A. Yes; but the walls being enormously thick, and requiring little additional support, those in use are like pilasters, with a broad face projecting very little from the building; and they seem to have been derived from the pilaster strips of stonework in Anglo-Saxon masonry. They are generally of a single stage only, but sometimes of more, and are not carried up higher than the cornice, under which they often but not always finish with a slope. They appear as if intended rather to relieve the plain external surface of the wall than to strengthen it. Norman portals not unfrequently occur, formed in the thickness of a broad but shallow pilaster buttress, as at Iffley Church, Oxfordshire, and at Stoneleigh and Hampton-in-Arden Churches, Warwickshire, and elsewhere. This kind of buttress was also used in the next, or Semi-Norman style. Q. Were there any towers? A. Yes; they were generally very low and massive; and the exterior, especially of the upper story, was often decorated with arcades of blank semicircular and intersecting arches; the parapet consisted of a plain projecting blocking-course, supported by the corbel table. Q. Do pinnacles appear to have been known to the Normans? A. Although some are of opinion that the pinnacle was not introduced till after the adoption of the pointed style, many Norman buildings have pinnacles of a conical shape, which are apparently part of the original design. Q. What distinction occurs in the construction of the small country churches of this style, and the larger buildings of conventual foundation? A. Small Norman churches consisted of a single story only; cathedral and conventual churches were carried up to a great height, and were frequently divided into three tiers, the lowest of which consisted of single arches, separating the nave from the aisles: above each of these arches in the second tier were two smaller arches constructed beneath a larger; sometimes the same space was occupied by a single arch; and in this tier was the triforium or gallery. In the third tier or clerestory were frequently arcades of three arches connected together, the middle one of which was higher and broader than the others: and all these three occupied a space only equal to the span of the lowest arch. Blank arcades were also much used in the exterior walls, as well as in the interior of rich Norman buildings; and some of the arches which composed them were often pierced for windows. Q. What were the mouldings principally used in the decoration of Norman churches? A. The chevron, or zig-zag, which is not always single, but often duplicated, triplicated, or quadrupled. [Illustration] [Illustration] The reversed zig-zag. [Illustration] The indented moulding. [Illustration] The embattled moulding. [Illustration] The dovetail moulding. [Illustration] The beak head. [Illustration] The nebule, chiefly used for the fascia under a parapet. [Illustration] The billet. [Illustration]