Part III

are : A 1. wide shallow casement, or hollow, usually occupying the centre of the group, and equal to about one-third of the width ; 2. The constant use of bowtells, or beads, of three-quarters of a circle, resembling small shafts, and often used as such ; 3. The frequency of the double ogee, and some varieties of it peculiar to the period. The casement alluded to may undoubtedly be regarded as an elongation or extension of the Decorated three-quarter hollow, by which width is gained at the sacrifice of depth. Accordingly, it is generally a mark of early Perpendicular work when the casement is deep and narrow, of late when wide and shallow, and of debased when it is, as it were, so stretched as to become almost or quite a flat surface, sunken but little below the chamfer-plane, or external line of the group. The latter result may be observed in the windows of St. Botolph's Church, and in those of the older portions of St. John's College, Cambridge. Of many forms which the casement assumes, the most frequent are those represented in PL. IX. figs. 11, 16, and PL. VIII. figs. 4, 10, 13. It is very common to find one or both ends of the hollow returned in a kind of quasi-bowtell, as seen in PL. VIII. figs. 2 and 15, and PL. XX. fig. 3, a window in the chancel of Grantham Church. Frequently, however, perhaps generally, the ends are sharp and angular, as PL. IX. fig. 14, PL. XX. fig. 14, the arch-mold of the nave of Lancaster Church, or PL. VIII. fig. 3. The three-quarter hollow also occurs in this style, and sometimes, as in PL. IX. fig. 2, in the same group with the great casement or central hollow. The bowtell will be observed in some form or other in almost every example given in PL. VIII. and IX. ; and if the student compares the three plates of Decorated moldings, he will per- ceive the importance of assigning this feature as a peculiarity 62 ANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS. of the Perpendicular. In PL. XX. fig. 6, from Rivaulx Abbey, a small double bowtell forms the central member. Fig. 10, the western doorway at Newton Church, near Cambridge ; figs. 11 and 12, both from Bolton Abbey ; fig. 13, from a small door- way in the choir of Grantham Church ; and fig. 5, a doorway in Ripon Minster, all contain examples of the cylindrical bowtell. It is often formed from a plane by sinking a channel on each side, as in PL. VIII. figs. 1, 3, 6. Occasionally it stands like an excrescence on the surface of a plane, as fig. 5 ; but this is a departure from the usual practice, as well as from the true principle of moldings. The double ogee is much more common in Perpendicular than in Decorated moldings. There is some difference, too, in the form which it assumes in the later style. For whereas the Decorated ogee, as before stated, always represents the profile of the half of a roll-and- fillet, the Perpendicular appears rather to be composed of a semicircular hollow continued in a bowtell, forming a section more like the letter S see PL. XVI. figs. 4 and 5. However, the earlier form, fig. 5, is extremely com- mon in Perpendicular mold- Perpendicular members, PL. IX. fig. B. ings, and especially in the double ogee. Other varieties, peculiar to the style, are the double ogee with a bowfcell in the centre, PL. IX. fig. B ; an ogee combined with a quarter- circle,* fig. c ; an ogee with a small bead or fillet at the base, as PL. VIII. figs. 7, 9 ; an ogee with a bowtell forming one side of the great casement, PL. IX. figs. 1, 8, 10, 16, 17 ; and the combination exhibited in fig. 1 5, where the depth of the hollow is generally conclusive. All these may be considered as dis- tinctive criteria of the style. * This is one of the commonest and most decisive combinations in Per- pendicular moldings, as PL. XX. figs. 10 and 14 ; PL. IX. fig. 3. PERPENDICULAR MOLDINGS. 63 The form represented in outline in the preceding woodcut is found in all the styles. It occurs in Early English work, with the roll or bowtell plain and not filleted, in a doorway at Fountains Abbey. The shape, however, of the ogee curve and the breadth of the fillet will be found to follow the rules laid down. The double ogee is sometimes of large and clumsy size in Perpendicular arch- moldings. In Decorated, it is usually rather small, and is principally confined to the outer members of door- A ways and windows. roll-and-fillet between two ogees is properly a late Decorated combination, as in PL. II. fig. 14 ; PL. VII. fig. 3. In PL. VIII. fig. 16, the inner doorway of the south porch at Great Shelford, near Cambridge, it is of the Transition period, that is, before 1400. The form of the roll-and-fillet, prevalent in this style, in which, however, it was not extensively used,* is that of the diagram between figs. 10 and 11, PL. IV. The debased form of the bowtell mold, PL. VIII. fig. 21, is also peculiar to the style ; it is much used in base- ment moldings and capitals. Sometimes we find the roll-and-triple-fillet in a debased form, as in PL. IX. tig. 13, the belfry-arch at Haslingfield, Cambridgeshire. Two other corrupted varieties are exhibited in fig. 16. In the annexed dia- grams the upper figure represents the Early English ; the other two, varieties of the Per- pendicular roll-and-fillet. A half roll-and-fillet frequently occurs, as in PL. XX. fig. 7, a window-jamb from the south aisle of the nave at Ripon Cathedral ; fig. 9, a doorway from Bolton Abbey. The pointed bowtell is very rare in this style ; it is shown in fig. 3, and it * The absence of the roll-and-fillet, except in a very corrupted form, is, in fact, one of the most remarkable features in the moldings of the late Gothic. When it does occur, it usually springs from the capital of a small bowtell. 