Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 4.djvu/120

104 104 ARCHITECTURAL NOTES IN THE miicli ornament ; from the mouldings of the base, I should say it was of a transitional chai'acter, between the Norman and Early English. The capitals of the piers between the nave and the north aisle have the ball-flower. This aisle has an enriched flat boarded roof, beneath a cylindrical one of timber frame-Avork, such as has been noticed in the chancel. I look upon these roofs to be of different dates, as the ship-timber roof (as we will call it), which is a local featm*e, and often met with in Gloucestershire, frequently exhibits ornaments which prove that it was intended to be seen from the church, and not concealed by a flat boarding. The west window is a good Decorated one of three lights, the tracery lights being triangular and foliated. It has no subordinate lights, I mean those caused by the piercing of spandrels, or spaces between the principal lights. This interesting little church is now under repair, and the restorations are in good character. I sincerely hope that if it should be found necessary to rebuild the tower, care will be taken not to alter its proportions or present character in the slightest degree. Near the church is part of a fine old manor- house, now used as a farm-house. The lower part is of good stone masonry, with buttresses, it appears to be of a very late Perpendicular. The upper part is timbered, and has a gable with a beautiful barge-board. The barn and other farm buildings also shew some good masonry of the same period. Bishop's Cleeve is probably better known than the churches I have de- scribed, and therefore I shall only remark in it a piscina in the south transept, which exhibits one of those curious coincidences between the Norman and Decorated styles which are sometimes (though oftener in castellated than ecclesiastical archi- tecture) so close as to perplex the student. There seems to be no doubt that this piscina is Decorated, both from the niche, and the base of the shaft ; but the capital of this shaft has a purely Norman appear- ance. It adjoins a beautiful l)eco- rated tomb with a cross-legged eiligy. Fisc.na, Bisbops Cleeve.