Page:Charles Moore--Development and Character of Gothic Architecture.djvu/239

Rh builders soon perceived that this form of moulding was not suited to the stormy Northern climate. They saw that the flat upper surface, by affording lodgment for snows, and by causing an incessant spattering against the walls in times of rain, was objectionable and must be avoided. Accordingly on the exterior of the choir of the Cathedral of Senlis the profile b, Fig. 127, was employed, in which, to the profile a, of St. Evremont, a steep slope was added, and the flat upper surface was done away with. This must be one of the very first instances of the steeply sloping form; and it is, perhaps, the first step in the development of the distinctively Gothic drip-Moulding. It is true that the sloping upper surface was not altogether unknown before this time. It occurs, for instance, on the buttresses of the Church of Morienval, as at c, Fig. 127; but before the middle of the twelfth century it is exceptional, and is never developed to anything like the extent that is exhibited in the profile from Senlis.

Early in the thirteenth century great additional changes were made in the profile of the string—changes by which it was gradually brought to the highest degree of perfection, both functional and artistic. One important function of the string-course is to prevent excessive washing of the walls and other parts of a façade by heavy rains. In order effectually to do this it must be so formed as to throw off water quickly and completely. The form b of Senlis, though much better than the form a of St. Evremont, is still very imperfectly adapted to this function. For over such a moulding a great deal of water may trickle backwards and be conducted upon the walls beneath, there being nothing to absolutely cut it off. But the improved form of the thirteenth century (Fig. 128, the profile of the