64 MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS. . occurs in the aisle windows at the west end of St. John's Church, Stamford. Window-moldings are usually extremely meagre, though the tracery is generally set deeper in the wall than in the preceding style, and, consequently, a larger space is available for the pur- pose. But the great casement, or hollow, encroaches so much upon the group that little room is left for more than a double ogee on the outside of it, and the monial-members on the inside by which term those moldings of the jamb are meant which coincide with the monials. PL. VIII. fig. 12, represents the almost universal plan of Perpendicular windows. Sometimes, however, especially in earlier examples, we find the double ogee externally, comprising the first order, and the monial-members occupying the next, without any casement in the angle. PL. IX. figs. 12 and 18, are taken from different churches, and illustrate the remarkable uniformity which prevailed in the use of moldings. Having pointed out these facts (which deserved to be regis- tered as essential and characteristic differences), little remains to be said on this part of the subject. Kich and good Perpendi- cular moldings are not very common, most examples consisting but of three or four very ordinary members, which offer nothing either novel or interesting to the view ; while in the two pre- ceding styles there is ever something singular, or beautiful, or ingenious, in the treatment of the moldings, to arrest our atten- tion and add to our store of knowledge. But Perpendicular work is by no means to be despised, for many points may be found, such as the jamb-shafts in deeply recessed doorways, which form groups of considerable delicacy. PL. VIII. fig. 1, is from the west doorway atUffington, near Stamford ; early in the style. Fig. 2 is the same, from the isolated tower at Dereham, Norfolk. Fig. 3 the same, from Saham Toney ; fig. 4 from Fishtoft, Lincolnshire. Fig. 5 is from the east window at Leverton, in the same county ; fig. 6 PERPENDICULAR MOLDINGS. 66 from Partney ; fig. 7 from Louth, both doorways ; fig. 8 from Stewton, a window-jamb ; fig. 9 from an oriel window in Lin- coln ; fig. 12 from the south Choir Chapel, Lincoln Cathedral ; fig. 10 the east window at Chesterton, near Cambridge ; fig. 13 an arch in St. Sepulchre's Church ; fig. 14 from a niche at Great Gransden, near St. Neots ; fig. 15 the east window at Stapleford, near Cambridge; fig. 16 from Great Shelford; fig. 17 a pier-arch from Holy Trinity, Colchester ; fig. 18 the same from Long Melford, Suffolk ; fig. 19 a doorway at St. Martin's, Stamford ; fig. 20 the pier-arches of the same church ; fig. 21 from Louth. PL. IX. fig. 1, is from the east window of St. Martin's, Stamford ; fig. 2 the west doorway of the same ; fig. 3 the same from St. John's Church, Stamford ; fig. 4 from the Bede House in that town ; fig. 5 is from a pier-arch in the noble church of All Saints ; fig. 6 the west doorway, and fig. 7 a window, from Histon, near Cambridge ; fig. 8 is from the chancel door at Skirlaugh, Yorkshire,* fig. 9 the north doorway at Harlton, near Cambridge ; fig. 10 the south doorway, Skirlaugh ; fig. 11 from Basingstoke, Hampshire ; fig. 12 a window of common form ; fig. 13 the belfry-arch at Haslingfield ; fig. 14 the south doorway at Grantchester ; fig. 15 a molding of constant occur- rence ; fig. 16 from St. Albans ; fig. 17 a doorway, and fig. 18 a window, from Ryhall, Rutland. The former has large sculp- tured paterae in the central casement. It will be observed that the distinction of the orders is often completely lost in this style, while it is seldom undefinable in Decorated moldings. It also appears, from the examples given, that in many cases the chamfer-plane is either more or less than an angle of 45; and that occasionally, as PL. VIII. fig. 11, two parallel planes are taken for the basis of the arrangement. * The two moldings, figs. 8 and 10, are borrowed from the " Churches of Yorkshire," and figs. 11 and 16, from Messrs. Brandon's excellent work, the " Analysis of Gothic Architecture." % F 66 MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS. The casement is sometimes so extravagantly hollowed as to give the appearance, and probably the actual effect, of weakening the jamb. This is a great fault, and always produces a very unsatisfactory result to the eye, which desiderates the idea of perfect and substantial support.