On a conjectural view of the case, one would look, perhaps, for the following divisions:-- 1st. From the arrival of Augustine to the earlier devastations of the Danes. 2nd. From the time of Alfred to that of Dunstan. 3rd. The period of the general establishment of Benedictine rule up to that of the devastations of the Northmen under Sweyn. 4th. That from the accession of Canute to the Norman conquest. Mr. Freeman divides the style into three:-- 1st. The direct but rude imitations of Roman work, of which Brixworth is an instance. 2nd. The developed Saxon manner, with its high towers, its pilastered strips, and suggestion of imitated timber-work, as at Earls Barton, etc. 3rd. That in which Norman features are introduced or anticipated. I may mention, however, that we have proofs, as at Deerhurst, which is said to have been rebuilt in 1056, and elsewhere, that the style remained with little modification to the last. I shall show you in my next lecture (in which I propose to treat of the earlier Norman buildings, erected by those who actually came over in the days of the Conqueror or of his companions) that the two styles overlapped; that there were pre-conquestal Norman and post-conquestal Saxon buildings. I will, however, at present detain you no longer; and if I have trespassed upon the rules of the Academy by giving a lecture more on _archæology_ than on _art_, I must apologise on the ground that I have treated of our own early efforts in architecture; of buildings whose bold and archaic rudeness was so strangely accompanied by exquisite skill in other arts,--as in illumination, in embroidery, in jewellery; and the contemplation of which, to use the eloquent words of Mr. Freeman, “Should raise a thrill of patriotism in the heart of every genuine Englishman,” ... “whose barbaric grandeur breathes in its fulness the spirit of England’s ancient days of freedom and isolation,” and reminds us “of the long roll of our native saints and heroes; of holy bishops and no less holy princes; of Ina, and Alfred, and Athelstan; of Bede ... and the martyred Alphege; of Harold and Gurth, and Leofwine; of St. Wolstan and Abbot Frederick; of the battle-axe of Hereward and the martyr-block of Waltheof; and all the glorious train of the ‘England of saints’ ere yet she bowed beneath the yoke of a foreign lord.” LECTURE XI. Early Architecture in Great Britain--_continued_. Architecture of the Normans--St. Stephen’s at Caen--Canterbury Cathedral modelled on that of St. Stephen’s--Description of the Norman church built by the Confessor at Westminster _before the Conquest_--Instances of Anglo-Saxon architecture being used _after the Conquest_--Characteristics of the Norman style--Varieties of combination--Doors, windows, archways, arcades, and vaulting--Minor details--Mechanical ideal of a great Norman church--Vast scale and number of works undertaken by the early Norman builders.