consisting chiefly of round and quarter-round members, but all preserving a general square outline. These moldings, however, as well as the jambs and shafts, are frequently entirely overlaid with ornament, which, though of a peculiar and somewhat rude character, produces great richness of effect; and few features of churches are more generally admired than these rich Norman doorways, which are very abundant in many parts of the country, quite as much so as in Normandy itself. The examples in England are quite as fine and as numerous in proportion as in Normandy; and these doorways were so much admired for their rich character, that they have often been preserved when the church has been rebuilt, perhaps several times. The doorways of Iffley Church are among the richest that we have anywhere; not only the very fine one at the west end, but the north and south doors.
Norman Windows are in general long and rather narrow round-headed openings, but sometimes of two lights divided by a shaft, included under one arch, more especially in belfries; in rich buildings they are frequently ornamented in the same manner as the doorways, with recessed arches, zig-zag and other moldings, as at Iffley, Oxfordshire, and sometimes with sculpture; other examples have shafts in the jambs carrying the
NORMAN WINDOWS.
| Belfry Window, Northleigh, Oxon, c. A.D. 1100. | Bucknell, Oxon, c. A.D. 1150. |
| Window, Exterior. | Interior, Handborough, Oxon, c. A.D. 1120. |
arch-moldings, and others are quite plain. At Castle Rising, Norfolk, is a very rich late example, with intersecting arcades on each side, ornamented chiefly with the lozenge molding. In Romsey Abbey, Hampshire, Waltham Abbey, Essex, Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, and very many other examples, the clerestory window has a smaller blind arch on each side of it, making a triple opening within to a single window; and the shafts of this triple opening are made to carry small shafts to the upper arches. This is a common arrangement of Norman clerestory windows: at St. Stephen’s, Caen, there is only one subarch to each light instead of two, but this arises from the arrangement of the sexpartite vaulting.