* An instance may be noticed in the west window of Granchester Church. One principle of composition may sometimes be traced in moldings, especially in late ones. This is the custom of ending with a repetition of the same members which commenced the group, the centre being occupied by a different one. This may be illustrated by PL. IX. figs. 3, 6, 8, or by the annexed cut. Students of the present subject will find a very valuable series of illustrations West doorway, Overstrnnd, Norfolk. pp. 76, 77 of Professor Willis's of base, capital, and arch- molds of the three styles in " Architectural History of Win- chester Cathedral," published by the Archaeological Institute, and in many other accounts of cathedrals by the same author. Willis's Architecture of the Middle Ages, p. 15. PLANS OF GOTHIC COLUMNS. SECTION VIII. OF THE PLANS OF GOTHIC COLUMNS.* THIS subject falls properly under the head of Moldings, since the forms of piers or columns more or less partake of the details of the arch-moldings. But it is one of such extensive scope that only a few general rules can here he given for dis- tinguishing the styles. And of these the hases and capitals will generally afford the surest indications. A few sections have been given for the purpose in PL. III. The general plan of the columns which support the nave or other principal arches, is either square, circular, octagonal, diamond-shaped, or parallelogramic ; and these forms are either simple or complex. Simple, when composed of one plain member, that is, not involving a number of aggregate parts ; Complex, when consisting of a core surrounded by smaller shafts, detached or engaged. The earliest form of column is the circular, as is proved by those in the ancient chapel in the White Tower, London (probably the earliest piece of Norman architecture in England), and by similar examples at Waltham Abbey (which, whether Harold's Church or not, is undoubtedly early), at Norwich Cathedral, St. Sepulchre's Church, Cambridge, and many other places. Polygonal Norman piers, of vast size and strength, support the eastern transept walls at Peterborough Cathedral. And these simple forms continued in common use throughout the Transitional, Early English, and Decorated * The mediaeval terms for columns, capitals, and shafts, were respectively pillars, chapiters, and verges. The plinth, or footing of the columns, was the patin. See Professor Willis's Architectural Nomen- clature, pp. 39-41. F2 68 MANUAL OP GOTHIC MOLDINGS. periods in ordinary parochial churches, where they are sometimes disposed alternately, or in opposite rows. But a very common arrangement is that of the square plan, or forms derived from it ; thus it was sometimes cut with angular recesses, like the arch and sub-arch, and these recesses were soon filled with small shafts, With circular columns the vault- ing shafts were commonly stopped above the capitals by a corbel, but they were frequently brought down to the ground with the rectangular plan, where the flat face of the pier was continuous with that of the wall ; and the member also carry- ing the sub-arch was often made into a semicircular form. Thus we obtain, though in a heavy and simple form, a regular clustered shaft, which, during the Early English period, was brought to a wonderful degree of lightness and elegance. These complex Early English piers are often extremely beau- tiful ; more so, perhaps, than those of any other style. They are so varied in arrangement that it would be impossible in this place to do more than notice their general characteristics, which consist principally in the number of smaller isolated shafts clinging to a central column, to wMch they are at intervals attached in reality as well as in appearance, by molded bands or fillets. These shafts are generally of native marble,* or of some other kind of stone than the central pillar. The clustered capitals and bases are often worked out in one large piece. A circular column, surrounded by four, six, or eight smaller detached shafts, is a beautiful and common device. Examples are very common ; the choir-aisles at Ely, the Lady Chapel of Fountains Abbey (PL. XIX. fig. 8), and many parts of West- * It is a curious fact that the mediaeval English architects appear never to have used any foreign marbles, in construction at least. The Purbeck limestone, composed of comminuted freshwater shells (whence it is called lumachella marble), being part of the Wealden formation, and taking a fine polish, though liable to disintegrate, was much used in the thirteenth century, but much more sparingly afterwards, except for tombs and the beds of sepulchral brasses. PLANS OF GOTHIC COLUMNS. 69 minster Abbey, have this kind of compound pillar. In some cases the column is made up of several shafts, generally four, placed close together, without any central core, as in the round nave of the Temple Church. In this case there is always a midway band or bonding- stone, worked into annular fillets to the shafts. The shafts are not always separately applied, though usually so in the pure lancet style. PL. III. fig. 11, is an instance of attached shafts so deeply undercut that they have the appearance of complete isolation. It forms an ex- quisitely graceful feature in the Chapter House of Furness Abbey. The lower part of a similar one, rather later in date, still stands in the vestibule of St. Mary's Abbey, York; and there is a very good example at Exton, Kutland. PL. III. fig. 8, is from All