OF THE NORMAN OR ANGLO-NORMAN STYLE.

Q. To what era may we assign the introduction of the Anglo-Norman style?

A. To the reign of Edward the Confessor, since that monarch is recorded by the historians, Matthew Paris and William of Malmesbury, to have rebuilt (A.D. 1065) the Abbey Church at Westminster in a new style of architectural design, which furnished an example afterwards followed by many in the construction of churches.52-*

Q. Is any portion of the structure erected by Edward the Confessor remaining?

A. A crypt of early Norman work under the present edifice or buildings attached to it is supposed to have been part of the church constructed by that monarch.

Q. During what period of time did this style prevail?

A. From about A.D. 1065 to the close of the twelfth century.

Q. By what means are we to distinguish this style from the styles of a later period?

A. It is distinguished without difficulty by its semicircular arches, its massive piers, which are generally square or cylindrical, though sometimes multangular in form, and from numerous ornamental details and mouldings peculiar to the style.

Q. What part of the original building has generally been preserved in those churches that were built by the Normans, when all the rest has been demolished and rebuilt in a later style of architecture?

A. There appears to have been a prevalent custom, among those architects who succeeded the Normans, to preserve the doorways of those churches they rebuilt or altered; for many such doorways still remain in churches, the other portions of which were built at a much later period. Thus in the tower of Kenilworth Church, Warwickshire, is a Norman doorway of singular design, from the square band or ornamental facia which environs it. This is a relic of a more ancient edifice than the structure in which it now appears, and which is of the fourteenth century; and the external masonry of the doorway is not tied into the walls of more recent construction, but exhibits a break all round. The church of Stoneleigh, in the same county, contains in the north wall a fine Norman doorway, which has been left undisturbed, though the wall on each side of Norman construction, has been altered, not by demolition, but by the insertion, in the fourteenth century, of decorated windows in lieu of the original small Norman lights.

Q. Were the Norman doorways much ornamented?

A. Many rich doorways were composed of a succession of receding semicircular arches springing from rectangular-edged jambs, and detached shafts with capitals in the nooks; which shafts, together with the arches, were often enriched with the mouldings common to this style. Sometimes the sweep of mouldings which faced the architrave was continued without intermission down the jambs or sides of the doorway; and in small country churches Norman doorways, quite plain in their construction, or with but few mouldings, are to be met with. There is, perhaps, a greater variety of design in doorways of this than of any other style; and of the numerous mouldings with which they in general abound more or less, the chevron, or zig-zag, appears to have been the most common.

Q. In what other respect were these doors sometimes ornamented?

A. The semicircular-shaped stone, which we often find in the tympanum at the back of the head of the arch, is generally covered with rude sculpture in basso relievo, sometimes representing a scriptural subject, as the temptation of our first parents on the tympanum of a Norman doorway at Thurley Church, Bedfordshire; sometimes a legend, as a curious and very early sculpture over the south door of Fordington Church, Dorsetshire, representing a scene in the story of St. George; and sometimes symbolical, as the representation of fish, serpents, and chimerÆ on the north doorway of Stoneleigh Church, Warwickshire. The figure of our Saviour in a sitting attitude, holding in his left hand a book, and with his right arm and hand upheld, in allusion to the saying, I am the way, and the truth, and the life, and circumscribed by that mystical figure the Vesica piscis, appears over Norman doorways at Ely Cathedral; Rochester Cathedral; Malmesbury Abbey Church; Elstow Church, Bedfordshire; Water Stratford Church, Buckinghamshire; and Barfreston Church, Kent; and is not uncommon.

Q. Are there many Norman porches?

A. Norman porches occur at Durham Cathedral; Malmesbury Abbey Church; Sherbourne Abbey Church; and Witney Church, Oxfordshire; but they are not very common. The roof of the porch was usually groined with simple cross springers and moulded ribs; and in some instances a room over has been added at a later period. Numerous portals of the Norman era appear constructed within a shallow projecting mass of masonry, similar in appearance to the broad projecting buttress, and, like that, finished on the upper edge with a plain slope. This was to give a sufficiency of depth to the numerous concentric arches successively receding in the thickness of the wall, which could not otherwise be well attained.

Q. What kind of windows were those belonging to this style?

A. The windows were mostly small and narrow, seldom of more than one light, except belfry windows, which were usually divided into two round-headed lights by a shaft, with a capital and abacus. Early in the style the windows were quite plain; afterwards they were ornamented in a greater or less degree, sometimes with the chevron or zig-zag, and sometimes with roll or cylinder mouldings; in many instances, also, shafts were inserted at the sides, the window jambs were simply splayed in one direction only, and the space between them increased in width inwardly.

