+INTERIOR DESIGN.+ In the Norman churches the pier-arches, triforium, and clearstory were practically equal. In the Gothic churches the pier-arches generally occupy the lower half of the height, the upper half being divided nearly equally between the triforium and clearstory, as in Lincoln, Lichfield (nave), Ely (choir). In some cases, however (as at Salisbury, Westminster, Winchester, choir of Lichfield), the clearstory is magnified at the expense of the triforium (Fig. 135). Three peculiarities of design sharply distinguish the English treatment of these features from the French. The first is the multiplicity of fine mouldings in the pier-arches; the second is the decorative elaboration of design in the triforium; the third, the variety in the treatment of the clearstory. In general the English interiors are much more ornate than the French. Black Purbeck marble is frequently used for the shafts clustered around the central core of the pier, giving a striking and somewhat singular effect of contrasted color. The rich vaulting, the highly decorated triforium, the moulded pier-arches, and at the end of the vista the great east window, produce an impression very different from the more simple and lofty stateliness of the French cathedrals. The great length and lowness of the English interiors combine with this decorative richness to give the impression of repose and grace, rather than of majesty and power. This tendency reached its highest expression in the Perpendicular churches and chapels, in which every surface was covered with minute panelling. +CARVING.+ In the Early English Period the details were carved with a combined delicacy and vigor deserving of the highest praise. In the capitals and corbels, crockets and finials, the foliage was crisp and fine, curling into convex masses and seeming to spring from the surface which it decorated. Mouldings were frequently ornamented with foliage of this character in the hollows, and another ornament, the _dog-tooth_ or _pyramid_, often served the same purpose, introducing repeated points of light into the shadows of the mouldings. These were fine and complex, deep hollows alternating with round mouldings (_bowtels_) sometimes made pear-shaped in section by a fillet on one side. _Cusping_--the decoration of an arch or circle by triangular projections on its inner edge--was introduced during this period, and became an important decorative resource, especially in tracery design. In the Decorated Period the foliage was less crisp; sea-weed and oak-leaves, closely and confusedly bunched, were used in the capitals, while crockets were larger, double-curved, with leaves swelling into convexities like oak-galls. Geometrical and flowing tracery were developed, and the mouldings of the tracery-bars, as of other features, lost somewhat in vigor and sharpness. The _ball-flower_ or button replaced the dog’s-tooth, and the hollows were less frequently adorned with foliage.