Saints', Stamford ; fig. 13 from Kuskington, Lin- colnshire ; and fig. 12 from St. Peter Gowt's, at Lincoln. Fig. 17 is from Skelton, near York ; and this is a very common form of Early English and Decorated piers, with some varieties, as fig. 16, and in PL. V. figs. 15, 17. PL. XIX. fig. 5, is a beautiful example of the former style, from Stretton Church, Kutland. Fig. 6 is from Grantham Church. The annexed is from Kus- kington Church, Lincolnshire, and is reduced from the section given in Mr. Bowman's illustrations of that church. Half of a roll-and-fillet set on each side of a square, the corners of which project, and are sometimes worked into smaller pointed beads, is of constant occurrence. The square being set to the cardinal points, the addition of the shafts changes the outline to the diamond form. The fillets running up the face of each shaft usually pass over or round the astragal, and die into the bell of the capital, as in PL. X. fig. 40. Towards the Geometric era, that is, after 1240, the shafts or 70 MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS. verges, as they were anciently called) began to be generally engaged, or attached to the central mass.* This will be seen in the choir of the Temple Church, erected at the above period. The construction, therefore, is entirely different, the whole diametric section being worked out of one block, for the sake of greater strength. Decorated piers always have their shafts engaged, so that a clustered column is in reality formed by channelling the surfaces of the mass in lines and hollows of graceful lights and shadows. PL. III. figs. 14 and 16, are among the commonest forms ; but the richness and extent of the great piers in cathedrals and abbeys it would require a volume to set forth. Fig. 14 is from Utterby, Lincolnshire, and is remarkable for the hollow faces, which are seldom found but in small shafts in Perpendicular work. Perpendicular piers are generally of oblong or parallelogramic plan, the longitudinal direction extending from north to south. On the east and west sides half-shafts are attached, which bear the innermost order, or soffit- moldings, of the arch ; the rest, including the great casement or hollow, being usually continuous, without the interruption of any impost. Very good examples exist at Great St. Mary's, Cam- bridge, where vaulting shafts are also added Grantha on the northern and southern faces. PL. ^" ^ ^&* * s ^rom Attleborough, Norfolk, of late Decorated date. PL. III. fig. 18, from St. John's, Stamford, a plain but good illustration of this almost universal method. PL. XIX. fig. 4, from Saffron Walden, Essex. The principle which led to this form was the desire to obtain width in the direction of the thickness of the wall, * Shafts ceased to stand detached or banded into clusters, and became instead firmly compacted into a mass ; the bands, no longer of any use, real or apparent, being suppressed. Brandon's Analysis, p. 2. . PLANS OF GOTHIC COLUMNS. 71 combined with the least possible bulk, and the greatest span between the columns. In this they followed the plan of window monials ; in fact, in some late churches, as at Swavesey, near Cambridge, they become nothing more nor less than exaggerated rnonials with shafts attached to carry the sub- arch. Another form, however, occurs not unfrequently in Perpendicular columns, which is shown in PL. III. figs. 19 and 20, the first from St. Swavesey. Martin's, the second from St. Mary's, Stamford, In these the ground-plan is a square, and each face (as in fig. 19), or each angle (as fig. 20), if set diamond-wise, carries an engaged shaft. In the first case, the angles are chamfered away ; in the second, a hollow is sunk in the face between the shafts. This is usually of later date than the parallelogramic plan. Still, examples are Long Ashton. Ensham Church. Wood Ditton Church. not wanting of early Perpendicular character, as in Long Ashton Church, Somersetshire, built about, or rather before, 1400. The example is taken from Bowman's " Specimens of Ecclesiastical Architecture," PL. IV. The nave columns in this church consist of a square, with a three-quarter circular shaft engaged on each face, the angles being cut away into the wave-molding, which runs continuously round the arches. PL. XIX. fig. 7, re- 72 MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS. presents a column of good Decorated date in the crypt at Grantham, in which the same principle of formation is exhibited. The parallelogramic plan is sometimes found in Decorated columns, but not until the close of the style. The woodcuts on the previous page represent such a column from Wood Ditton Church, near Newmarket, and that from Ensham Church, c. 1400, given in " The Oxford Architectural Guide," p. 139. SECTION IX. OP CAPITALS. THE moldings of capitals and bases form not the least interesting, extensive, and important part of the study. And they have the peculiar advantage of being more definitely marked, in the various periods of architecture, than any other kind of moldings. It is by no means impossible, even for an experienced eye, to mistake the details of a Decorated for those of a Perpendicular archway ; but no one moderately acquainted with the subject could hesitate in pronouncing the style of a capital or base, provided it possessed any character at all. To go very rapidly through the history of a column, we may suppose that an upright post planted in the earth was found to sink, or decline from the perpendicular, by a great superincumbent pressure. This failure suggested the necessity of a plinth, or broad footing of masonry, on which it might stand firm, erect, and immovable. This arrangement we may often observe in the construction of wooden sheds or rustic homesteads of rude timber- work. Again, a great square stone would naturally be placed upon the top of the pillar or post, as the bed or OF CAPITALS. 