfervers ; being but little higher than the roof of the church, and of lefs refined workmanfhip than that additional part on which the prefent fpire is conftrucled. Many- other examples might be pointed out. This gave the idea for the beautiful lanterns at Peter- borough and Ely. Spires were never ufed till the Saracen mode took place. I think we find none before 1200. The fpire of old St. Paul's was finifhed 1221 u . That of Salilbury, as appears from a late fur- vey x , and other proofs, was not included in the plan of the builder, and was raifed many years after the church was completed : the fpire of Norwich cathedral about 127s 7 . Sir Chrif- topher Wren informs us, that the architects of this period " thought height the greatell: magnificence. Few Itones," adds he, " were ufed but what a man might carry up a ladder on his back from fcaffold to fcaffold, though they had pullies and fpoked wheels upon occa- fion j but having rejected cornices, they had no need of great engines. Stone upon ftone was eafily piled up to great heights ; therefore the u Dugdale's St. Paul's, p. 12. * Survey, &c. by Price. y Willis's Mitr. Abb. vol. i. p. 279. pride 14 REV. T. WARTON'S pride of their work was in pinnacles and ltee* pies. The Gothic way carried all their mould- ings perpendicular ; fo that they had nothing elfe to do but to fpire up all they could." He adds, *' they affected fteeples, though the Sara- cens themfelves ufed cupolas 2 ." But with fub- mifiion to fuch an authority, I cannot help being of opinion, that, though the Saracens them- felves ufed cupolas, the very notion of a fpire was brought from the Eaft, where pyramidical ftructures were common, and fpiral ornaments were the fafhionable decorations of their mofques, as may be feen to this day. What the fame celebrated artift immediately fubjoins, that the ufe of glafs introduced mullions into windows, is very probable ; at leaft it contri- buted to multiply the ramifications ; efpecially the ufe of painted glafs ; where the different ffainings were by this means mown to better advantage, and different ftories and figures re- quired feparate compartments. Soon after the year 1200 they began, in Eng* land, to cover the facades, or weft ends of ca- thedrals, with niches and rows of ftatues large as the life. The firft example of this kind is, 1 think, at Salifbury ; for that of Litchfield is t Wren's Parentalia, p. 305. too ESSAY. I5 too rich to be of equal antiquity a . The weft end of Wells cathedral was perhaps intended to vie with that of Salifbury, in the fame decora- tions ; being in a bordering county, and erected after it, 1402 b . It is in fine prefervation, and exhibits a curious fpecimen of the ftate of fta- tuary at that time. The weft front of Exeter, adorned in this tafte by bifhop Grandifon, 1 340, is far inferior to any of the other three. That of the abbey church at Bath is light and elegant, but is much more modern than thofe I have mentioned, being begun and fmiftied but a few years before the diffolution of the abbey c . Thefe hafty remarks are fubmitted to the can- dour of the curious by one who, belides other defects which render him difqualified for fuch a difquilltion, is but little acquainted with the terms and principles of architecture. a It was built at leaft before 1400. For the fpire of St. Michael's church in Coventry, finifhed about 1395, is ma- nifeftly a copy of the ftyle of its two fpires. Salifbury church was begun in 121 7, and finifhed in 1256. k This date is on the authority of Willis, Mitr. Abb. vol. ii. p. 375. c The whole church was rebuilt in the time of the two laft priors, after 1500. Leland, Itin. vol. ii. The abbey was diflolved 1534. REV. ( «7 ) REV. JAMES BENTHAM's Hijiorical Remarks on the Saxon Churches, Having, in the preceding chapters a , taken a fummary view of the firft reception of the gofpel in Britain, its ftate and decline, to the litter fubverfion of it ; and alfo the re-eftablifh- ment of Chriftianity in thefe parts, by the con- version of the Saxons ; it may not be improper to fay fomething of the places made ufe of by the Saxons for their public worfhip, and to inquire into the ground of a notion that has often prevailed, that their churches were gene- rally timber buildings, or, if of ftone, with upright walls only, without any beauty or ele- gance j and that as to the conftructing of arches and vaultings of ftone, and fupporting them with columns, they underftood nothing of it. * This is the Fifth Se&ion, p. 15, in Mr. Bentham's Hiftory of the Cathedral Church of Ely, 1771- That all references to this Eflay may be readily found in this edition, the pages of the original are given in crotchets. c This l8 REV. j. bentiiam's This mean.opinion of Saxon architecture, and want of elegance in their churches, though it be countenanced by feveral pafTages in Mr. Somner's book of the Antiquities of Canter- bury 13 ; and his authority for it is frequently cited by modern writers on the fubjecl: c ; with- out any marks of difapprobation or cenfure ; yet as it appears to me to be without any man- ner of foundation, I fhall beg leave to inquire into the truth of what Mr. Somnerhas advanced on that fubjecT:. His words are thefe : " In- deed it is obferved, that before the Norman advent moft of our monafteries and church- buildings were of wood : * All the monafteries * of my realm,' faith king Edgar, in his char- ter to the abbey of Malmefbury d , dated in the year of Chrift 974, * to the fight are nothing * but worm-eaten and rotten timber and boards.' And that upon the Norman conqueft fuch tim- ber fabrics grew out of ufe, and gave place to itone buildings raifed upon arches ; a form of ftru&ure introduced by that nation, furnifhed with Hone from Caen in Normandy. 4 In the " P. 8. 86. 93. c Staveley on Churches, p. 103. 146. Ornaments of Churches confidered, p. 88. Remarks on Gothic Archi- tecture, by Mr. Warton, in his Obfervations on Spenfer's Fairy Queen, vol. ii. p. 185, 186. « Wilkins Concil. vol. i. p. 260. * year ESSAY. 19 4 year 1087 (Stow's words of the cathedral of ' London c ) this church of St. Paul was burnt * with fire, and therewith moft part of the * city : Mauritius then bifhop began, therefore, * the new foundation of a new church of St. * Paul ; a work that men of that time judged 4 would never have been fmifhed, it was to * them fo wonderful for length and breadth ; * [16] as alfothe fame was builded upon arches * (or vaults) of ftone, for defence of r fire; which 4 was a manner of work before that time un- * known to the people of this nation, and then ' brought from the French, and the ftone was * fetcht from Caen in Normandy/ — St. Mary 4 Bow church in London being built much about ' the fame time and manner, that is, on arches ' of ftone, was therefore called (faith the fame ' author f ) New Mary church, or St. Mary-le- ' Bow; as Stratford bridge, being the firft 4 builded with arches of ftone, was therefore ' called Stratford-le-Bow.' This, doubtlefs, is that new kind of architecture the continuer of Bede (whofe words Malmefbury hath taken up) intends, where fpeaking of the Normans' in- come, he faith, * You may obferve every where 1 in villages churches, and in cities and villages, * monafteries erected with a new kind of archi- c Stow's Survey of London, vol. i. p. 638. edit. 1754. f Ibid. p. 542. c % * tedture/ JO REV. J. BENTHAM's ' lecture' And again, fpeaking doubtfully of the age of the eaftern part of the choir of Canterbury, he adds, " I dare conftantly and confidently deny it to be elder than the Norman conquefr. ; becaufe of the building it upon arches, a form of architecture, though in ufe with and among the Romans long before, yet after their departure not ufed here in England, till the Normans brought it over with them from France V — Thus far Mr. Somner, whofe judgment in matters of antiquity has been, and always will be regarded, and is not without fufficient reafon to be called in queftion ; but his opinion concerning Saxon architecture ap- pears fo lingular, that it will require fome con- iideration before it can be admitted as true ; and what that was, is evident from the feveral paf- lages above cited, viz. that the Saxon churches and monafteries were ufually timber fabrics, or if there were any (tone buildings among them, they were with upright walls only, without any pillars or arches to fupport them, and their roofs not arched or vaulted with ftone. Indeed if this be admitted as a jufr. account, it may fairly put an end to all further fearches after the * " Videas ubique in villis ecclefias, in vicis et urbibus monafteria, novo aedificandi genere confurgere." Will. Malmelb. de Regibus Angl. p. 102. edit. Francof. 