Moulton, Northants.
The Towers of the Decorated style are usually placed at the west end, and follow very much the same general appearance as in the Early English, but of course with the doorways, and windows, and other features characteristic of the style. The cornice is also generally richer, with a panelled battlement, and with gargoyles projecting from it at the corners, and pinnacles at the angles, as at Moulton, Northants, where the lower part of the pinnacles only remain. Sometimes there appears to have been a wooden spire, but this is by no means always the case.
| Wollaston, Northants, c. A.D. 1310. | Ringstead, Northants, c. A.D. 1350. |
The Spires of the Decorated style differ but slightly from those of the Early English, excepting that there are generally more of the spire-lights, small windows at the bases and on the sides of the spire, as at Wollaston and Ringstead, Northants.
The East Front of a church of this style most commonly consists of one large window at the end of the choir, flanked by tall buttresses, and a smaller one at the end of each aisle; the west front usually has the same arrangement, with the addition of a doorway, or doorways, under the central window, but there are frequently two narrow windows, with a buttress between them carrying a bell-cot, in small country churches of this style. The east ends of Carlisle and Selby, and the west end of Howden, are among the finest examples. On the Continent the large rose-window is almost always a principal feature of the west front; with us it is comparatively rare, and more often found in the transept ends than at the west end. The south fronts of Howden and Selby are also fine examples of the arrangement of the side of a large building of this style, with large windows both to the aisle and the clere-storey, separated by buttresses with pinnacles. The interior of the choir at Selby is one of the finest examples of the general effect of a Decorated interior, and on a smaller scale the choirs of Hull, and of Dorchester, Oxfordshire, are good examples. Lichfield Cathedral has the great advantage of having its three spires perfect, and on this account perhaps gives us the best idea of the effect intended to be produced by the exterior of a perfect church of this style: there can be no doubt that the same arrangement was contemplated in many other instances.
The lantern of Ely and the nave of York must not be omitted in this mention of some of the leading examples of the Decorated style, the general character of which is thus ably summed up by Mr. Rickman:—
“The General Appearance of Decorated buildings is at once simple and magnificent; simple from the small number of parts, and magnificent from the size of the windows, and the easy flow of the lines of tracery. In the interior of large buildings we find great breadth, and an enlargement of the clere-story windows, with a corresponding diminution of the triforium, which is now rather a part of the clere-storey opening than a distinct member of the division. The roofing, from the increased richness of the groining, becomes an object of more attention. On the whole, the nave of York, from the uncommon grandeur and simplicity of the design, is certainly the finest example; ornament is nowhere spared, yet there is a simplicity which is peculiarly pleasing.”