Q. Do we meet with any circular or wheel-shaped windows of the Norman era?

A. A circular window, with divisions formed by small shafts and semicircular or trefoiled arches, disposed so as to converge to a common centre, sometimes occurs in the gable at the east end of a Norman church, as at Barfreston Church, Kent; and New Shoreham Church, Sussex; and are not uncommon.

Q. What kinds of piers were the Norman piers?

A. Early in the style they were (with some exceptions, as in the crypts beneath the cathedrals of Canterbury and Worcester) very massive, and the generality plain and cylindrical; though sometimes they were square, which was indeed the most ancient shape; sometimes they appear with rectangular nooks or recesses; and, in large churches, Norman piers had frequently one or more semicylindrical pier-shafts attached, disposed either in nooks or on the face of the pier. We sometimes meet with octagonal piers, as in the cathedrals of Oxford and Peterborough, the conventual church at Ely, and in the ruined church of Buildwas Abbey, Salop; and also, though rarely, with piers covered with spiral flutings, as one is in Norwich Cathedral; with the spiral cable moulding, as one is in the crypt of Canterbury Cathedral; and encircled with a spiral band, as one appears in the ruined chapel at Orford, in Suffolk; sometimes, also, they appear covered with ornamental mouldings. Late in the style the piers assume a greater lightness in appearance, and are sometimes clustered and banded round with mouldings, and approximate in design those of a subsequent style.

Q. How are the capitals distinguished?

A. The general outline and shape of the Norman capital is that of a square cubical mass, having the lower part rounded off with a contour resembling that of an ovolo moulding; the face on each side of the upper part of the capital is flat, and it is often separated from the lower part by an escalloped edge; and where such division is formed by more than one escallop, the lower part is channelled between each, and the spaces below the escalloped edges are worked or moulded so as to resemble inverted and truncated semicones.

Besides the plain capital thus described, of which instances with the single escalloped edge occur in the crypts beneath the cathedrals of Canterbury, Winchester, and Worcester, and with a series of escalloped edges, or what would be heraldically termed invected, in many of the capitals of the Norman piers in Norwich Cathedral, an extreme variety of design in ornamental accessories prevail, the general form and outline of the capital being preserved; and some exhibit imitations of the Ionic volute and Corinthian acanthus, whilst many are covered with rude sculpture in relief. They are generally finished with a plain square abacus moulding, with the under edge simply bevelled or chamfered; sometimes a slight angular moulding occurs between the upper face and slope of the abacus, and sometimes the abacus alone intervenes between the pier and the spring of the arch. There are also many round capitals, as, for instance, those in the nave of Gloucester Cathedral, but they are mostly late in the style.

Q. What is observable in the bases of the piers?

A. The common base moulding resembles in form or contour a quirked ovolo reversed; there are, however, many exceptions.

Q. How are the arches distinguished?

A. By their semicircular form; they are generally double-faced, or formed of two concentric divisions, one receding within the other. Early in the style they are plain and square-edged; late in the style they are often found enriched with the zig-zag and roll mouldings, or some other ornament. Sometimes the curvature of the arch does not immediately spring from the capital or impost, but is raised or stilted.

Q. What parts of Norman churches do we generally find vaulted?

A. In cathedral and large conventual churches built in the Norman style we find the crypts and aisles vaulted with stone, but not the nave or choir; and over the vaulting of the aisles was the triforium. In small Norman churches the chancel is generally the only part vaulted; and between the vaulting and outer roof is, in some instances, a small loft or chamber. Sometimes we find the original design for vaulting to have been commenced and left unfinished.

Q. Of what description was the Norman vaulting?

A. The bays of vaulting were generally either squares or parallelograms, though sometimes not rectangular in shape, and each was divided into four concave vaulting cells by diagonal and intersecting groins, thus forming what is called a quadripartite vault. Early in the style the diagonal edges of the groins appear without ribs or mouldings; at an advanced stage they are supported by square-edged ribs of cut stone; and late in the style the ribs and groins are faced with roll or cylinder mouldings. They are also sometimes profusely covered with the zig-zag moulding and other ornamental details.

Q. What is observable with respect to Norman masonry?

A. In general the walls are faced on each side with a thin shell of ashlar or cut stone, whilst the intervening space, which is sometimes considerable, is filled with grouted rubble. Masses of this grout-work masonry, from which the facing of cut stone has been removed, we often find amongst ruined edifices of early date.

Q. Were there any buttresses used at this period?

A. Yes; but the walls being enormously thick, and requiring little additional support, those in use are like pilasters, with a broad face projecting very little from the building; and they seem to have been derived from the pilaster strips of stonework in Anglo-Saxon masonry. They are generally of a single stage only, but sometimes of more, and are not carried up higher than the cornice, under which they often but not always finish with a slope. They appear as if intended rather to relieve the plain external surface of the wall than to strengthen it. Norman portals not unfrequently occur, formed in the thickness of a broad but shallow pilaster buttress, as at Iffley Church, Oxfordshire, and at Stoneleigh and Hampton-in-Arden Churches, Warwickshire, and elsewhere. This kind of buttress was also used in the next, or Semi-Norman style.