73 cushion to receive the superstructure, whether arch or entablature. It was from such an origin that the highly elaborated Gothic base and capital arose. Examples fully as rude as this do actually exist in English ecclesiastical architecture, so that we have positive fact to guide us instead of mere theory. The Ante-Norman belfry-arches at Barnack and St. Mary Bishophill Junior, York, with a great many others of probably much later date, have square pillars on each side, resting upon and surmounted by rude and clumsy blocks of stone. In the Norman period, when the shaft was round, the highest and lowest members only, respectively called the abacus and the plinth (anciently the patin) were square, the parts immediately below the one and above the other being rounded off to suit the shape of the shaft. How this was done in Norman capitals is Cushion Capital. Transition Norman Capitals, Bolton Abbey. shown in PL. X. fig. 2, and it is seen in the ordinary form of what has been called the cushion capital. The lingering reluctance to get rid of the square plinth, in the tongue- shaped leaves or other grotesques which are often seen to issue from the circular moldings of Transition-Norman bases, and extend to the otherwise vacant and superfluous angles of the plinth, is worthy of observation. It was felt that these angles were not necessary ; but the mediaeval builders preferred to decorate what as yet they did not wish to cut away. Even in the advanced Early English columns in Westminster Abbey, instances of floriated bases may be observed. 74 MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS. But the simple square was sure to undergo some changes, and this took place first in capitals. In the more elaborate Classic styles, the sides were cut out, or curved inwards a feature some- times seen in Perpendicular octagonal capitals ; but this method of relieving and lightening the massive impost does not seem to have occurred to the Komanesque builders. They either Ely : South Transept. cut off or cut out the corners, as soon as the pier-arch, by becoming recessed or involving a sub-arch (PL. I. fig. 4), left a portion of the bearing surface unemployed and superfluous. That is, rectan- gular nooks were cut in the angles of the square abacus, corresponding to the graduation of the sub-arch, as in the accompanying cut, and examples may also be seen in Potter's "Illustrations of Buildwas Abbey," pi. 6. From the former process came the octagonal form ; and either by removing angles indefinitely, or, more probably, by adopting the shape of the shaft, we obtain the circular capital and base of the first and second Gothic periods. But capitals became octagonal before plinths ; and similarly octagonal plinths were retained long after circular capitals had become universal. Gothic capitals may be divided into two kinds, molded and floriated. The upper member, or abacus, is common to both, and is the relic of the rude impost which first surmounted the stone post, from which it was transferred, through the medium of the Classic to the Christian styles. This seems, in fact, to be the primary and essential, and, as it were, practical member, the others being only decorative adjuncts. The lowest member, called the neck or astragal, is also common to both kinds ; but in floriated capitals foliage covers the intermediate space, which is otherwise occupied by the overhanging and undercut member called the bell, with its accompanying moldings. In the Transi- OF CAPITALS. 75 tion-Normaii and Early English, the foliage, as is well known, is arranged vertically ; in the Decorated it twines horizontally, or rather transversely, round the capital. In Perpendicular, floriated capitals are rare ; more frequently small leaves, or patera, are set like studs at intervals round the shaft ahove the neck, as in Great St. Mary's Church, Cambridge. But the vine and the strawberry leaf is sometimes seen, very differently worked, however, from the deep overhanging foliage of the earlier styles, being only a shallow kind of surface ornament. The dog-tooth, the nail-head, the ball-flower, and other orna- mental moldings, sometimes occur in capitals, and in later work the Tudor flower, or crestings of minute battlements (occasion- ally floriated), are also frequently found. Even angels' heads with spread wings are sometimes found, as in the belfry-arch of Great Shelford, near Cambridge, and in the choir of Wingfield Church, Suffolk. Occasionally (in Norman work com'monly) some subject is grotesquely sculptured below the abacus. Of this there is a very curious example at West Keal, Lincolnshire.