1601. k Somner's Antiq. of Canterbury, p. 8. remains ESSAY. 21 remains of Saxon architecture in this kingdom ; for its necefTary confequence will be, that what- ever remains of ancient buildings with pillars and arches of {tone are at this time to be met with among us, muft have been built either fince the Norman conqueft, or at leaft five hundred years earlier, that is, in the time of the Romans ; a pofition that will fcarcely be allowed by any one who is acquainted at all with our hiflory in the time of the Saxons. With regard to their churches being generally of wood, the only authority produced for it is a cafual expreffion in one of king Edgar's char- ters concerning the ruinous ftate of the monas- teries in his time 1 ; meaning no more, as I ap- prehend, than that the churches and monafteries were in general fo much decayed, that the roofs were uncovered, or bare to the timber, and the beams rotted by neglect, and grown over with mofs ; and not that they were made wholly of wood. It is true indeed fome of their fabrics feem to have been totally formed of timber ; Bede k fpeaks of an oratory or chapel of that kind in the very place where St. Peter's church [17] in York now Hands; it was haftily ere&ed 1 terra 34 REV. j. bentham's elegant church, foon after it was finimed, was with great folemnity confecrated by himfelf, and dedicated to the honour of St. Peter, in the prefence of king Egfrid, and all theabbats and great men of that kingdom. But of all the churches built in that age, that of St. Andrew in Hexham deferves our particular notice. Hexham, with the adjoining territory, wa& part of the crown-land of the kings of North- umberland, and being fettled in dower by king Egfrid on his queen St. Etheldreda, bifhop Wilfrid, with the king's confent, obtained a grant of it, in order to raife it to an epifcopal fee n . In the year 674, Wilfrid begun the foundation of this celebrated church, and Eddius fpeaks with great admiration of it in this man- ner : ** Its deep foundations, [22] and the many fubterraneous rooms there artfully difpofed, and above ground the great variety of buildings to be feen, all of hewn ftone, and fupported by fun- dry kinds of pillars and many porticos, and fet off by the furprifing length and height of the walls, fur rounded with various mouldings and bands curiouily wrought, and the turnings and terra ufque ad fummum asdificatam, variis columnis et por- ticibus fuffultam in altum erexit et confummavit." Eddii Vita Wilfridi, ut fupra, cap. xviL p. 59. " Malmeib. de Geftis Pontif. Angl. p. 272. — Rich. Prior Hagulft. de Statu Eccleliae, &cc. lib. i. cap. 2, 3. 7. — Lib. Eliea. MS. fol. ii. 4 windings ESSAY. 35 windings of the paffages, fometimes afcending or defcending by winding flairs to the different parts of the building ; all which it is not eafy to exprefs or defcribe by words, &c. neither is there any church of the like fort to be found on this fide the Alpes ." Richard prior of Hexham, who flourifhed about A. D. 1 1 80, in whofe time this famous church was ftanding, though in a decaying flate, more fully defcribes the manner of its building p: " The foundations of this church/' » fays " Nam in Haguftaldenfe adepta regione et (1. a) regina iEthildrite Domino dedicata, domum Domino in honorem beati Andreae apoftoli fabrefa&am fundavit : cujus profun- ditatem in terra cum domibus mirifice politis lapidibus fundatam, et fuper terram multiplicem domum, columnis variis et porticibus multis fuffultam, mirabilique longitudinc et altitudine murorum ornatam, et variis linearum anfracti- bus, viarum aliquando furfum aliquando deorfum per coch- leas circumducliam, non eft meae parvitatis hoc fermone ex- plicare quod fan£tus ipfe praeful animarum, a Spiritu Dei do&us, opere facere excogitavit; neque ullam domum aliam citra Alpes montes talem sedificatam audivimus." Eddii Vita Wilfridi, cap. xxii. p. 62. p (e Profunditatem ipfius ecclefiae criptis et oratoriis fubter- raneis, et viarum anfraftibus, inferius cum magna induftria fundavit : parietes autem quadratis et variis et bene politia columpnis fuffultos, et tribus tabulatis diftinftos immenfae longitudinis et altitudinis erexit : ipfos etiam et capitella columpnarum quibus fuftentantur, et arcum fan6luarii hif- toriis et imaginibus et variis celaturarum figuris ex lapide prominentibus et pi&urarum et colorum grata varietate mirabilique decore decoravit : ipfum quoque corpus ecclefiae appenticiis et porticibus undique circumcinxit, quae miro atque inexplicabili artificio per parietes et cocleas inferius et fuperius diftinxit : in ipfis vero cocleis et fuper ipfas, afcen- d 2 fori* 36 REV. J. BENTHAM 5 S fays he, " St. Wilfrid laid deep in the earth for the crypts and oratories, and the pafTages lead- ing to them, which were there with great exactnefs contrived and built under-ground : the walls, which were of great length and raifed to an immenfe height, and divided into three feveral (lories or tiers, he fupported by fquare and various other kinds of well-polifhed columns. Alfo the walls, the capitals of the columns which fupported them, and the arch of the fancl:uary, he decorated with hiftorical reprefentations, imagery, and various figures in relief, carved in ftone, and painted with a mofl agreeable variety of colours. The body of the church he encompaffed about with pentices and porticos, which both above and below he di- vided with great and inexpreflible art, by par- tition-walls and winding flairs. Within the ftaircafes, and above them, he caufed flights of foria ex lapide et deambulatoria, et varios viarum am- fractus modo furfum modo deorfum artificioiiffime ita machinari fecit, ut innumera hominum multitude ibi exiftere, et ipfum corpus ecclefise circumdare poffit, cum a nemine tamen infra in ea exiftentium videri queat: oratoria quoque quam plurima fuperius et inferius fecre- tiffima et pulcherrima in ipfis porticibus cum maxima diligentia et cautela conftituit, in quibus altaria in honore B. Dei genitricis iemperque virginis Mariae et S. Michaelis archangeli fan&ique Johannis Bapt. et fanftorum apoflo- lorum, martyrum, confeflbrum, atque virginum, cum eorum apparitibus honeltiffime praeparari fecit: unde etiam ufque hodie qusedam illorum ut turres et propugnacula fuperemi- nent." Richardi Prioris Haguft. lib. i. cap. 3. fleps ESSAY. 37 fteps and galleries of ftone, and feveral pafTages leading from them, both for afcending and defcending, to be fo artfully difpofed, that multitudes of people might be there, and go quite round the church, without being feen by any one below in the nave : moreover, in the feveral divifions of [23] the porticos or ifles both above and below, he erected many mofl beautiful and private oratories of exquifite workmanfhip ; and in them he caufed to be placed altars in honour of the bleffed Virgin Mary, St. Michael, St. John Baptift, and holy apoftles, martyrs, confeflbrs, and virgins, with all decent and proper furniture to each of them ; fome of which remaining at this day, appear like fo many turrets and fortified places. " He alfo mentions fome other particulars of this church, and concludes with telling us, '* It appears from ancient hiftory and chronicles, that of all the nine monafteries over which that ve- nerable bifhop prefided, and of all others throughout England, this church of St. Andrew in Hexham was the moft elegant and fumptu- ous, and that its equal was not to be met with on this fide the Alpes^." The fame hiftorian further informs us, that there were in his time at Hexham two other churches r ; one not far ' Richard. Prior. Haguftal. lib. i. cap. 3. 1 Ibid. cap. 4. d 3 from 38 REV. J. BENTHAM's from the wall of the mother church, of admi- rable work, built in form of a tower, and almofr. circular, having on the four principal points fo many porticos, and was dedicated to the honour of the bleffed Virgin Mary ; the other, a little further off, dedicated to St. Peter ; befides a third on the other fide of the river Tine, about a mile diftant from the town, dedicated to St. Michael the archangel 3 ; and that the general tradition was, that thefe three churches were founded by bifhop Wilfrid, but finifhed by his fuccefTor Acca. It may be collected from Bede 1 , that churches and monafteries were very fcarce in Northum- berland about the middle of this century; but before the end of it, feveral very elegant ones were erected in that kingdom, owing chiefly to the noble fpirit of Wilfrid bifhop of York. This prelate was then in high favour with Ofwi and Egfrid kings of Northumberland, and moft of the nobility of that kingdom ; by whofe un- bounded liberality in lands, and plate and jewels, and all kind of rich furniture, he rofe to a degree of opulency as to vie with princes in ftate and magnificence; and this enabled tlim to found feveral rich monafteries, and build fuch ftately edifices in thofe parts as cannot but excite 3 BedseHift. lib. v. cap. 2. line 17. • Ibid. lib. ii. cap. 14. and lib. iii. cap. 2. the ESSAY. 