Abstracted from the peculiarity just noticed, there is little in the church of Anisy to excite interest. A flat moulding, not less wide than a buttress, and surmounted by a narrow string-course of the plainest character, is continued round the whole nave, and divides it into two stories of equal height; while four Norman buttresses, on either side, separate it into three compartments. In the original state of the church, the windows were confined to the upper portion alone, and alternated with the buttresses: they rose from the string-course, narrow, circular-headed, surrounded with squared freestone, and having no other ornament than a slender cylindrical moulding above. In succeeding times, either the want of a sufficient quantity of light, or a desire for improvement, led to the introduction of larger cinquefoil-headed windows, occupying equal portions of the upper and lower stories. Throughout the whole of this part of the church, the apertures made by the scaffolding are left; and, what is remarkable, are edged with freestone. The corbels are grotesque; and the subjects of some indecent.--In the west front there is nothing remarkable: the door-way and window above are of the most common character of Norman architecture: neither in this part of the church, nor in the chancel, is the herring-bone masonry continued; nor does the horizontal moulding extend over either of them. NOTES: [141] P. 16. [142] _Tour in Normandy_, I. p. 37. [143] It is hoped, that this assertion is not too bold.--The accounts of Tamworth castle, as a building, are indeed particularly unsatisfactory: neither Leland, in his _Itinerary_, nor Shaw, in his _History of Staffordshire_, throw any light upon the æra of its construction. Yet, even from the wretched plate given in the latter work, the castle, all altered as it is, appears to preserve somewhat of the character of its Norman origin; while the fact of its having belonged to the powerful family of Marmion, immediately after the conquest, adds historical probability to the opinion. With regard to Colchester, no one who has seen it will feel hesitation on the subject, although the quantity of Roman bricks visible in every part, very naturally lead to the conclusion, that it was raised upon the ruins of a far earlier edifice. [144] _Carter's Ancient Architecture_, p. 36, pl. 42, fig. E. [145] _Strutt's Manners and Customs of the Anglo-Saxons_, &c. I. p. 28. PLATE LXVIII. CHURCH OF PERRIERS. [Illustration: Plate 68. CHURCH OF PERRIERS, NEAR CAEN.]