racteristics of the first Norman period-wide joints between the ashlaring, plain square-edged arches, and shafts with simplycushioned capitals. All is rude, plain, and massive, carrying us back at once to the days of the Conqueror and of William the Red. At the end of each transept is a kind of gallery or terminal aisle, which finds a counterpart, though on a much smaller scale, in the transepts of Ely, the work of Walkelin's brother. There is indeed a strong general resemblance throughout the Norman work of the South and East of England. Passing northward, we find William of St. Carileph's great church at Durham (designed in Normandy) displaying the same general character, but marked by more of that barbaric splendour' (the expression is Mr. Parker's) which became the most distinguishing feature of later Norman. A more decidedly foreign influence, from whatever source it may have originated, is evident in the Norman work of Gloucester and Hereford. The circular piers of Hereford have their capitals enriched with very elaborate knot-work and foliage, of somewhat the same character (though not so far developed) as that in the neighbouring church of Shobdon, which the founder, Oliver de Merlimond, is thought to have copied from St. Victor's Abbey at Paris. On entering the nave of Gloucester Cathedral (1088-1100) we are at once struck by the great height of the piers. They measure 30 feet to the top of their capitals, whilst those of Norwich only reach 15-a difference which hardly seems compatible with the same style. Of course at Gloucester the main arches are so far raised as to be entirely altered in character, whilst triforium and clerestory are deprived of all dignity and importance. It may well be doubted whether the unquestionably fine effect of the lofty piers is not dearly purchased by the loss of the equal divisions of Norwich and Peterborough, and especially of the grave and massive triforium, which at Gloucester is only 10 feet high, at Norwich 24. Similar piers occur at Pershore, at Tewkesbury, and at Malvern-all probably designed by the same architect. So far as we know, they are found in no other part of England. The transition from the round to the pointed arch-from Norman to Early English-was no doubt very gradual, and the complete change was preceded by many lesser alterations. Among English cathedrals, Canterbury not only affords us the best example of this transitional period, but one which is of especial value from the certainty we possess as to its date. The glorious choir of Conrad,' in which Becket's body was watched by the monks throughout the night which followed his murder, was four years later (1174) destroyed by fire. The rebuilding was entrusted to William of Sens, who continued the work until 1178, when, says Gervase, Gervase, through the vengeance of God or spite of the devil,' he fell from the clerestory and was so much injured that he was compelled to return to France. His successor was a certain English William,' who completed the choir and the eastern buildings beyond it in 1184. The monks, it is said, were greatly astonished and delighted at the many novelties introduced by the two Williams. The mixture of round and pointed arches; the richly-foliated and varied capitals of the pillars-evident imitations of Corinthian, but showing in their leafage the more than beginning of that ribbed form which characterises developed Early English; the great vault, with its ribs of stone; and espe cially the slender shafts of Purbeck gracing the triforia, were among the greatest changes. The whole work remains for our study and instruction-not only grand and striking in itself, but supplying one of the most important chapters in the history of English architecture. We have said that the new style was slowly developed; but we can, we believe, point to the first great example of it in England in its completed form. This was Lincoln Cathedral, unrivalled among English cathedrals (we can hardly except Durham, spite of its romantic cliff) in grandeur of situation, rising as it does on its sovereign hill' 'Above the smoke and stir of this dull earth,' and scarcely less entitled to a foremost place from the beauty and interest of its architecture. If the vast space and dignity of York aptly proclaim the church of St. Peter, the church of St. Mary is not less fitly indicated by the delicacy and graceful proportion of Lincoln. The Norman Church of Remigius was shattered by an earthquake in 1185. In the following year one of the most remarkable men then living in Europe-Hugh of Burgundy, better known afterwards as St. Hugh of Lincoln-was consecrated to the see. He had been a monk in the Great Chartreuse, near Grenoble, then very famous for its austere rule, and for the piety of its members. There his reputation was considerable; and it was not without much difficulty that Henry II. succeeded in bringing him to England as the head of a Carthusian house at Witham, in Somersetshire, the first of the order in this country. After spending about ten years as Prior of Witham, he was made Bishop of Lincoln in 1186. The character of St. Hugh-his incessant labour throughout his vast diocese, his 'cool judgment and exquisite tact,' thanks to which he obtained and exercised an extraordinary influence over the fierce Plantagenet kings are duly duly set forth in a very interesting metrical Life, as well as in a larger prose biography, both of which have been admirably edited by Mr. Dimock. Here we have only to do with his work at Lincoln. The rebuilding of his cathedral was at once commenced; and St. Hugh (like King Richard at Ascalon†) laboured at the walls with his own hands : Non solum concedit opes, operamque suorum Sed proprii sudoris opem; lapidesque frequenter St. Hugh, however, was not his own architect. The metrical Life tells us that the plans were prepared by a certain Geoffry de Noiers, concerning whose native country there has been much discussion. But the name was hereditary in England at that time; and it would certainly be pleasant to believe that the architect of Lincoln was a born and thoroughbred Englishman. In St. Hugh died in the year 1200; and the Kings of England and Scotland-John and William the Lion-were present at his funeral, and assisted in carrying his bier into his unfinished cathedral. We do not know how far the building had advanced at the time of his death; but the original plans were probably carried out (with some slight variation, it may be, in detail) during the long episcopate of Hugh of Wells (1209-1235). the