* Or a subject is intermixed with the foliage, as in some very interesting Early English capitals in the south transept and the north porch of We^lls Cathedral. But of floriated or sculptured work it is not at present our province to speak. It is enough to observe that the origin of foliage is probably Classical, since in the Romanesque we find the style of it, as used in capitals, very closely approaching the Corinthian acanthus, or the Ionic volute; for example, the Transitional Norman capitals at the east end of Canterbury Cathedral, and not unfrequently in parochial churches (as at Barnack), seem clearly to be Classical in general features, and almost so in their details. Others, however, will have it that * On one of the capitals (which are Decorated) a fox is carrying off a goose, while a chained ape is laying hold of it behind. The Decorated .capitals in Oakham Church exhibit the same design, among others. This kind of capital may be called Pictorial, as the author has suggested in the Manual of Gothic Architecture, p. 110. 76 MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS. the origin of the foliated capitals is rather from the East. There can be little doubt that the influence of both prevailed in the introduction of foliage into Gothic capitals, from whence it was subsequently transferred to other parts of buildings. The use of capitals, in pure Gothic architecture, to speak constructively, is to receive the clusters of arch-molds which are stopped by it at the summit of the column, and not continued down to the ground. For, when the arch-molds are not wholly identical with those of the jamb or column, they must either die away at the spring (in which case they are called discontinuous) or be abruptly stopped by a projecting impost. In many cases the moldings are partly continuous and partly stopped by the capitals; certain groups being borne by shafts,* while the intervening hollows are continued to the ground, forming 'at the same time deep lines of division between the groups of arch-molds above and the separate jamp-shafts below. This is particularly the case in Perpendicular piers and arches, as described in Section VII. Here the soffit or innermost moldings are borne by a shaft, the outer being continuous ; while in Early English doorways the soffit is generally con- tinuous, the others carried by shafts, as in PL. II. figs. 18 and 19. Again, in Norman and Early English, the shafts stand isolated ; in the latter so far that the hand, or even the arm, may be passed round them, In Decorated, they are engaged, fewer in number, less prominent, less important in the apparent work of support. And in Perpendicular they become entirely subordinate, and merely decorative, as may be observed in the porches and doorways of King's College Chapel. Hence, by an ulterior debasement, mere bowtells, as we before remarked, are furnished with quasi-capitals and bases. In some cases a member of the same projection and diameter as * By what is called decorative, i.e. apparent construction. The mold- ings would in reality remain in their places as well without as with the bearing shafts. "Willis's Architecture, Chap. II. OF CAPITALS. 77 the bowtell is continued above this quasi-capital (if the term be allowable), but slightly varied in form and profile. The moldings of pier-arches became entirely continuous only in very late work ; and the reason is, that the idea of a capital or impost is essential to that of an isolated column ; while in the jambs of doorways and entrance arches, the shafts themselves, and therefore the impost, may be omitted or added at will, as a mere matter of decoration. A good Gothic capital is a feature of remarkable beauty. Take, for example, those of the piers in the nave of Trumping- ton Church, Cambridge, and Hingham, Norfolk, PL. XII. figs. 11 and 15, or the woodcuts on pages 79, 80. Small in projection, complex and graceful in their members, yet judi- ciously subordinate to both arch and pier, they seem to bind into one the bundles of shafts which form the column, while, by their reversed or horizontal outlines, they intercept and at the same time form a satisfactory termination to the vertical lines above and below. Gothic capitals consist of three parts ; the abacus, the bell, and the neck. And these parts are distinctly visible in block capitals, or those in which the members have not been worked out. Such may occasionally be met with in village churches. PL. X. fig. 1, shows the two uppermost members in their rudest state. Fig. 3 is from Laceby, Lincolnshire ; fig. 4 from Middle Rasen, and fig. 5 from Walesby, both in the same county. Here A is the abacus, B the bell, c the neck. It will be observed that Gothic capitals may generally be reduced to this outline, as fig. 16, from Great Abington, Cambridge- shire. The most certain evidence of date is furnished by the mold- ings of the abacus. The earlier forms of the abacus had the upper edge always left square, and the under edge rather plainly chamfered or cut into a flat ovolo ; at first the fillet was large in proportion, and gave a heavy appearance, but the lower