Many parish churches, too, including those of Kilpeck in Herefordshire, a very typical Norman building; Tickencote in Lincolnshire, with intersecting pointed arches; S. Peter's in the East, Oxford, with a groined vaulted roof; Barfreston Church, Kent, with a very beautiful recessed doorway; Goring and Iffley in Oxfordshire; and above all, S. Bartholomew's in London, date from Norman times, and, though they have all been more or less modified by restoration, retain the general characteristics of the period to which they belong.
Anglo-Norman secular architecture is characterised by much the same qualities as ecclesiastical, the castles and residences of the sovereigns and the nobles having been of dignified and impressive appearance, well proportioned, and thoroughly in harmony with their surroundings. During the reigns of the Conqueror and his successors many noble strongholds were erected on points of vantage. The most important feature, and in every case the first to be built, having been the lofty central keep or donjon, the home of its owner in peace, and the last refuge of a besieged garrison in time of war. In it was a fine hall, in which the host received his guests, with a raised platform known as the daïs for the use of those of high rank, and the approach to it was protected by a complex series of defences, including deep ditches or fosses, walls with towers and turrets at intervals, forming two distinct enclosures known as the outer and inner baileys, often covering a vast extent of ground, the whole encircled by a deep moat that could be filled with water when necessary. The great main entrance was flanked by towers, and in connection with the heavy doors of solid oak was a portcullis, that is to say, a grating of timber and iron bristling with spikes, that could be drawn up from within, cutting off all access to the inner precincts.
Some few Norman castles, all considerably modified to suit modern requirements, are still in use as residences or public buildings, including those of Windsor, Warwick (both specially typical), Norwich, Dover, Richmond in Yorkshire, and the Tower of London; the keep of the last named (known as the White Tower) and the chapel dedicated to S. John being amongst the best examples of the Anglo-Norman style in existence; whilst at Rochester, Colchester, Croft, Headingham, and Kenilworth are extensive remains of other strongholds, that before they fell into decay, must have equalled in grandeur those of Windsor and Warwick. A very remarkable example of a private residence dating from Norman times is Haddon Hall in Derbyshire, the seat of the Duke of Rutland, which retains the original great hall with a daïs and minstrels' gallery, and a number of fine suites of rooms to which various wings were added during the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries, affording an excellent opportunity for the study of the development of English domestic architecture.
CHAPTER VIII
GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE IN EUROPE
The first decades of the 12th century were marked throughout Europe, as far as architecture was concerned, by the final breaking loose from the Roman traditions that had so long been accepted as binding, and the revolt against which had been inaugurated more than a hundred years before. The struggle between the old and new methods of building very clearly reflected that of the people for greater freedom of thought and action in the countries in which it took place. The keynote of both was an aspiration after nobler things, and, in architecture, a yearning for religious expression, typified by the pointing upwards of the spires and pinnacles of churches and cathedrals, coincided with the craving of builders for increased lightness and grace of structure. The lofty vaults and complicated systems of buttresses of the Gothic style bore striking witness to the ambitious daring of their designers, a daring more than justified by its results.
The term Gothic, that now calls up a vision of ethereal beauty, was, strange to say, first given to the style that grew out of the Romanesque by the artists of the Renaissance as an expression of their contempt for what they looked upon as outworn methods of building, similar to those of the Gothic barbarians in warfare. It very soon, however, lost all association with this most inappropriate comparison, becoming synonymous with all that is most beautiful in the architecture of the period to which it is applied.
The most important characteristics of Gothic buildings are the introduction, wherever possible, of vertical or very sharply pointed details, such as highly pitched roofs and gables, spires and pinnacles, pointed arches and pointed vaulting, flying buttresses, that grew ever slenderer and more decorative, leading downwards from the roof, and counteracting the tremendous thrust of the suspended vault of stone, all of true structural value. To these must be added the minor peculiarities of slenderer columns than those of Romanesque buildings, several being often clustered together, mouldings cut into the stone of the capitals of the columns, arcading &c., instead of projecting beyond the surface, the grouping of several windows under the arch, and the increase in the beauty of their tracery. The so-called lancet or long narrow window with stilted head, pointed like an arch, is specially distinctive of Early Gothic, and was later supplemented by the more elaborate rose window, the stained glass in them, and in the more complex groups, adding greatly to the æsthetic effect of the whole building, the many coloured light from them relieving the monotony of the stone work.
