THE SPIRE; ITS ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT.

Probably the most beautiful feature of a Gothic church is the spire, raising its tapering form far above the town or village and forming a prominent landmark, denoting the location of the House of God. Although found occasionally in other styles, the spire is essentially Gothic, and one of the most marked characteristics of this period. Spires are generally of two kinds, those constructed of timber and covered with slates, lead, tiles or shingles, and those built of stone or brick. Examples of both kinds are very numerous on the continent and in England, while shingle spires are especially common in Sussex.

The spire is generally acknowledged to have originated from the small pyramidal roof so frequently found on Saxon and Norman towers. This gradually became elongated, and the towers were sometimes gabled on each side, as is the case with the remarkable Saxon church at Sompting, Sussex. This shows us very clearly the angles of the spire resting upon the apex of each gable, so that the spire itself is set obliquely to the square of the tower.

The best example of a Saxon Spire or Pyramidal Roof.
Sompting, Sussex.
Drawn by George Pearl.
Click to [ENLARGE]

Saxon and Norman spires are very rare in England, Sompting being our best example of the former and thoseon the eastern transepts of Canterbury Cathedral of the latter.

Of Early English spires we have, fortunately, some good examples, among which are those at Oxford Cathedral, Wilford and Wansted, in the same county, and a very graceful one at Leighton Buzzard. These 13th century spires are very common in France, as at Chartres and S. Pierre, Caen.

Of fourteenth century, or Decorated, spires, we have many examples, of which perhaps the best is the beautiful spire of Salisbury Cathedral, although the equally fine one at S. Mary's, Oxford, runs it close for premier position. The triple group at Lichfield Cathedral belong to this period, as do the spires of Ross, Heckington, Grantham, S. Mary's, Newark, King's Sutton, Bloxham and Snettisham, Norfolk. A peculiarity of the Salisbury spire is that it never formed part of the original design of the cathedral, being added seventy years later. It is the loftiest spire in England—404 feet—about 40 ft. higher than the cross of S. Paul's. It speaks well for the Gothic builders that such a vast superstructure as this tower and spire could be imposed upon walls and piers never intended to bear it. At an early period it was found to have deflected twenty-three inches from the perpendicular, but there has been no sign of any further movement. Barnack Church, in Northamptonshire, has a curious spire showing the transition from Norman to Early English.

It will be noticed that the sides of a church spire are slightly curved, so that they swell out a little in the centre. This is called the entasis of the spire, and belongs to the study of optics in architecture. Where the spire has no entasis the same effect is produced by the introduction of small projecting gables, bands of carving, or a little coronal of pinnacles.

One of the most clearly marked differences between English and continental spires is that the latter are much shorter than the towers which support them, the towers, as a rule, being twice as high as the spires.

Leighton Buzzard Church.
With Early English Tower and Spire.
Photograph H. A. Strange.
Click to [ENLARGE]

In England, on the contrary, the spire is generally very much loftier than the tower. At Shottesbrook, Berks, and Ledbury, Herefordshire, the spires occupy as much as three-fifths of the total elevation, and the usual rule in England is for the tower to be a little less in height than the spire.

The masons lavished an extraordinary amount of care and skill on their spires. So much is this the case that there is hardly a mediæval spire in the country which can be called ill-designed or displeasing.

Church spires are very common in some counties and very rare in others. There are, of course, exceptions, but it is in the flat counties that spires are most frequent, the most beautiful ones being found in Northamptonshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Warwickshire, Staffordshire, Nottinghamshire and Oxfordshire.

The top of the spire is usually capped with a weather vane terminating in a cock. The custom of using a cock as the flag of the vane is of very early date, for Wolfstan, in his Life of S. Ethelwold, written towards the end of the 10th century, speaks of one which surmounted Winchester Cathedral. In the Bayeux Tapestry one is shown on the gable of Westminster Abbey, and one of the early Popes ordained that every church under the papal jurisdiction should be surmounted by a cock as emblematical of the sovereignty of the church over the whole world.

CHAPTER XI.