edge- 78 MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS. mold gradually became more important, and was frequently cut into a hollow chamfer, and sometimes quirked and finished also with a head, as at Heacham, Norfolk. By this means a light Coton. St. Sep., Cant. Oath. Blatherwick, Byland. Heacham, Wadenhoe, Cambridge. Crypt. Northants. Norfolk. Northants. abacus was obtained, which held its ground far into the Early English style, as may be seen at the Refectory, Rivaulx, &c. But then they began to cut away the upper edge, the projec- tion was made greater, and the under side was cut or hollowed out, so that it seems to overhang the bell just as the bell does the shaft, and with the same profile, consisting of the half of a roll-and-fillet. The Decorated abacus has the scroll-molding, with a cylindrical roll of rather less size below it. PL. X. figs. 38 and 39, represent these peculiarities, and an examination of the sections of the capitals of both styles will show how rarely this distinctive mark is wanting. In Early English capitals the abacus is sometimes quite plain, as fig. 17, from Thurlby, and fig. 8, from Frieston, Lincolnshire. In the reign of Edward I. a peculiar molding occurs, something between the two, which may be called an undercut scroll-molding. This is seen in fig. 9, from Stickney, and fig. 12, from Lincoln Cathedral, and it may be considered a characteristic of transition from Early English to Decorated. The moldings of the bell are generally kept within the limits shown in fig. o, but in very minute work exceptions are some- times found ; for instance, at Temple Balsal, Warwickshire, the capitals to the small shafts on the monials of some of the windows have the bell projecting quite beyond the abacus. The woodcut is taken from Bowman and Crowther's " Churches of the Middle Ages." Where foliage is introduced it often OF CAPITALS. 79 projected a long way even in large capitals, and a molding seems to have been allowed the same license when the scale was small. Small capitals and bases appear frequently to have been turned in lathes, and this might account for treating a molding like foliage where the effect of foliage was desired. In Early English capitals the bell has sometimes a double set of moldings, which gives a very handsome effect. This is seen in PL. X. figs. 19, 28, from Tintern ; fig. 22, from Furness Bolton. Temple Balsal. and fig. 24, from Capitals occur in their greatest perfection in shafts. The larger piers, of octagonal or circular form, are seldom so elaborate or so decidedly marked. In these the abacus is the only member which affords any sure indication of date. The distinguishing feature of Decorated capitals has been stated to be the scroll-molding of the abacus, and in perhaps ninety-nine out of every hundred examples the rule holds good. Yet some capitals presenting the same feature are said to be of Early English date. It is believed that the Early English abacus scarcely ever occurs in pure Decorated work. Decorated Capital, Grantham. The bell is seldom so prominent or so deeply undercut in this as in the preceding style. As a general rule, the projection (i.e. the relative diameter to that of the shaft) became gradually less, both in capitals and bases, as the styles advanced. The above cut furnishes an exception to the rule. Thus, in Perpendicular work, when the shafts became, as it were, mere parts 80 MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS. of the entire groups of moldings, both these features became minute and subordinate. Decorated capitals preserve the happy medium between the clumsiness of constructive members, and the inutility of mere ornaments. In this their remarkable beauty really consists, in that they occupy the truest and most consistent position as architectural parts of the whole. "With respect to their details, the moldings of the bell present the principal varieties ; but these are generally some modification or corruption of the roll-and-fillet. Very often the under part of the bell is composed of an entire roll-and-fillet, as in PL. XII. figs. 3, 8, and PL. XI. figs. 12, 20. It is still more frequently formed by the compound member shown in the cut, and in PL. XI. fig. 4. Out of forty-three examples of Decorated capitals given in PL. XI. and XII. ten of them have the bell thus formed, and others present some slight variety of it. It is seen in elevation in PL. XII. fig. 15, the beautiful capital of the- nave-piers at Hingham. Decorated capitals seldom have double moldings to the bell, at least much less frequently than in the Early English style. Three examples are given, PL. XI. fig. 2, from Yaxley, Hunts, very early in the style, as appears by the abacus, PL. XII. fig. 9, and the annexed cut, from Harringworth, Northants. The neck, or astragal, forms an important detail in deter- mining the dates of capitals. In the Early English it is usually a heavy and bold annular mold- ing, of a stilted or oval shape, or rather more than half a circle, as PL. X. fig. 11. Either this Harringworth. or the semi-hexagon (fig. 15) is th rated neck is almost always the scroll-molding ; but both the OF CAPITALS. 