39 the admiration of pofterity*. To profecute thefe great undertakings, he gave all due en- couragement to the moft fkilful builders and artificers of every kind, eminent in their feveral ways, and by proper rewards always kept them in his fervice, to the great advantage and emo- lument of his country : fome of thefe he pro- cured at Canterbury, when he had prevailed on Eddius and Eona to undertake the inftr dat- ing his choirs in the Roman manner of fing- ing v : other eminent builders and artifts he in- vited, or brought over with him from Rome, Italy, France, and other countries for that pur- pofe w : and, according to [24] Malmefbury and Eddius, was eminent for his knowledge and (kill in the fcience of architecture, and himfelf the principal director in all thofe works, in concert with thofe excellent matters whom the hopes of preferment had invited from Rome and other u The famous abbat Benedict Bifcopius, fometime com- panion of Wilfrid in his travels, was about that time en- gaged in the fame noble defigns, and founded the monafle- ries of St. Peter and St. Paul at Wermouth and Gyrwi. v " Cum cantoribus iEdde et Eona, et casmentariis, om- nifque pene artis minifterio in regionem fuam revertens, cum regula Benedicli inftituta eccleliarum Dei bene melioravit." Eddii Vit. S. Wilfridi, cap. xiv. Bedae Hift. Eccl. lib. iv. cap. 2. * " DeRoma quoque, et Italia, etFrancia, et de aliis terris ubicumque invenire poterat, csementarios, et quoflibet alios induftrios artifices fecum retinuerat, et ad opera fua facienda fecum in Angliam adduxerat." Richard. Prior. Hagulft. lib. i. cap. 5. d 4 places 40 REV. j. bentham's places* to execute thofe excellent plans which he had formed. But of all his works the church of Hexham was the firft and moil fump- tuous, and, as far as appears, was never equalled by any other in this kingdom whilft the Saxons continued to govern : indeed, there was no period flnce the eftablifhment of Chriftianity among them, in which thofe polite and elegant arts* that embellifh life and adorn the country feem to have made fo great advances as during the time he continued in favour. Neither was his fame confined to the kingdom of North- umberland ; his great abilities and reputation for learning gained him refpect in the other king- doms of the heptarchy : Wulfere and Ethelred kings of Mercia often invited him thither to perform the epifcopal office among them, and for his advice and inftructions in founding feve- ral monafteries. He alfo happily finifhed the converfion of the heptarchy, by preaching the gofpel to the kingdom of the South Saxons, containing what are now the counties of Surry and Sulfex, the only one which remained till that time unconverted j for which end he had * another was frequently added (and fometimes two, for the fake of ornament or fymmetry), to contain the bells ; the nave, and often the whole build- ing, was encompaffed with inner porticos; the pillars were round, fquare, or angular, and very ftrong and maflive ; the arches and heads of the doors and windows were all of them circular. In thefe refpecls it may perhaps be difficult to point out any confiderable difference between the Saxon and Norman architecture. In a popular fenfe, however, I apprehend there will appear a fufficient diftin&ion to entitle the latter a new mode of building, as our hiftorians call it, in refpect to the former. • The Saxons, fome time before the ruin of their ftate, as Malmefbury obferves", had greatly fallen from the virtue of their anceftors in religion and learning ; vice and irreligion had gained the af- cendant, and their moral character was at the loweft ebb ; in their way of living they were luxu- rious and expenfive, though their houfes were at the fame time rather low and mean buildings v . The u De Regibus Angliae, p. 101. v a Parvis et abjeclis domibus totos fumptus abfumebant : Francis et Normannis abfimiles, qui amplis et fuperbis setli- ficiis modicas expenfas agunt. — Normanni eranttunc et funt adhuc veftibus ad invidiam eulti, cibis citra ullam nimieta- % tern ESSAY. 63 The Normans, on the contrary, were moderate and abftemious, and delicate withal in their diet; fond of ltately and fumptuous houfes ; affected pomp and magnificence in their mien and drefs, and likewife in their buildings, public as well as private. They again introduced civility and the liberal arts, reftored learning, and endeavoured to raife again religion from the languid ftate into which it was fallen : to this end they repaired and enlarged the churches and monasteries, and erected new ones every where, in a more ltately and fumptuous manner than had been known in thefe kingdoms before. This isr what our hiitorians take notice of, and call it a new man- ner of building ; we ltyle it now the Norman architecture : the criterion of which is, I con- ceive, chiefly its mailivenefs and enlarged di- menfions, in which it far exceeded the Saxon. Some fpecimens of this Norman kind of build- ing had indeed been produced a little time before the Conqueft, owing to our communication with the Normans, whofe cuftoms and manners king Edward, who had been educated in that tern delicati. Domi ingentia cedificia (ut dixi) moderates mmptus moliri, paribus invidere fuperiores praetergredi velle, $cc. Religionis normam in Anglia ufque quaque emortuam adventu fuo fufcitarunt j videas ubique in villis ecclefias, iu vicis et urbibus monafteria novo oedificandi genere coni'ur- gere, recenti ritu patriam • florere, ita ut fibi periifle diem quique opulentus exiftimet, quern non aliqua prceclara mag- nificentia illultret." Ibid. p. 102. court, 64 REV. J. BENTHAM's court, was fond of introducing w ;-~fuch was the abbey church which he erected at Weftmin- fter, and " ferved afterwards as a pattern to other builders, being rivalled by many, at a great expenfe x ;" fuch alfo was St. Peter's church in Gloucefter, built about the fame time, part of which is ftill remaining : this mode of building, in the language of profelTed artifls, we find, is reckoned the fame with the Saxon : all the difference, as far as appears to us at this diftance of time, was in the magnitude or fize of their feveral buildings. The Saxon churches were often elegant fabrics, and well conftrufted, as has been obferved before ; but generally of a moderate fize, frequently begun and finifhed in five or fix years, or lefs time. The works of the Normans were large, fumptuous, and mag- nificent; of great length and breadth, and car- ried up to a proportionable height, with two and fometimes three ranges of pillars one over another, of different dimenfions, connected to- w " Rex Edwardus natus in Anglia^ fed nutritus in Nor- mannia, et diutiffime immoratus, pene in Gallicum tranfi- erat, adducens ac attrahens de Normannia plurimos, quos variis dignitatibus promotos in immenfum exaltabat — coepit ergo tota terra fub rege, et fub aliis Normannis introdu&is Anglicos ritus dimittere et Francorum mores in multis imi- tari." Ingulphi Hift. p. 62. edit. Gale. x t( A qua poft multi ecclelias conftraentes, exemplum adepti, opus illud expenlis aemulabantur fumptuofis/' Matth. Paris Hift, p. 1. gether IS § S AY. 65 gether by various arches r (all of them circular) ; forming thereby a lower and upper portico, and over them a gallery ; and on the outfide three tiers of windows *: in the centre was a lofty ftrong tower, and fometimes one or two more added at the weft end, the front of which gene- rally extended beyond the fide-ifles of the nave or body of the church. The obfervation made on rebuilding St. Paul's in king William Rufus's time, after the fire of London in 1086, by Mauritius, biftiop of that fee, viz. " That the plan was fo extenfive, and the defign fo great, that moll: people who lived at that time cenfured it as a rafh undertaking, and judged that it never would be accomplilh* edV is in fome meafure applicable to moft of the churches begun by the Normans. — -Their plan was indeed great and noble, and they laid out their whole defign at firftj fcarcely, we may imagine, with a view of ever living to