Q. Were there any towers?

A. Yes; they were generally very low and massive; and the exterior, especially of the upper story, was often decorated with arcades of blank semicircular and intersecting arches; the parapet consisted of a plain projecting blocking-course, supported by the corbel table.

Q. Do pinnacles appear to have been known to the Normans?

A. Although some are of opinion that the pinnacle was not introduced till after the adoption of the pointed style, many Norman buildings have pinnacles of a conical shape, which are apparently part of the original design.

Q. What distinction occurs in the construction of the small country churches of this style, and the larger buildings of conventual foundation?

A. Small Norman churches consisted of a single story only; cathedral and conventual churches were carried up to a great height, and were frequently divided into three tiers, the lowest of which consisted of single arches, separating the nave from the aisles: above each of these arches in the second tier were two smaller arches constructed beneath a larger; sometimes the same space was occupied by a single arch; and in this tier was the triforium or gallery. In the third tier or clerestory were frequently arcades of three arches connected together, the middle one of which was higher and broader than the others: and all these three occupied a space only equal to the span of the lowest arch. Blank arcades were also much used in the exterior walls, as well as in the interior of rich Norman buildings; and some of the arches which composed them were often pierced for windows.

Q. What were the mouldings principally used in the decoration of Norman churches?

A. The chevron, or zig-zag, which is not always single, but often duplicated, triplicated, or quadrupled.	Mouldings
	Mouldings
The reversed zig-zag.	Mouldings
The indented moulding.	Mouldings
The embattled moulding.	Mouldings
The dovetail moulding.	Mouldings
The beak head.	Mouldings
The nebule, chiefly used for the fascia under a parapet.	Mouldings
The billet.	Mouldings
The square billet, or corbel bole, used for supporting a blocking course.	Mouldings
The cable moulding.	Mouldings
The double cone.	Mouldings
The pellet, or stud.	Mouldings
The hatched, or saw tooth.	Mouldings
The nail head.	Mouldings
The lozenge.	Mouldings
The studded trellis.	Mouldings
The diamond fret.	Mouldings
The medallion.	Mouldings
The star.	Mouldings
The scalloped or invected moulding.	Mouldings

A variety of other mouldings and ornamental accessories are also to be met with, but those above described are the most common.

Q. What kind of string-course do we usually find carried along the walls of Norman churches, just below the windows?

A. A string-course similar in form to the common Norman abacus, with a plain face and the under part bevelled, is of most frequent occurrence; a plain semihexagon string-course is also often to be met with. Sometimes the string-course is ornamented with the zig-zag moulding.

Q. What difference is there as to their general character and appearance between the early and late examples of Norman architecture?

A. The details of those buildings early in the style are characterized by their massiveness, simplicity, and plain appearance; the single or double-faced semicircular arches, both of doorways and windows, as well as the arches supporting the clerestory walls, are generally devoid of ornament, and the edges of the jambs and arches are square. The undercroft of Canterbury Cathedral, the work of Archbishop Lanfranc, between A.D. 1073 and A.D. 1080; the crypt and transepts of Winchester Cathedral, built by Bishop Walkelyn between A.D. 1079 and A.D. 1093; the plain Norman work of the Abbey Church at St. Alban’s, built by Abbot Paul, between 1077-1093; and the north and south aisles of the choir of Norwich Cathedral, the work of Bishop Herbert, between A.D. 1096 and A.D. 1101, not to multiply examples, may be enumerated as instances of plain and early Norman work. In buildings late in the style we find a profusion of ornamental detail of a peculiar character, and numerous semi and tripartite cylindrical mouldings on the faces and edges of arches and vaulting-ribs. The transepts of Peterborough Cathedral, built by Abbot Waterville between A.D. 1155 and A.D. 1175, exhibit vaulting-groins faced with roll mouldings, and other details of an advanced stage; whilst the Galilee, Durham Cathedral, built by Bishop Pudsey, A.D. 1180, is remarkable for the lightness and elongation of the piers, which are formed of clustered columns; and the semicircular arches which spring from these are enriched both on the face and soffits with the chevron or zig-zag moulding. There are many intermediate gradations between the extreme plain and massive work of early date, and the enrichments, mouldings, and elongated proportions to be found late in the style; and in detail we may perceive an almost imperceptible merging into that style which succeeded the Norman.

52-* Defunctus autem Rex beatissimus in crastino sepultus est Londini, in Ecclesia, quam ipse novo compositionis genere construxerat, a qua post, multi Ecclesias construentes, exemplum adepti, opus illud expensis oemulabantur sumptuosis.—Matt. Paris.