Capitals.

Norman capitals are very varied, having many different forms of ornamentation; the commonest is one which resembles a bowl with the sides truncated, reducing the upper part to a square; sometimes the lower part is cut into round mouldings and ornamented, but it is frequently left plain.

The Norman capital in its earliest style was of short proportions, but afterwards it became longer, with lighter ornamentation, gradually merging into the Early English. The bishops and abbots of this period appear to have possessed considerable skill in architecture, for no fewer than fifteen of our English cathedrals contain some important Norman work, as the older portions of the cathedrals of Canterbury, Durham, Winchester, Gloucester, Peterborough, Ely, Norwich, Lincoln and Oxford.

A Curious Norman Capital.
Seaford, Sussex.
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Norman Buttresses.

The Norman buttress, better described by Mr. Sharpe as a pilaster strip, unlike those of the later period, projects but very little from the wall, and this is especially so in buildings of the earlier part of the period. They are usually quite plain and are more used for finish than actual support; the Norman builder relying principally upon the thickness and weight of his walls to sustain any roof thrust (see page [17]).

The Round Churches.

There are in England a few round churches which are thought to have been built by the Knights Templars, a religious community banded together for the purpose of wresting the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem from the Saracens. Their object was to defend the Saviour's tomb and to guard Palestine, for which purpose they built numerous monasteries throughout the Holy Land and fortified them like castles.

Another famous order which combined the religious instincts of the cloister with the military ardour of the warrior was that of the Knights of S. John Baptist or Knights Hospitallers, who, besides fighting, were to tend the sick and provide for the welfare of all Christian travellers. The churches belonging to the Templars were usually built in circular form in imitation of the church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem. They were capped with vaulted concave roofs said to be symbolical of the vast circuit and concave of the heavens. Our best example is the Temple Church, London, to which was added at a later period, a beautiful Early English Gothic extension. Other round churches are those of S. Sepulchre, Cambridge; S. Sepulchre, Northampton; Temple Balsall, Warwickshire, and of Little Maplestead, Essex, which last, although the smallest, is by no means the least interesting. It is attributed to the Hospitallers, an order founded about the year 1092, and introduced into England in the reign of Henry I. At Clerkenwell may still be seen the ancient gateway leading to their hospital.

Norman and Early English Doorways.
Showing the transition from one style to another.
Dunstable Priory Church.
Drawn by Worthington G. Smith.
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