fee it y c( Diverfis fultum columnis, ac multiplicibus volutum hinc et inde arcubus :" as Sulcardus, a monk of Weft- minfter, defcribes the abbey church there, built by Edward the Confeflbr; which was of this kind. Widmore's Hift. of Weftminfter Abbey, p. 10. * " Nova fecit (Mauritius) fundamenta tarn fpaciofa, ut qui ea tempeftate vixerunt plerique cceptum hoc ejus tan- quam temerarium et audax nimium reprehenderent, nun- quam futurum dicentes, ut molis tarn ingentis ftru&ura ali- quando perflceretur. ,, Godwin de Praeful. Angl. p. 175. f com- 66 REV. J. BENTHAM'S completed in their lifetime : their way there- fore was ufually to begin at the eafl end, or the choir part ; when that was fmifhed, and covered in, the church was often confecrated ; and the [34] remainder carried on as far as they were able, and then left to their fuccelTors to be com- pleted : and it is very obfervable, that all our cathedral, and moft of the abbey churches, be- tides innumerable parochial churches, were ei- ther wholly rebuilt or greatly improved within lefs than a century after the Conqueft, and all of them by Normans introduced into this king- dom; as will evidently appear on examining the hiftory of their feveral foundations 3 . It was the policy of the firft Norman kings to remove the Englifh or Saxons from all places of truft or profit, and admit none but foreign- ers : infomuch that Malmefbury, who lived in the reign of Henry I. obferves, " That in his time there was not one Englifhman pofTeffed of any poll: of honour or profit under the go- vernment, or of any confiderable office in the a Particular accounts may be found in Dugdale's Monaf- ticon, Godwin de Praefulibus Anglise, Willis's Hiftory of Abbies, 8cc. Thus Lanfranc, promoted to the fee of Can- terbury 1070, begun the foundation of a new church there. Thomas I. archbifhop of York 1070 — Walcher bifliop of Durham 1071 — Walkeline of Winchester 1070 — Remigius of Lincoln 1076 — all of them foreigners, did the like in their feveral fees ; and fo of the reft. church.' * ESSAY. 67 church b ." The bifhoprics and all the beft ecclefiaftical preferments were filled by thofe foreigners, and the eftates of the Saxon nobility- were divided among them. Thus being enriched and furnifhed with the means, it mull: be owned, they fpared neither pains nor coft in erecting churches, monafteries, caftles, and other edifices both for public and private ufe, in the moft ftately and fumptuous manner. And I think we may venture to fay, that the circu- lar arch, round-headed doors and windows, maflive pillars, with a kind of regular bafe and capital, and thick walls, without any very pro- minent buttreffes, were univerfally ufed by them to the end of king Henry the Firft's reign, A. D. 1 134 ; and are the chief characteristics of their ftyle of building: and among other pe- culiarities that diftinguifh it, we may obferve, that the capitals of their pillars were generally left plain, without any manner of fculpture ; though inftances occur of foliage and animals on them ; as thofe on the eaft fide of the fouth tranfept at Ely. The body or trunk of their vaft maflive pillars were ufually plain cylinders, or fet off only with fmall half-columns united b ce Anglia fa£ta eft exterorum habitatio, et alienigena- rum dominatio ; nullus hodie Anglus dux, vel pontifex, vel abbas ; advenae quique divitias et vifcera corrodunt Angliae ; nee fpes ulla eft finiendse miferise." Malmelb, de Reg. Angl. p. 93. F 2 with 68 REV. J. BENf HAM'S with them; but fometimes to adorn them they ufed the fpiral groove winding round them, and the mt or lozenge work overfpreading them; both of which appear at Durham, and the firft in the undercroft at Canterbury. As to their arches, though they were for the moft part plain and fimple, yet fome of their principal ones, as thofe over the chief entrance at the weft end, and others moft expofed to view, were abundantly charged with fculpture of a particular kind; as* the cheveron work or zig- zag moulding, the moft common of any ; and various other kinds riling and falling, jetting out and receding inward alternately, in a waving or undulating manner ; — the embattled frette, a kind of ornament formed by a fingle round moulding, traverfing the face of the arch, mak- ing its returns and croflings always at right angles, fo forming the intermediate fpaces into fquares alternately open above and below ; fpe- cimens of this kind of ornament appear on the great arches in the middle of the weft front at Lincoln, and within the ruinous part of the building adjoining to the great weftern tower at Ely ; — the triangular frette, where the fame kind of moulding at every [35] return forms the fide of an equilateral triangle, and confequently enclofes the intermediate fpaces in that figure ; — the nail- head, refembling the heads of great nails driven in ESSAY. 69 in at regular diftances, as in the nave of old St. PauPs, and the great tower at Hereford (all of them found alfoin more ancient Saxon build- ings) ; — the billeted moulding, as if a cylinder fhould be cut into fmall pieces of equal length, and thefe Ituck on alternately round the face of the arches ; as in the choir of Peterborough, at St. Crofs, and round the windows of the upper tire on the outride of the nave at Ely : this latter ornament was often ufed (as were alfo fbme of the others) as a fafcia, band, or fillet, round the outride of their buildings. Then to adorn the infide walls below, they had rows of little pil- lars and arches ; and applied them alfo to deco- rate large vacant fpaces in the walls without 2 and the corbel table, confirming of a feries of fmall arches without pillars, but with heads of men and animals, ferving inftead of corbels or brackets to fupport them, which they placed below the parapet, projecting over the upper, and fometimes the middle tire of windows; — the hatched moulding, ufed both on the faces of the arches, or for a fafcia on the outride ; as if cut with the point of an ax at regular diftances, and fo left rough ; — and the nebule, a projection ter- minating by an undulating line r^~^~\^\i as under the upper range of windows at Peterbo- rough. To thefe marks that diftinguifh the Saxon or Norman ftyle, we may add that they f 3 had yO REV. J. BENTHAM's had no tabernacles (or niches with canopies), or pinnacles, or fpires ; or indeed any ftatues to adorn their buildings on the outfide, which are the principal grace of what is now called the Gothic ; unlefs thofe fmall figures we fometimes meet with over their door- ways, fuch as is that little figure of bifhop Herebert Lofing over the north tranfept door at Norwich, feemingly of that time; or another fmall figure of our Sa- viour over one of the fouth doors at Ely, &c. may be called fo : but thefe are rather mezzo- relievos than ftatues ; and it is known that they ufed reliefs fometimes with profufion; as in the Saxon or Norman gateway at Bury, and the two fouth doors at Ely. Efcutcheons of arms are hardly, if ever, feen in thefe fa- brics, though frequent enough in after times : neither was there any tracery in their vault- ings. Thefe few particularities in the Saxon and Norman ftyle of building, however minute they may be in appearance, yet will be found to have their ufe, as they contribute to afcertain the age of an edifice at firft fight c . c Some curious obfervations on the difference between the Norman ftyle of building ufed in the Conqueror's reign anc 1 that in ufe under Henry II. may be met with in the account given by Gervafe, a monk of Canterbury, of the fire that happened there A. D. 1174, and burnt the choir, and of the repairing of the fame. X. Scriptores 3 col. 1302. lin. 43, 44, &c. It ESSAY. 