In the same northern district is Hexham Abbey, a noble example of what may called the _transition_ from the _transition_ into the developed Early English (Fig. 82). Farther north, again, we have noble examples at Kelso, Jedburgh, and Dryburgh: the first having the round arch nearly throughout; the second, as I have before said, famed for its exquisite doorways; and the last having doorways equally refined, but remarkable rather for their chaste simplicity than for their richness of detail. I ought also to mention, among other northern examples, the Abbey of Furness and the sister church of Cartmel; also the noble refectories at Fountains and Rivaulx. [Illustration: Fig. 83.--Bridlington, Yorkshire. Capital found in wall.] To attempt, however, an enumeration of English examples would be an endless task. So far from being a mere exotic, the country appears to have been absolutely saturated with transitional buildings: and these, so far from showing any of that inaptitude which would accompany the use of a mere imported style, actually evince a degree of originality and a revelry (if I may use such a term) in the new art which is perfectly charming, and display beauties wholly different from any I have seen in other countries. Not only is this the case in works on a grand scale, but in the smallest village churches, in which we find the style reduced to its simplest elements, yet exhibiting a sense of beauty and a studious attention to detail which is quite surprising. One of the features of these simpler productions is the plain unfoliated capital--such as those at Fountains Abbey--but which, from its simplicity, is of frequent use in village churches. Nothing could be more severely plain, yet it possesses a degree of beauty equal in its way to that of the most gorgeous capitals. We see from the examples I give from Ripon and Fountains, how this passed off into the round moulded capital which is so peculiar a characteristic of the English Early Pointed.[29] [Illustration: Fig. 84.--Capital, Ripon.] [Illustration: Fig. 85.--Capital, Fountains.] The distinctive characteristics of the productions of the English, as compared with the French, transition, are somewhat difficult to define, inasmuch as they begin in a manner the very reverse of that in which they terminate; for at first they evince themselves in a stronger resemblance to the preceding Romanesque, [Illustration: Fig. 86.--St. Cross, Hampshire. South Aisle of Choir.]