CHAPTER VII.
OF THE DECORATED ENGLISH STYLE.
Q. When did the Decorated English style commence, and how long did it prevail?
A. It may be said to have commenced in the latter part of the thirteenth century, or reign of Edward the First, and to have prevailed about a century. The transition from the Early English style to this, and again from this to the succeeding style, was however so extremely gradual, that it is difficult to affix any precise date for the termination of one style, or the introduction of another.
Q. Whence does it derive its appellation?
A. From there being a greater redundancy of chaste ornament in this than in the preceding style; and though it does not exhibit that extreme multiplicity of decorative detail as the style of the fifteenth century, the general contours and forms which this style presents, and the principal lines of composition, which verge pyramidically rather than vertically or horizontally, are infinitely more pleasing; and it is justly considered as the most beautiful style of English ecclesiastical architecture.
Q. What difference is there between the arches of this style, which support the clerestory, and those of an earlier period?