71 It cannot be expected we fhould be able to enumerate all the decorations they made ufe of, for they defigned variety in the choice of them ; but a judicious antiquarian who has made the prevailing modes of architecture in diftant times his ftudy, will be able to form very probable conjectures concerning the age of moft of thefe ancient ftructures; the alterations that have been made in them fince their firfr. erection will often difcover themfelves to his eye. Perhaps the moft ufual change he will find in them is in the form of the windows ; for in many of our oldeft churches, I mean fuch as were built within the firft age after the Conqueft, the windows, which were originally round-headed, have fince been altered for others [36] of a more modern date, with pointed arches. Inftances of this kind are numerous, and may often be dif- covered, by examining the courfes of the ftone- work about them ; unlefs the outward face of the building was new-cafed at the time of their infertion, as it fometimes happened: without attending to this, we fhall be at a lofs to ac- count for that mixture of round and pointed arches we often meet with in the fame build- ing. There is perhaps hardly any one of our ca- thedral churches of this early Norman ftyle (I mean with round arches and large pillars) re- f 4 maining *J1 REV. J. BENTHAM'S maining entire, though they were all originally fo built ; but fpecimens of it may ftill be feen in moll of them. The greateft part of the ca- thedrals of Durham, Carlifle, Chefter, Peter- borough, Norwich, Rochefter, Chichefter, Oxford, Worcefter, Wells, and Hereford; the tower and tranfept of Winchefter, the nave of Glocefter, the nave and tranfept of Ely, the two towers of Exeter, fome remains in the middle of the weft front of Lincoln, with the lower parts of the two towers there ; in Canter- bury , great part of the choir, formerly called Con- rade's choir (more ornamented than ufual), the two towers called St. Gregory's and St. Anfelm's, and the north-weft tower of the fame church ; the collegiate church of Southwell, and part of St. Bartholomew's in Smithfield, are all of that ftyle ; and fo was the nave and tranfept of old St. Paul's d , London, before the fire in 1666; York and Lichfield have had all their parts fo entirely rebuilt at feparate times, fince the dif- ufe of round arches, that little or nothing of the old Norman work appears in them at this day. The prefent cathedral church of Salisbury is the only one that never had any mixture of this early Norman ftyle in its compofition : the old cathedral, begun foon after the Conqueft, d A view of the infide by Hollar is preferved in Dugdale's Hift. of St. Paul's. and ESSAY. 73 and finifhed by Roger, that great and powerful bifhop of Salifbury under Henry I. was at Old Sarum, and of the fame kind ; it flood in the north- weft part of the city, and the foundations are ftill vifible : if one may form a judgment of the whole by the ruins that remain, it does not appear indeed to have been fo large as fome other of thofe above mentioned ; but it had a nave and two porticos or fide-ifles, and the eaft end of it was femicircular j its fituation, on a barren chalky hill, expofed to the violence of the winds, and fubject to great fcarcity of water, and that within the precincts of the caftle (where- by frequent difputes and quarrels arofe between the members of the church and officers of the caftle), gave occafion to the bifhop and clergy in the reign of Henry III. to defert it, and re- move to a more convenient fituation about a mile diftant towards the fouth-eaft, where Ri- chard Poore e , at that time bifhop, begun the foundation of the prefent church on the fourth of the calends of May i %2o. It confifts entirely of that ftyle which is now called (though I think improperly) Gothic; a light, neat, and elegant form of building; in which all the arches are (not round but) pointed, the pillars e Price's Obfervations on the Cathedral Church of Salif- bury, p. 8. Camden's Britan. col. 107. note y, fmall 74 rev. j. bentham's fmall and flender, and the outward walls com- monly fupported with buttreffes. The term Gothic, applied to architecture, was much ufed by our ancestors in the laft cen- tury, when they were endeavouring to recover (he ancient Grecian or Roman manner (I call it indifferently by either of thofe names, for the Romans borrowed it from the Greeks) : whe- ther they had then a retrofpect to thofe particu- lar times when the Goths ruled in the empire, or only ufed it as a term of reproach, to ftig- matize the productions [37] of ignorant and barbarous times, is not certain; but I think they meant it of Roman architecture ; not fuch, certainly, as had been in the age of Auguftus (which they were labouring to reftore), but fuch as prevailed in more degenerate times, when the art itfelf was almoft loft, and parti- cularly after the invafions of the Goths ; in which ftate it continued many ages after without much alteration. Of this kind was our Saxon and earlieft Norman manner of building, with circular arches and ftrong maflive pillars, but really Roman architecture, and fo was called by our Saxon anceftors themfelves f . Some writers call all our ancient architecture, without 1 Bedae Hill. Eccl. lib. v. cap. 21. and Hift. Abb. Wire- muth. et Gyrw. p. 295. line 4. diftinction ESSAY. 75 diftinction of round and pointed arches, Gothic : though I find of late the fafhion is to apply the term folely to the latter ; the reafon for which is not very apparent. The word Gothic no doubt implies a relation fome way or other to the Goths ; and if fo, then the old Roman way of building with round arches above defcribed feems to have the cleareft title to that appella- tion ; not that I imagine the Goths invented, or brought it with them ; but that it had its rife in the Gothic age, or about the time the Goths in- vaded Italy. The ftyle of building with pointed arches is modern, and feems not to have been known in the world till the Goths ceafed to make a figure in it. Sir Chriftopher Wren thought this fhould rather be called the Saracen way of building : the firft appearance of it here was indeed in the time of the Crufades ; and that might induce him to think the archetype was brought hither by fome who had been engaged in thofe expeditions, when they returned from the Holy Land. But the obfervations of feveral learned travellers & who have accurately furveyed the ancient mode of building in thofe parts of the world, do by no means favour that opinion, or difcover the leait. traces of it. Indeed I have not yet met with any fatisfactory account of the * Pococke, Norden, Shaw. 4 origin 76 REV. J. BENTHAM'S origin of pointed arches, when invented, or where firft taken notice of : fonie have imagined they might poflibly have taken their rife from thofe arcades we fee in the early Norman or Saxon buildings on walls, where the wide femi- circular arches crofs and interfect each other, and form thereby, at their interfection, exactly a narrow and fharp-pointed arch. In the wall fouth of the choir at St. Crofs is a facing of fuch wide round interlaced arches by way of ornament to a flat vacant fpace ; only fo much of it as lies between the legs of the two neigh- bouring arches, where they crofs each other, is pierced through the fabric, and forms a little range of fharp-pointed windows 1 it is of king Stephen's time ; whether they were originally pierced I cannot learn. But whatever gave og- cafion to the invention, there are fufficient proofs they were ufed here in the reign of Henry II. The weft end of the old Temple church, built in that reign, and dedicated by Heraclius patriarch of the church of the Holy Refurredtion in Jerufalem (as appears by the infcription h lately over the door), is now remain- ing; and has, I think, pointed and round arches originally inferted ; they are intermixed the great arches are pointed, the windows above* k Stow's Survey of London* p. 746. edit. 1754. are Essay. 77 are round ; the weft door is a round arch richly ornamented ; and before it a portico or porch of three arches, fupported by two pillars ; that oppofite to the church-door is round, the other two pointed, but thefe have been rebuilt. The great weftern tower of Ely cathedral, built in the fame reign by Geoffry Rydel bifhop there, [38] who died A.D. 1189, confifts of pointed arches. At York, under the choir, remains much of the old work, built by archbilhop Roger in Henry the Second's reign ; the arches are but juft pointed, and rife on fhort round pil- lars, whofe capitals are adorned with animals and foliage : many other inftances of the fame age might be recollected ; and poffibly fome may occur of an earlier date ; for this, like moft no- velties, we may fuppofe, was introduced by degrees. In Henry the Third's reign the circular arch and maflive column feem wholly to have been laid afide, and the pointed arch and flender pil- lar being fubftituted in their room, obtained fuch general approbation throughout the king- dom, that feveral parts of thofe ftrong and ftately buildings that had been erected in the preceding age were taken down, and their di- menfions enlarged, in order to make room for this new mode of building. The cathedral church 78 REV. J. BENTHAM'S church of Salilbury is wholly of this kind of architecture; it was begun early in that reigns and finifhed in the year 1258. This church (fays a competent judge k of fuch matters) " may be juftly accounted one of the beft patterns of architecture in the age wherein it was built. V To which we may add, that it has this advan- tage of all others, that the whole plan was laid out at once, and regularly purfued throughout the whole courfe of its building in the fame ftyle to its finifhing ; whence arife that unifor- mity, fymmetry, and regular proportion ob- fervable in all the parts of it, not to be found in any other of our cathedral churches ; which having been all originally built with circular arches and heavy pillars, and molt, of them af- terwards renewed, in part or in whole, at dif- ferent times, and under all the changes and va- riety of modes that have prevailed fince the firft introduction of pointed arches, now want that regularity and famenefs of ftyle fo neceffary to conltitute an entire and perfect building. In the fame reign were confiderable additions made to feveral of our cathedral and other churches, efpecially at their eaft end; fome of which, as they are ftill remaining, may ferve to illuftrate * Godwin de Prseful. Angliae, p. 345. k Sir Chr, Wren, in Parentalia, p. 304. the ESSAY. 