Cassell's History of England, Vol. 1 (of 8): From the Roman Invasion to the Wars of the RosesAnonymous
History
Cassell's History of England, Vol. 1 (of 8): From the Roman Invasion to the Wars of the Roses
Anonymous
Great Britain -- History
The upper portion of these Saxon towers has been destroyed, and replaced
by later parapets; so that it is not easy to say in what manner they
terminated. But the very remarkable tower of Sompting, in Sussex, offers
a valuable solution of the difficulty. In this tower each side terminates
in an acutely pointed gable, from which the roof is carried up, and,
meeting in a point, forms a sort of short square spire, such as we still
see in some of the churches in Germany. All these towers are without
staircases, the different storeys being only to be reached by ladders.
The circular or newel stair turret seems not to have been introduced till
the twelfth century.
WINDOWS.--These are either round-headed or triangular-headed, and are
frequently surrounded by a sort of framework of projecting stone. They
are usually--but not always--deeply recessed on the outside as well as in
the inside, the narrowest part of the window being in the centre of the
wall. When the window is of two lights, it is divided by a small baluster
or shaft, set in the middle of the wall; this supports an impost, which
is generally one stone reaching through the entire thickness of the wall.
Sometimes the heads of both single and double-light windows, instead of
being arched, are made of two straight stones, meeting at the point, and
forming a triangular head. The single lights are often little more than
mere openings in the wall, frequently without ornament of any kind, the
whole window being cut out of a single stone, as at Caversfield, and
the jambs are often inclined, making the opening wider at the bottom
than at the top. Ornament is seldom attempted, but at Deerhurst the
shaft and jambs are adorned with a rude kind of fluting, and the imposts
are cut into a series of simple square-edged mouldings. Roman bricks
are sometimes used both for the jambs and for turning the arch, as at
Brixworth. All these varieties of windows are very characteristic, and
are not to be found in the later styles.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account