mouldings, which are also numerous, are arranged in square steps or orders, and frequently ornamented with much carving of special kinds of enrichments. Of these the chevron, or zig-zag, is most abundantly used, together with the billet, the bird’s head, &c. The windows are wide in proportion to their height, and are covered in with round arches.
In the interior ([Fig. 18]) the Norman piers consist of simple cylindrical columns of great size, frequently carved with large zig-zags or spiral lines carried round them, and finished with bold caps and bases. The most frequent caps are of the “cushion” form, which resembles one or more spherical figures having portions cut off perpendicularly. The caps are also sometimes carved with human or other figures. The abacus is always solid, and generally square in shape. In some examples, especially in France, the capitals of the piers are frequently carved in rude imitation of the Corinthian form and foliage.
Late examples show the piers subdivided into the clustered form, which became universal in the subsequent periods. In the transition from Norman to Early Pointed, many of the features of the latter style are gradually introduced. Hence a mixture of the round and pointed arch, and a lightening of the mouldings, and a new kind of carving of foliage are observable in the latter half of the twelfth century. The earlier Norman edifices are extremely plain, scarcely any ornament being used. The figure sculpture is almost entirely confined to the period after 1135.
NORMAN STYLE IN SCOTLAND.
Of the cathedrals, monasteries, and churches erected in Scotland during the twelfth century, only a few portions now exist, nearly all of them having been reconstructed or altered at later times.
The Cathedral of Dunblane still retains a tower of the foundation of King David; and in the nave of the Cathedral of Kirkwall, commenced 1136, we yet possess a noble Norman structure, which, however, we owe to the piety of the Norwegian occupants of the Orkneys.
Of the monastic foundations of St. Margaret and her sons we still retain the venerable Norman nave of Dunfermline, and portions of the Norman edifices of Holyrood, Dryburgh, and Jedburgh.
Kelso Abbey Church, although only a fragment, is a fine specimen of the late style of the twelfth century. Arbroath Abbey, founded by William the Lion in 1178, still shows in its ruins some late work of the same period. Holyrood, Jedburgh, and St. Andrews contain much work of the period of transition from the Norman to the First Pointed style, which came into use about the beginning of the thirteenth century.
Of the twelfth century parish churches, those of Dalmeny and Leuchars are nearly complete and very beautiful examples, the former having nave, choir, and apse, and both exhibit much of the arcaded and ornamental work of the more florid period of the style. Portions of Norman work are found, as was to be expected in this great church-building epoch, in every county, and are represented here by a tower, there by a chancel arch, elsewhere by a door or a window, or other fragmentary relic—rarely by a whole nave or chancel. In some examples the Norman plan is still complete so far as the outline of the walls is concerned, but these are generally considerably altered and interfered with, as, for example, at Duddingston, Stobo, and Uphall. The parish churches were usually of small size, and consisted of an oblong nave and chancel, separated by a chancel arch generally ornamented with chevron enrichments. Frequently there was a semi-circular apse beyond the chancel, also entered by an enriched semi-circular arch. Side aisles were rarely introduced. The only Norman parish church of cruciform plan was that of St. Nicholas, Aberdeen, now greatly altered.