When the old basilica style of church with its heavy beam roof and its innumerable columns had ceased to satisfy the lofty aspirations of Latin Christianity, and when the Greeks had inaugurated a new style of church architecture, only two courses were left to the Latins, either to adopt the Greek style in its entirety, or to improve upon the basilica type. Fortunately, although after considerable hesitation, they chose the latter alternative, the result being the genesis of our glorious cathedrals with their long naves and aisles, deep transepts and beautiful variety of form and outline. [Illustration: A Reputed Saxon Doorway. Bishopstone, Sussex. _Photograph Mr. W. Hodgson._] CHAPTER III. THE SAXON AND NORMAN STYLES. As we have seen in the previous chapter, the whole subject of pre-Saxon church building is still very obscure, and for some considerable time after the Anglo-Saxon invasion little is known concerning church architecture, nor has it yet been fully ascertained whether any buildings of this period exist. By the year 588 the Saxons were in complete possession of the land. Christianity was to all appearance wiped out and the Church, to the superficial observer was dead. In his "_History of English Church Architecture_," Scott expresses the opinion that the oldest English churches may be divided into three groups. First, those which preceded the Danish invasion; secondly, those from the above epoch to the invasion of Sweyn; and thirdly, those onward to the Norman Conquest. [Side note: Saxon Architecture.] What exactly constituted Saxon architecture has long been a controversial point and one which will probably never be definitely settled. Parker, in his "_Glossary of Architecture_," says:-- "For a considerable time, after they (the Anglo-Saxons) had established themselves in this country, their buildings were of wood, and this appears to have been the prevailing material employed at the time of the Conquest, although stone had been occasionally used several centuries earlier.... No timber-work of Saxon date can be in existence at the present time, but it is contended by some antiquaries that several of our churches exhibit specimens of Saxon masonry; the truth of this theory, however, is not fully established, nor has the subject of Saxon architecture been yet sufficiently investigated to clear away the obscurity in which it is involved."