79 the particular ftyle then in ufe : fuch is that ele- gant ftru&ure at the eaft end of Ely cathedral built by Hugh Norwold biftiop of EIy m , who, in the year 1234, took down the circular eaft end of the church, and laid the foundation of his new building, now called the Prelbytery, which he finifhed in 1250. King Henry alfo a , in the year 1245, ordered the eaft end, tower, and tranfept of the abbey church at Weftmin- fter, built by Edward the ConfelTor, to be taken down, in order to rebuild them at his own ex- penfe in a more elegant form : he did not live, it feems, to complete his whole deiign ; but the difference of ftyle in that part of the church from the other, weftward of the crofs, which was alfo rebuilt afterwards, indicates how far the work was carried on in that king's time, or foon after. * 6 The new work of St. Paul's, fo called, at the eaft end, above the choir, was begun in the year 1251. Alfo the new work of St. Paul's, to wit, the crofs-ifles, were begun to be new built in the year 1256 ." Befides thefe, we find there were a great many conli- 1 The whole of the building called the Prefbytery confifts of nine arches ; only the fix eafternmoft, with that end, were built by bifhop Norwold ; the other three adjoining to the dome were afterwards rebuilt by bifhop Hotham, in the reigns of Edward II. and Edward III. ni MS. Bibl. Cotton. Tiberius, B. 2. fol. 246. n Matth. Paris Hift. p. 581. 861. ! Stow's Survey of Lond. vol. i. p. 639. derable 8o rev. j. bentham's derable alterations and additions made to [39] feveral other cathedral and conventual churches and new buildings carrying on about the fame time in different parts of the kingdom ; fome of which are particularly taken notice of by our hiftorians p . During the whole reign of Henry III. the fafhionable pillars to our churches were of Pur- bec marble, very llender and round, encom- paffed with marble fhafts a little detached, fo as to make them appear of a proportionable thick- nefs : thefe fhafts had each of them a capital richly adorned with foliage, which together in a clufter formed one elegant capital for the whole pillar. This form, though graceful to the eye, was attended with an inconvenience, perhaps not apprehended at firft ; for the fhafts defigned chiefly for ornament, confifting of long pieces cut out horizontally from the quarry, when placed in a perpendicular fituation were apt to fplit and break ; which probably occalioned this manner to be laid afide in the next century. There was alfo fome variety in the form of the vaultings in the fame reign ; thefe they gene- rally chofe to make of chalk, for its lightnefs ; but the arches and principal ribs were of free- v Monaft. Angl. vol. i. p. 273. line 44. p. 386. line 40. p. 752. line xi. et vol. iii. p. 270. Godwin de Praeful. Angl. p. 371, 372. 461, 503. 505. 678. 742. {tone. ESSAY. 8l done. The vaulting of Salifbury cathedral, one of the earlieft, is high pitched, between arches and crofs-fpringers only, without any further decorations ; but fome that were built foon after are more ornamental, riling from their impofts with more fpringers, and fp reading themfelves to the middle of the vaulting, are enriched at their interferon with carved orbs, foliage, and other devices — as in bifhop Nor~ wold's work above mentioned" 1 . As to the windows of that age, we find they were long, narrow, lharp-pointed, and ufually decorated on the inflde and outfide with fmall marble fhafts : the order and difpofition of the windows varied in fome meafure according to the ftories of which the building confifted : in one of three ftories, the upper mt)ft had com- monly three windows within the compafs of every arch, the centre one being higher than thofe on each fide ; the middle tire or ftory had two within the fame fpace ; and the loweft only one window, ufually divided by a pillar or mul- lion, and often ornamented on the top with a trefoil, fingle rofe, or fome fuch fimple deco- ration; which probably gave the hint for branching out the whole head into a variety of tracery and foliage, when the windows came ! Page 79. G after- 82 REV. J. BENTHAM's afterwards to be enlarged. The ufe of paintecf and flamed glafs in our churches is thought to have begun about this time r . This kind of ornament, as it diminifhed the light, induced the neceflity of making an alteration in the win- dows, either by increasing the number or en- larging their proportions ; for though a gloomi- nefs rather than over- much light feems more proper for fuch facred edifices, and " better cal- culated for recollecting the thoughts, and fixing pious affections," as the elegant writer laft cited obferves 5 ; yet without that alteration, our churches had been too dark and gloomy ; as fome of them now, being di veiled of that orna- ment, for the fame reafon appear over-light. As for fpires and pinnacles, with which our oldeft churches are fometimes, and more mo- dern ones are frequently decorated, 1 think they are not very ancient. The towers and turrets of churches built by the Normans, in the firft century after [40] their coming, were covered, as platforms, with battlements or plain parapet walls ; fome of them indeed built within that period we now fee finifhed with pinnacles or fpires ; which were additions fince the modern ftyle of pointed arches prevailed ; for before we meet with none. One of the earliefl fpires we * Ornaments of Churches confidered, p. 04. • Ibid. have ESSAY* 8j have any account of is that of old St. Paul's l , fmiftied in the year 1222 ; it was, I think, of timber, covered with lead ; but not long after, they begun to build them of ftone, and to finifh, all their buttreffes in the fame manner. Architecture under Edward I. was fo nearly the fame as in his father Henry the Third's time, that it is no eafy matter to diitinguifh it. Improvements no doubt were then made, but it is difficult to define them accurately. The tranfition from one ftyle to another is ufually effeC'ted by degrees, and therefore not very re- markable at firft, but it becomes fo at fome dif- tance of time : towards the latter part indeed of his reign, and in that of Edward II. we begin to difcover a manifefr. change of the mode as well in the vaulting and make of the columns as the formation of the windows. The vaulting was, I think, more decorated than before ; for now the principal ribs arifing from their import, being fpread over the inner face of the arch, run into a kind of tracery ; or rather with tranfoms divided the roof into various angular compart- ments, and were ufually ornamented in the angles with gilded orbs, carved heads or figures, and other emboffed work. The columns retained fomething of their general form already defcribed, that is, as an afiemblage of fmall pillars or lliafts ; but ! Stow's Survey of London, p. 639. edit. 1754. g 2} thefc S4 REV. j. bentham's thefe decorations were now not detached or fe- parate from the body of the column, but made part of it, and being clofely united and wrought up together, formed one entire, firm, flender, and elegant column. The windows were now greatly enlarged, and divided into feveral lights by ftone mullions running into various ramifica- tions above, and dividing the head into numerous compartments of different forms, as leaves, open flowers, and other fanciful fhapes; and more particularly the great eaftern and weftern win- dows (which became fafhionable about this time) took up nearly the whole breadth of the nave, and were carried up almofl as high as the vaulting ; and being fet off with painted and ftained glafs of mofl lively colours, with por- traits of kings, faints, martyrs, and confeflbrs, and other hiflorical reprefentations, made a mofl fplendid and glorious appearance. The three firft arches of the prefbytery ad- joining to the dome and lantern of the cathedral church of Ely, begun the latter part of Edward the Second's reign, A. D. 1322, exhibit elegant fpecimens of thefe fafhionable pillars, vaulting, and windows. St. Mary's chapel (now Trinity parifli church) at Ely, built about the fame time, is conftructed on a different plan ; but the vaulting and windows are in the fame flyle. The plan of this chapel, generally accounted one of the ESSAY. 