81 Early English forms, with many others, will be found to occur. The capitals of both styles are often so nearly identical in general character and principles of formation, that a practised eye may now and then be deceived in their date. And it is here important to remark, that though the vast majority of capitals in all English buildings will be found to fall in with the rules laid down in this work, anomalies do occur which present difficulties in any attempt to classify them ; and the same is true of bases. Perpendicular capitals present very marked features, which are seldom liable to be mistaken. The moldings are large,, angular, meagre, and few. Neither abacus nor bell is clearly defined a fact similar to that already stated with regard to the arch-moldings of this style, that the distinction of orders is generally lost. The abacus, in short, no longer appears as a separable member, and the bell either wholly vanishes or is very imperfectly developed. The upper part of the abacus is usually sloped off to a sharp edge, like the chamfer of an angle ; the section of the molding below resembles the letter S,. being an ogee formed by a bold concave returning into a prominent convex (as at Coton) ; and, above all, the capital is nearly always octagonal, while that of the preceding styles is commonly round. The shaft, however, is circular in Perpendicular work ; while octagonal capitals only occur in the other styles in the case of large single columns of the same shape, if we except a few cases of Coton, Camb.. Early English arcading shafts with octagonal capitals, as in the transepts at Histon, near Cambridge, the west front of Peterborough Cathedral, and in the choir-aisle of Fountains Abbey. The same principle which induced the latter architects to- prefer sharp edges and abrupt lines in their moldings to the soft and blending Decorated forms, made them revert to the G 82 MANUAL OF GOTHIC MOLDINGS. octagonal capital to the rejection of the circular. The base, however, is generally circular in its upper members, and octagonal below, as in PL. XV. figs. 1 and 2. Perpendicular capitals are often embattled, as PL. XII. figs. 16, 22, 26, 29, an arrangement which is rare in the preceding style. The astragal, or neck, is either a plain round or a kind of debased scroll-molding with the upper edge chamfered, as in the abacus. Another form, resembling a coarse keel-mold, com- mon to both members, is that shown in PL. VIII. fig. 21, which occurs in the abacus of PL. XIII. fig. 8, and the neck of fig. 15. The bell with its overhanging and undercut moldings having vanished, the projection of the capital is produced by a meagre slope, as figs. 3 and 5. Sometimes, however, but not very often, the bell remains. Its form seems capricious, and reducible to no certain rule, though the profile is often much the same as in Decorated work. Perhaps greater license was taken in general in designing the moldings of this style than in any other. The section of the Perpendicular abacus is a mere corruption of the Decorated scroll- molding. Thus in PL. XIII. figs. 7, 10, and 12, we see nearly the same form as in the Decorated ; and by omitting the under roll, as in figs. 20, 21, we obtain the ordinary profile of fig. 15. This debasement of the scrollmolding is separately shown in PL. IV. fig. 22. It will not be necessary to occupy much space in stating the places from which our numerous sections of capitals and bases A are taken. few only of the most remarkable shall be thus specified. PL. X. figs. 7, 8, are from Frieston, Lincolnshire. Here the bell is of rather unusual form, perhaps more so in OF CAPITALS. 83 this than in the next style, as in PL. XI. figs. 9, 11, 15, 16, 17. PL. X. fig. 9, a nohle capital from Stickney, Lincolnshire, late in the style, as appears from the undercut scroll-abacus. Fig. 10 is from the same place. Of the same date and character are 12 and 13 ; the former from Lincoln Cathedral, the latter from Kuskington. Fig. 18 is from the Chapter House of Furness Ahhey, and has the double bell ; fig. 19 from Tintern Abbey, very rich and fine in its profile.* Fig. 22 is shown in elevation, by studying which, those who are unacquainted with the details of the styles may form a correct idea of the leading characteristics of the capitals of this period. It is from Furness Abbey. Figs. 23, 24, 26, are from Bolton Abbey. Fig. 28 is from Tintern, rather late, and remarkable in its profile. Fig. 29 is from Arreton, Isle of Wight. Fig. 30 from Saffron Walden, of much larger size than usual. Fig. 37 is from Bolton Abbey, with the nail-head in the hollow above the bell. Fig. 40 is the elevation of the most ordinary form in shafts and clustered piers. PL. XI. figs. 1 and 2, are from Yaxley; fig. 4 is a fine capital of very unusual size and depth, in a chapel used as the vestry in the church at Boston. Fig. 3 is from Fletton, Hunts ; figs. 6, 7, from Leverton ; fig. 9 from Sibsey ; fig. 10 from Stickford ; fig. 11 from Partney all in Lincolnshire. Fig. 12 is from Legburn, in the same county, of large size (15 inches in depth) ; fig. 13 from Waltham. Figs. 15, 16, 17, are all from Lincolnshire, and almost identical. This is the form of the pier capitals at Heckington. Fig. 18 is from Aswardby, Lincolnshire, depth