Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 2.djvu/163

Rh be well to observe that the only part of Merton chapel here referred to is the choir; the transept, or ante-chapel, having been added in 1424, with the exception of the noble arches supporting the tower, which are part of the original work. The style of this work is pure Decorated, as will be seen by the sections of the mouldings, and the tracery of the windows. The date assigned by Mr. Rickman as the commencement of the Decorated style, is 1307, or the beginning of the reign of Edward II.; and this opinion is maintained by some of the highest living authorities, whose conclusions being generally formed with much caution are entitled to great consideration and respect. It is therefore the more necessary to examine carefully the evidence in support of the date of this building, and to compare it with some others of the reign of Edward I., to shew that the Decorated style really was in use in England at that period. The parish church of St. John the Baptist, in Oxford, was given by the abbey of Reading to Walter de Merton in 1265; confirmed by the charter of Henry III., and ratified by the bishop of Lincoln; and it was afterwards appropriated to the college on condition that they "should provide a chaplain to perform all those offices to the parish, as the rector before used to do," "and was called the collegiate parish church of St. John de Merton," as it still continues. Those who contend that the style of the architecture is not consistent with so early a date, assume that the church was rebuilt by the college about thirty years afterwards; but the bursar's rolls are extant throughout that period, and nearly in unbroken succession to the present time: they have been carefully examined, and though many other parts of the college were then building, it appears clear that the church was partly erected in the lifetime of the founder before these documents begin. The frequent mention of small expenses connected with the church, and of receipts from the parish, shew that it was in constant use throughout the period during which it has been supposed to have been rebuilt. Had this supposition been correct, there must also have been a subsequent dedication, but no trace of one can be found between 1277 and 1424, when the transept was dedicated.

If the present building were an entirely unique example of the use of the Decorated style in England at that period, perhaps all this documentary evidence would be insufficient