85 the moft perfect ftructures of that age, is an ob- long fquare; it has no pillars nor fide-ifles, but is fupported by ftrong fpiring buttreffes, and was decorated on the outride with ftatues over the eaft and weft windows ; and withinflde alfo with ftatues, and a great variety of other fculp- ture well executed u . [41] The fame ftyle and manner of building prevailed all the reign of Edward III. and with regard to the principal parts and members, con- tinued in ufe to the reign of Henry VII. and the greater part of Henry VIII. ; only towards the latter part of that period the windows were lefs pointed and more open ; a better tafte for ftatuary began to appear ; and indeed a greater care feems to have been beftowed on all the or- namental parts, to give them a lighter and higher fmifhing ; particularly the ribs of the vaulting, which had been large, and feemingly formed for ftrength and fupport, became at length di- vided into fuch an abundance of parts ifTuing from their impofts as from a centre, and fpread- ing themfelves over the vaulting, where they were intermixed with fuch delicate fculpture as 11 The fafhion of adorning the weft end of our churches with rows of ftatues in tabernacles or niches, with canopies over them, obtained very foon after the introduction of point- ed arches; as may be feen at Peterborough and Salifburyj and in later times we find them in a more improved tafte* as at Lichfield and Wells. g 3 gave 86 REV. J. BENTHAM'S gave the whole vault the appearance of em-r broidery, enriched with clufters of pendent orna- ments, refembling the works Nature fometimes forms in caves and grottos, hanging down from their roofs. The moft ftriking inftance of this kind is, without exception, the vaulting of that fumptuous chapel of king Henry VII. at Weft- minfter. To what height of perfection modern archi- tecture (I mean that with pointed arches, its chief characteristic) was carried on in this king- dom appears by that one complete fpecimen of it, the chapel founded by king Henry VI. in his college at Cambridge, and flnimed by king Henry VIII v . The decorations, harmony, and pro- v It is formed on the fame plan as St. Mary's chapel at Ely, and indeed the defign is faid to have been thence taken. King Henry VI. laid the foundations of the whole about the year 1441, which were raifed five or fix feet above ground in the weft end, but much higher towards the eaft ; for that end was covered in many years before the weft end was finiflied. How far the work proceeded in the founder's time cannot be faid with certainty : the troubles he met with in the latter part of his reign hindered the profecu- tion of it. Richard III. a few months before he was flain, had figned a warrant for 300/. out of the temporalities of the bifhopric of Exeter, then in his hands, towards car- rying on the building (MS. Harleian, N° 433. fol. 209. b.) ; but I believe nothing more was done by him. Hen- ry VII. undertook the work, and carried up the remainder of the battlements, and completed the timber roof : after his death, king Henry VIII. finifhed the whole fabric, as •well the towers and finials as the vaulted roof within, and fitted up the choir in the manner we now fee it. — One con- ESSAY. 07 proportions of the feveral parts of this magni- ficent fabric, its fine painted windows, and richly ornamented fpreading roof, its gloom, and perfpective, all concur in affecting the ima- gination with pleafure and delight, at the fame time that they infpire awe and devotion. It is undoubtedly one of the moil: complete, elegant, and magnificent ftructures in the kingdom. And if, befldes thefe larger works, we take into our view thofe fpecimens of exquifite workman- fhip we meet with in the fmaller kinds of ora- tories, chapels w , and monumental edifices, pro- duced folate as the reign of Henry VIII. fome of which are ftill in being, or at leafh fo much of them as to give us an idea of their former grace and beauty ; one can hardly help conclud- ing, that architecture arrived at its higheft point of glory in this kingdom but juft before its final period. tract fpr building the ftone vault, and three of the towers, and twenty-one fynyalls (the upper finifliing of the but- treffes), dated the 4th of Henry VIII. A. D. 1512; and another for vaulting the two porches and fixteen chapels about the building, "dated the following year, are ftill in the archives of the college. w Bifhop Weft's chapel at the eaft end of the fouth ifle of Ely cathedral, built in the reign of Henry VIII. affords an elegant fpecimen of the mall delicate fculpture, and fuch; variety of tracery, beautiful colouring, and gilding, as will not eafily be met with in any work produced before that reign. G 4 At 88 REV. j. bentham's [42] At that time no country was better fur- nimed and adorned with religious edifices, in all the variety of modes that had prevailed for many centuries part, than our own. The ca- thedral churches in particular were all majeftic and ftately ftructures. Next to them the mo- naileries, which had been erected in all parts of the kingdom, might juftly claim the pre-emi- nence; they were, for the generality of them, fine buildings; and the churches and chapels be- longing to fome of them equalled the cathedrals in grandeur and magnificence, and many others were admired for their richnefs and elegance; and, whilft they flood, were without doubt the chief ornament to the feveral counties in which they were placed. The ftate of thefe religious houfes, on occa- fion of the reformation in religion then carrying on, became the object of public deliberation ; but however necelTary and expedient the total fuppreflion of them might be judged at that time, yet certainly the means that were made ufe of to fupprefs them were not altogether the moft juftifiable, and the manner of difpofing of them and their great revenues has been found in fome refpects detrimental to the true interefts of religion. For had the churches belonging to them been fpared, and made parochial in thofe ESSAY. 89 thofe places where they were much wanted, and had the lands and impropriated tithes, which the feveral religious orders had unjuftly taken from the fecular clergy, and kept pof- feflion of by papal authority, been referved out of the general fale of their revenues, andreftored to their proper ufe, the maintenance of the clergy, to whom of right they belonged, we at this time mould have had Iefs caufe to regret the general ruin of all thofe religious houfes that enfued, and the prefent fcanty provifion that re- mains to the clergy in fome of the largeft cures in the kingdom. The havoc and deftruction of thofe fumptuous edifices that foon followed their furrender gave a moft fatal turn to the fpirit of building and adorning of churches \ architecture in general was thereby difcouraged, and that mode of it in particular which was then in a very flourifhing ftate, and had continued fo for more than three centuries, funk under the weight, and was bu- ried in the ruins of thofe numerous ftructures which fell at that time. Unhappily, the orders and injunctions given to the feveral commiffioners under king Hen- ry VIII. and in the following reign during the minority of Edward VI. and like wife in queen Elizabeth's time, for removing and taking away all fhrines and fuperftitious relics, and feizing all 90 rev. j. bentham's all fuperfluous jewels and plate, were often mifapplied, carried to excefs, and executed in fuch a manner as to have, at leaft in fbrne in- ftances, the appearance of facrilegious avarice rather than of true zeal for the glory of God and the advancement of religion. Be that as it may, certain it is that at this time, when moft of the churches belonging to the religious orders were utterly ruined and de- ftroyed, our cathedral and parochial churches and chapels fufFered greatly ; for they were di- verted and fpoiled, not only of their images and fuperftitious relics, but of their necefTary an4 moft unexceptionable ornaments ; and after- wards, by the outrages and violence committed on them in the laft century, during the unhappy times of confufion in the great rebellion, they were reduced to a ftill more deplorable ftate and condition, and left [43] naked and deftitute of all manner of juft elegance, and of every mark; and character of external decency. It mull: be owned, that in feveral intermediate periods a zeal for the honour of God and his holy religion has not been wanting to heal thefe wounds, to repair and fitly readorn thefe facred ftructures ; but it has not been attended with the fuccefs that all wife and good men mull with for and delire. Many of our parochial churches ftill carry the marks of violence com-, a mitted ESSAY. 