Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 3.djvu/420

390 closely copied from the natural leaves; the oak in particular seems to have been an especial favourite. The leaves are luxuriantly expanded, gracefully disposed, and sculptured with great boldness and freedom; they are sufficiently distinct from the foliage of the succeeding style, which, though frequently most elaborate, has still in general a certain formality of outline which renders it very inferior in grace and beauty to the Decorated."

"The north door of Adderbury is particularly fine; the jambs are finished with rich crocketed canopies, from which the arch springs; the dripstone is ornamented with a moulding resembling a fir-cone, and within this is a beautiful modification of the tooth-ornament, which is here converted into a knot of ivy-leaves and other foliage: the inner mouldings are ornamented with the oak and vine leaves, and within this is the four-leaved flower. Many doorways are without shafts, and the jambs are composed of a series of quarter round and semi-cylindrical mouldings, which have often a square-edged fillet running vertically up the face, and these are all continuous with the architrave mouldings."

The Decorated roof at Adderbury is a very good specimen, and especially useful at this time, when timber roofs of the earlier styles are much wanted, by calling attention to the existence of many of them unnoticed in our country churches, where they are daily being destroyed under the influence of the present mania for the restoration of our old churches, which is only another name for the total destruction of their