Page:A history of architecture on the comparative method for the student, craftsman, and amateur.djvu/337

 ENGLISH ARCHITECTURE. 279 important reason for its use in some districts, but in the Fen districts, in the absence of good roads, material was conveyed on horseback. The granites of Cornwall and Devonshire, the limestones of Port- land, and the oolitic formations, such as the Bath stones, have all affected the districts in which they are found, although, of course, as transport became easier, there was a tendency for these local distinctions to disappear. Even in the Middle Ages stone was brought from a distance, Caen stone from Normandy being used in the erection of Canterbury Cathedral and other churches. Brickwork of modern type came into general use in England about A.D. 1300, after being comparatively unused since the departure of the Romans, Little Wenham Hall (a.d. 1260), in Suffolk, being probably the earliest brick building existing in England. During the reigns of William and Mary and Queen Anne, brickwork was largely used in house construction by Sir Christo- pher Wren and others. Hampton Court contains good examples of sixteenth and seventeenth century brickwork. In chalk districts the characteristic ^wi^ work of Norfolk, Suffolk, and parts of the south coast, gives a special character to the architecture of these districts. Terra-cotta was also employed, as at Layer Marney Towers, Essex (1500-1525), and in parts of Hampton Court Palace. Where forests afforded abundant material, as in Lancashire, Cheshire and elsewhere, half-timbered houses were erected, chiefly during the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries (Nos. 132 j, 150, and 247). iii. Climate.— The climate is cool, temperate, mild, and moist, and is adapted for almost continuous work, during every season, but cold, damp, and high winds with much rain necessitate con- stant forethought in building to exclude the weather. The deep porches and small entrances of English cathedrals are in contrast with continental entrances, and are directly influenced by the climate. iv. Religion. — The conversion to Christianity of the Kentish King .Ethelbert was effected by S. Augustine in a.d. 597. By the end of the tenth century the greater part of Europe had embraced Christianity. The power of the papacy had steadily grown, and was at its height from the eleventh to the thirteenth century, during which period several popes succeeded in overruling the civil power. In England, attempts at the assertion of national independence were continuous, but not pushed to extremes until a later date. The distinction between the regular and secular clergy was fully established, and the different orders of monks had come into