Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 5.djvu/474

 350 NOTICES OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. small parish church than in the abhey or cathedral ; as if in the latter the grandeur of design superseded the necessity of elaborate workmanship. And this must be our feeling as we enter the nave, for nothing can be plainer than the work in every part where the original Norman building is left untouched. The piers are lofty massive cylinders, supporting semicircu- lar arches of two orders, perfectly plain with the exception of a small moulding at the edge of the outer one. The vaulting and clerestory windows disguise the original work above the arches, which probably consisted of the present triforium range, viz. in each bay two couplets of narrow round arches, separated by a massive shaft, and the clerestory, which might have presented a row of small round-headed windows with large splays ; a contrivance used in the early styles for the purpose of expanding and softening the body of light. There is no appearance of any shaft above the main pier, to divide the bays ; and the triforium couplets seem at pretty equal distances from each other. There is only one clerestory window in each bay." pp. 20, 21. " The opening between the nave-aisle and transept, which retains its Norman character, is a half arch abutting against the pier of the tower ; from Avhich it appears probable that the original vault was semicylindrical, a form which it now appears to have externally." p. 39. This sort of half-arch abutting against the tower is not an uncommon fea- ture in all the styles, and often leads to an erroneous conjecture of altera- tions which are wholly imaginary. If very frequently happens also that the two eastern firches of the nave are of a different span from the others, some- times wider, sometimes much narrower ; they are also frequently of a differ- ent date ; this arises probably from the removal of the rood-loft, which often extended as far as the first pier of the nave, and sometimes, as at Winches- ter, the older work which had been concealed by it is now exposed to view, in other cases these arches are of later date, having been rebuilt to accom- modate the rood-loft. But the half-arch abutting against the tower was pro- bably to serve as a buttress. The Le Despenser monument, as it is usually called, is thus described. " Its general character is that of late Decorated, though it has some details that belong rather to the Perpendicular style : it probably belongs to the end of the fourteenth century. It is an altar-tomb, with the marble effigies of a knight and a lady ; and is surmounted with a very beautiful structure of open-work rising to a point. The roof over the figures is a fan-vault of the simplest kind, each fan having only four ribs, corresponding with the points in which the fans touch each other, and so forming arches. It is not unlikely that, as this is among the earliest specimens of the fan-vault, it may have suggested the more elaborate roofs of the other chapels in the same church, as well as those on a larger scale at Gloucester and ill other churches." pp. 43, 44. These extracts will give a suflScient idea of the character and value of the work, and all those who are interested in the study which is so much indebted to the labours of Mr. Petit, will thank us for calling their atten- tion to this interestina' work.