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196 196 ENGLISH ARCHITECTURE. Part II. with more experience and somewhat increased dimensions, these monu- ments would have surpassed the spires of our cathedrals or parish churches in every re- spect as architectui-al designs. Being en- tirely free from utili- tarian exigencies, the architect had only to consult the rules of his art in order to produce what would be most pleasing and most appropriate. We can only therefore re- gret that so purely English a form of sepulchral design be- gan and ended with this one act of conjugal devotion. Civil and Domestic Architecture. One of the most remarkable character- istics of English archi- tecture, though but a negative one, is the almost total absence of any municipal build- ings during the whole period of the Middle Ages. The Guildhall of London is a late specimen, and may even be called an in- significant one, con- sidering the impor- tance of the city. There are also some corpora- tion buildings at Bristol, and one or two unimportant town-halls in other cities ; but there we stop. Nothing can more vividly express how completely the country was Frenchified by the result of the battle of Hastings, than this absence of municipal architecture. Till 629. Walthara Cross (restored).