existing choir, with its aisles and eastern transept, however, we have, there can be little doubt, the work of St. Hugh himself. It is entirely Early English (pointed) in design and detail; and nothing suggests the earlier style unless it be a certain antique stiffness in leafage and ornamentation. But there are some remarkable peculiarities-a double (and very graceful) arcade in the aisles and transepts, and some piers with detached shafts, from which project crocket-like tiers of leafage—which have more than once led to the suggestion that the whole design is of foreign origin, and that St. Hugh's architect must have brought his plans from Burgundy or Northern France. M. Viollet-leDuc, however, whose authority on such a matter is conclusive, declares that, after the most careful examination, he cannot find here the slightest trace of the French school of the twelfth cen The Metrical History' was published by Messrs. Brooke of Lincoln in 1860. The prose Life (Magna Vita S. Hugonis ') forms one of the Master of the Rolls' series. Mr. Dimock's introductions to both are of the highest value and interest. Rex ibidem operando etiam insignis enituit. ipse manibus edificando, Itinerarium Regis Ricardi, took place in 1192. St. ipse sermone persuadendo. . . . efficacius proficiebat.' Y tury. tury. We are therefore fairly entitled to claim Lincoln as the first great example of Early English, which, it may well be, was first fully developed here by Geoffry of Noiers. The pointed style had been adopted some years earlier in France; but England borrowed little from her neighbours. How widely different were 'Early French' and Early English' is at once evident in comparing Chartres or Auxerre with Salisbury or Lincoln. The rest of the cathedral-the great transept, with one at least of its exquisite rose-windows-the nave with its capitals of most graceful leafage and its wall-arcades-and the upper portion of the west front-is all Early English (1209-1235); and in passing westward from the choir we may trace the progress of the style, and especially the gradual advance of its leafage toward direct imitation of nature. The retrochoir, generally known as the 'angel choir,' from the figures of angels which fill the spandrils above the main arches (1270-1282), belongs rather to the Early Decorated period; but, says Mr. Fergusson, it follows so immediately after the rest as not to produce any want of harmony, but merely a degree of enrichment suitable to the increased sanctity of the altar, and the localities surrounding it." This 'angel choir' was in fact built for the reception of St. Hugh's shrine, to which pilgrims were flocking from every part of Northern England, and which was removed into it in 1282. The grace and beauty of its details are beyond praise; and in the sculptured angels Mr. Cockerell finds all the freedom and naturalness attributed subsequently to Giotto, who was but an infant when these works were executed.' It is not easy to interpret their symbolism, if, indeed, they represent more than the various orders of the celestial hierarchy: but of the symbolism which the church of St. Hugh was either intended, or was interpreted, to set forth in its various parts, we have a very curious account in the metrical Life. The white, squared stones, we are told, represented pure and wise churchmen-the square typifying 'dogma.' The dark Purbeck marble was the church, the spouse-simplex, morosa, laborans'-the polish setting forth her simplicity, the brightness her morality, and the darkness her ceaseless toil and labour. The long ranges of windows above and below, were the different ranks of clergy, the circular windows of the transepts being the two eyes of the church,' the bishop and the dean. The bishop looked towards the south, the quarter of the Holy Spirit, as though inviting His influence; the dean towards the north, the region of the devil, in order to watch his advances. *Handbook of Architecture.' In In this manner the whole fabric and material of the church are symbolised 'Sic insensibiles lapides mysteria claudunt] The entire passage is well worth notice, as an unanswerable proof that such mystic interpretations were in the minds, if not of the builders of our churches, at least of those who were contemporary with them. Lincoln, it is thus probable, set an example of the new style, which was rapidly followed in other cathedrals. Of these the most perfect and admirable are Wells (1206-1242), Salisbury (1220-1258), Worcester (choir and lady chapel, begun 1224), and Westminster Abbey, which we must be allowed to include (1245-1269). The nave, transepts, and west front of Wells are all Early English, and are generally assigned to Bishop Jocelyn, the period of whose episcopate has been given above. There is, however, some uncertainty as to the date of the work; and to whatever time it is given, it would seem that the architect and masons of Wells must have worked with but little imitation of any distant example. The western portion of the cathedral is distinguished by so much peculiarity as to render it more than probable that this district, affording, as it does, good stone in profusion, retained a local school of masons who, adopting certain forms of the new style, retained with it many of their older devices. Wells accordingly must be compared with other Early English churches only to mark the difference. Its noble west front, a masterpiece of art, indeed,' in old Fuller's words, 'made of imagery in just proportion, so that we may call them " et spirantia signa," is of a different character; and in it we recognise the true Early pointed of Salisbury and Westminster. We must not delay here to notice at the length they deserve its tiers of sculpture-not even that which represents the general Resurrection-worthy,' says Mr. Cockerell, of John of Pisa, or of a greater man, John Flaxman.' If we cannot accept Mr. Cockerell's interpretation of these admirable sculptures, we may at all events regard the entire west front, with him, as in effect illustrating the great Ambrosian Hymn.-The 'glorious company of the apostles,' the 'goodly fellowship of the prophets,' and the noble army of martyrs,' keep their solemn watch at the entrance of the sanctuary. The figures of the celestial host proclaim, 'To Thee all angels cry aloud, the heavens and all the powers therein.' The crowned kings, the churchmen, and the warriors represent the 'holy church throughout all the world;" whilst the spirit of the entire work asserts that Church's ceaseless Y 2 vera adoration, |
