A Norman Pier Arcade.
Abbots Langley, Herts.
Photograph Mr. A. W. Anderson.
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Generally speaking, Norman arches were semi-circular, but they were by no means universally so, for a form frequently found is one in which the spring of the arch does not take place from the abacus, or upper member of the capital, but at some distance above it and when it assumes this form it is called a "stilted" arch, suggested by some authorities to have been unintentional and the result of imperfect construction or planning. See page [10].

Chevron or Zig-zag.Star.

Alternate Billet.Square Billet.

Double Cone.Lozenge.

Beak Head.Bird Head.
Examples of Norman Mouldings.

Ornament.

The main features in the ornamentation of this period are the sculptured bands worked round the arches, which, although generally called "mouldings," are more in the nature of decoration, and in some instances they appear to be additions carved on the originally unadorned surface of the masonry. The earliest and most general ornament is the chevron or zig-zag, which is frequently found doubled, trebled and quadrupled. The next most common form is the beak-head, consisting of a hollow and large round.

A Late Norman Parish Church.
Castle Rising, Norfolk.
Drawn by Gordon Home.
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In the hollow are placed heads of beasts or birds whose tongues or beaks encircle the round. On the west doorway of Iffley church, Oxford, are many of these beak-heads extending the whole length of the jamb down to the base moulding. They also figure prominently among the ornamentations of the hospital church of S. Cross, near Winchester. The zig-zag moulding is very common on Norman churches and is so easily recognised that no further description is needed here. The less prominent decorations of Norman mouldings include the alternate billet, the double cone, and the lozenge, together with an immense number of others less commonly found.

Windows.

The Early Norman window was little better than a narrow slit finished with a plain semi-circular head, and was generally only a few inches wide. They were, it is believed, filled with oiled linen and the sides of the aperture were splayed towards the interior. Later in the period, the windows were enriched by the zig-zag and other mouldings and at a still later period an improvement was made by inserting nook-shafts in the jambs similar to those in doorways.

The towers of Norman churches often show windows of two lights separated by a central shaft, all enclosed under a large semi-circular arch, the spandrel of which is rarely pierced. Plain circular windows of small dimensions are sometimes found in other positions and in churches of later date, and occasionally in gable walls. Larger windows of the same form, with small shafts radiating from the centre and connected at the circumference by semi-circular or trefoiled arches, are also found as at Barfreston church, Kent, where there is a fine example.