Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 9.djvu/99

Rh than the nave, and of an advanced style. It has four bays, with clustered piers, vaulting shafts rising from the ground, a triforium of three arches, each subdivided by a shaft into two lights with trefoil heads, and surmounted by a quatrefoil; a clerestory (now blocked up) consisting of a large trefoil. The roof is vaulted, with bold ribs. There is some variety in the arrangement of the abacus. That on which the inner order of the pier arch rests is square; that of the triforium shafts is polygonal. In one bay three sides of an octagonal abacus (engaged) surmount a cluster of five shafts, the central one corresponding with the transverse rib, the adjacent ones with the diagonals, and the external ones with the longitudinal ribs. The lower part of the pier is cylindrical, with four large shafts engaged, being the central vaulting shafts, and those under the inner orders of the pier arches. The east window has three lights, with a large trefoil in the head; its architrave is a wide hollow. The central octagon has two stages; the lower one, nearly lost in the roofs, has a round arch with mouldings in each face; the upper one, a slightly pointed arch. At first sight the two would appear to be of the same date; but, if I made out the mouldings correctly at the distance, the lower range exhibited a hollow sunk in the face of the wall, such as we know to be common in Norman, while the upper one exhibited only the hollow marking out the torus; and, from the general proportions of the whole, I suspect the upper range, with its beautiful stone spire, worked with scales, or rather rows of small arches, to be an addition of the thirteenth century. If the oldest part of the church belongs to the twelfth century, of which there can be scarcely a doubt, then the document I have cited refers clearly to the chancel, which is consequently of great value as a dated specimen of careful design and workmanship. For a complete description of this interesting church, I must refer you to Woillez' work, who notices also, botanically, the foliage sculptured on the capitals; a mode of treating the subject which gives it an additional interest. For a nave of the original height, and a short low chancel, such as the Romanesque one may have been, the lower portion of the central octagon, crowned with a short spire, would be quite sufficient; the want of increased height would be felt after the addition of the chancel. I should add, that there are some remains of mural painting in the church.