91 mitted in tbofe days ; others through inattention and neglect (befides the defects they are unavoid- ably fubject to by age) are become ruinous and halting to utter decay, unlefs timely fupported : infomuch that very few of them, excepting thofe in large and populous cities and towns, the number of which is fmall in comparifon of the reft, can juftly be confidered as in a proper ftate of repair, decent and becoming ftrudtures confecrated to the public fervice of God. The chapels indeed belonging to the feveral colleges in the two univerfities (very few need to be ex- cepted) claim our particular notice for the care and expenfe we find beftowed on them, the decent order in which they are kept, and the juftnefs and elegance of their ornaments. And our cathedral churches, thofe monuments of the pious zeal and magnificence of our forefathers, we doubt not will foon appear again in a ftate becoming their dignity. The care and attention that is paid them by the prefent fet of governors in their relpective churches x deferves the highefr. enco- x To inftance the particular cathedral churches that have been repaired and beautified within the larl thirty or forty years, and the feveral defigns formed to bring them to a ftill more perfect ftate, would carry me beyond my prefent purpofe. It may be fufficient only to intimate what has been done of late at York, Lincoln, Peterborough, Ely, Norwich, Chichefter, Salifbury, &c. But as that particu- lar fcheme for railing a fufficient fund for thefe purpofes, happily REV. J. BENTHAM'S encomiums ; and if we can make a proper and juft eftimate of what may reafonably be expected will be done, from what has already been done of late, and is ftill doing, for the furtherance of that defirable work, there is the faireft profpect, and the moft ample ground of confidence, that the prefent age will ftand diftinguifhed by pofterity for repairing and adorning thofe venerable ftruc- tures, and tranfmitting them with advantage to the moft diftant times. I cannot conclude thefe curfory remarks more properly than in the words of the elegant author of Ornaments of Churches conjidered 7 \ t£ After the eftablifhment of Chriftianity, the conftitu- happily fixed on by the members of the church of Lincoln, provides for the future as well as the prefent exigencies of the church, does honour to thofe who were the promoters of it, and may probably in time to come be adopted by moft other cathedral and collegiate bodies j I cannot here with any propriety omit taking notice, that about fifteen or fixteen years iince, the Rt. Rev. Dr. John Thomas, then bifhop of Lincoln (now of Salisbury), taking into confideration the ruinous ftate of that cathedral, and the fmall fund allotted for the repairs, held a general chapter, wherein it was unani- moufly agreed, that, for the time to come, ten per cent, of all fines, as well of the bifhop as dean, dean and chapter, and all the prebendaries, mould be depofited with the clerk of the works, towards repairing and beautifying the faid cathedral : which has accordingly been paid ever fince y and care taken not only of carrying on the neceffary repairs in the moft durable and fubftantial manner, but due regard has likewife been paid to the propriety of the ornamental parts reftored, and their conformity with the ftyle of build- ing they were intended to adorn, I Page 137. tions ESSAY. 93 tions ecclefiaftical and civil concurred with the fpirit of piety which then prevailed, in provid- ing ftructures for religious worfhip. In fubfe- quent ages this fpirit flill increafed, and occa- fioned an emulation in railing religious [44] edifices wherever it was neceffary, or in adorning thofe which were already raifed. — The fruits of this ardour we now reap. Since then the pious munificence of our anceftors has raifed thefe facred edifices, appropriated to religious ufes, we are furely under the ftrongeft obligations to re- pair as much as poffible the injuries of time, and preferve them by every precaution from total ruin and decay. Where the particular funds appro- priated to this purpofe are infufficient, it becomes necelTary to apply to the affluent, who cannot furely refufe to prevent by their liberal contributions the fevere reproach of neglecting thofe ftructures which in all ages have been held facred. " Horace tells the Roman people, Dii multa negle&i dederunt Hefperiae mala lu&uofae ; and allures them their misfortunes will not end till they repair the temples of their gods : DeliSa majorum immeritus lues, Romane, donee templa refeceris, ^Edefque labentes deorum, et Fceda nigro fimulacra fumo. This 94 rev. j. bentham's essay. This may fafely be applied to the Chriftian world ; fince the fabrics appropriated to the purpofes of religion can never be entirely neg- lected till a total difregard to religion firft pre- vails, and men have loft a fenfe of every thing that is virtuous and decent. Whenever this is the melancholy condition of a nation, it cannot hope for, becaufe it does not deferve, the pro- tection of Heaven ; and it will be difficult to conceive a general reformation can take place till the temples of the Deity are reftored to their proper dignity, and the public worfhip of God is conducted in the beauty of holinefs," CAPTAIN ( 9S ) CAPTAIN GROSE's ESSAY". As many of the notes quoted by Captain Grofe from Mr. Bent bam are very long, to avoid a repetition, fuch notes will be referred to,Jimilarly to that below, mentioning the page where thepajfage is to be found in Mr. Bent ham's BjJ'ay. ST of the writers who mention our an- cient buildings, particularly the religious ones, notwithstanding the ftriking difference in the llyles of their construction, clafs them all under the common denomination of Gothic : a general appellation by them applied to all buildings not exactly conformable to fome one of the five orders of architecture. Our modern antiquaries, more accurately, divide them into Saxon, Norman, and Saracenic ; or that fpecies vulgarly, though improperly, called Gothic. An opinion has long prevailed, chiefly coun- tenanced by Mr. Somner b , that the Saxon * This is Captain Grofe's Preface to the Antiquities of England, on the fubje£l of architecture. b Indeed, it is to be obferved, that before the Norman advent molt of our monafteries and church buildings were all of wood : " All the monaneries of my realm," faith king Edgar] — [" till the Normans brought it over with them from France." Somner's Antiq, Canterbury. (See jMr. Bentham's EfTay, p, i8, 19, 20.) churches 96 captain Grose's churches were moftly built with timber; and that the few they had of ftone confifted only of upright walls, without pillars or arches ; the conftruction of which, it is pretended, they were entirely ignorant of. Mr. Somner feems to have founded his opinion on the authority of StQAve, and a difputable interpretation of fome words in king Edgar's charter b : " Meaning no more, as I apprehend," fays Mr. Bentham, in his curious Remarks on Saxon Churches, " than that the churches and monaileries were in gene- ral fo much decayed, that the roofs were unco- vered or bare to the timber; and the beams rotted by neglect, and overgrown with mofs." It is true that Bede and others fpeak of churches built with timber; but thefe appear to have been only temporary erections, haftily run up for the prefent exigency ; and for the other pofition, that the Saxons had neither arches or pillars in their buildings, it is not only contra- dicted by the teftimony of feveral cotemporary or very ancient writers, who exprefsly mention them both, but alfo by the remains of fome b fe Quae velut mufcivis fcindulis cariofifque tabulis, tigno tenus vifibiliter diruta." c