PART SECOND.

AN ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLEGIATE CHURCH AND COLLEGE OF MANCHESTER.

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

ALTHOUGH the Collegiate Church of Manchester does not contain specimens of architecture originating from the Norman conquest, and carried through the intermediate period to the final extinction of the pointed arch, which took place at the dissolution of the monasteries in the reign of Henry the Eighth, yet it exhibits some beautiful specimens of Gothic architecture, which are not to be surpassed in any of the cathedrals, or even in the royal chapels: we mean the splendid tabernacle work in the choir.

It will not, perhaps, be deemed foreign to our subject, if we enter into a brief description of ecclesiastical architecture from the conversion of the Saxons, down to the suppression of religious houses in 1540. Such a description may af ford instruction and amusement to the amateur, the student, and the mechanic. It will convey a general outline of the characteristics of each succeeding style of architecture, so that any one will be enabled to determine at first sight the age of most of our ecclesiastical structures.

In drawing up the following observations, we are greatly indebted to the copious

history of the Rev. James Bentham, respecting the cathedral church of Ely, 1771, who has displayed in it much architectural information, and whose general judgment and accuracy on these subjects have never been disputed.

We also have inspected many of our ancient cathedral and conventual churches in various parts of the kingdom. Such specimens, therefore, of each style of architecture referred to in this work, the reader may be assured has actually passed under our personal observation.

From the deficiency of documentary information relative to the building of our Collegiate Church, and the subsequent alterations it has undergone, the following description is rendered absolutely necessary; for by such a criterion must be judg-. ed the erection of many parts of this venerable fabrick.

CHAPTER I.

DESCRIPTION OF THE ANGLO-SAXON, NORMAN, AND POINTED STYLES OF

ARCHITECTURE.

ANGLO-SAXON ARCHITECTURE.-From the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons in 561, to the Norman conquest 1066, continuing 505 years.

NORMAN ARCHITECTURE.-From 1066, to 1189, through the reigns of Rufus, Henry 1st, Stephen, and Henry 2d, to the commencement of the reign of Richard 1st, 1189,-a period of 123 years.

FIRST AGE OF POINTED ARCHITECTURE.-From 1189, to 1272, comprehending the reign of Richard 1st, John, Henry 3d, to the end of Edward the 1st's reign.-Containing 83 years.

SECOND AGE OF POINTED ARCHITECTURE. From 1272, to 1461, through the reigns of Edward 2d, Edward 3d, Richard 2d, Henry 4th, Henry 5th, to the end of Henry 6th's reign,-a term of 189 years.

THIRD AGE OF POINTED ARCHITECTURE.-Commencing with the reign of Edward 4th, 1461, through the reigns of Edward 5th, Richard 3d, Henry 7th, to the final extinction of religious houses in 1540 (32 Henry 8th,)—a space of 79

years.

DESCRIPTION OF ANGLO-SAXON ARCHITECTURE, FROM 561 to 1066.

a

FORM OF THEIR ECCLESIASTICAL STRUCTURES.-In general, the Anglo-Saxon churches approached the form of a square, but often oblong, sometimes with and sometimes without side aisles; the choir short, and separated from the nave by a stone screen; in its centre was a richly carved doorway, and through it they entered the choir, which was terminated at the east end by a semicircular recess, resembling the tribune of the Roman basilicæ. Transepts, forming the plan into a cross, were constructed towards the end of the Heptarchy, yet, in some instances, were occasionally used in the early part of the Saxon dynasty. The chief entrance was at the west end of the nave. Frequently, the body of the church was surrounded by numerous porches, each of which formed a distinct chapel.

TOWERS.-Square, but never rose much higher than about one-half or threequarters of a cube above the roof. Frequently one or two at the west end, but oftentimes without. Where transepts were erected, there was one over the intersection of the cross. Spires were entirely unknown to them.

b

COLUMNS.-Round, hexagonal, and octagonal, alternately an angle or a face was placed towards the front; very short, commonly not longer than their circumference, resting on moulded bases, with ornamented capitals, each differently decorated with various historical representations of imagery in relief, and painted with a profusion of colours, but in many instances very plain.

ARCHES.-Semicircular; ornamented on the face with the embattled and triangular fret. The first is formed by a single bead traversing the face of the arch, making its returns and crossings always at right angles, alternately open above and below. The latter forms the sides of an equilateral triangle, and consequently encloses the intermediate spaces in that figure. The nail head, resembling the heads of large nails, dispersed at regular distances. The chevron or

a

Præparatis ergo fundamentis in gyro prioris oratorii per quadrum cœpit ædificare basilicam. -Bed. 1. ii. c. xiv.

b Dr Lingard conjectures, and indeed very plausibly, that the towers of the Anglo-Saxon churches have been originally built, like the celebrated round towers still remaining in Ireland, a short distance from the church, that the walls might not be endangered by their weight, and that they were not considered merely as an ornament, but used as beacons to direct the weary traveller towards the church or monastery. Lights were kept burning in them during the night. At least such was the fact with respect to the new tower at Winchester, which we learn from Wolston, (p. 631,) consisted of five stories, in each of which were four windows looking towards the four cardinal points, that were illuminated every night.

zigzag moulding, in form of a pair of compasses somewhat extended, jetting out and receding inwards alternately in a waving or undulating line; the billet moulding, as if two torus mouldings placed together side by side, should be cut into small pieces of equal lengths alternately round the face of the arch; but the soffits or underside of them were generally plain. In many instances they were unornamented.

-

WALLS. Of extreme thickness; so much so, that spiral staircases were formed within them. They used no external buttresses.

WINDOWS.-Very narrow towards the outside, with semicircular heads; the internal jaumbs splayed rapidly off to a wide opening in the interior.

VAULTING.-Circular, formed into groins, without any diagonal rib mouldings, or cross springers.

ed.

MOULDINGS.-Always composed of a plain chamfer, seldom or never ornament

The noblest specimen of this style of building we have seen, is the remains of the conventual church founded by Saint Etheldreda at Ely in 673,—a portion of Saint Julian's Church in the city of Norwich,-and the remains of the buildings erected by Edward the Confessor, adjoining to the east side of the cloisters in Westminster Abbey.

The learned Mr Bentham, speaking of the Saxon churches, observes, that, "had there been more remains of these ancient structures now in being, or had our ecclesiastical writers been more express, we might at this time have been able to speak with greater certainty concerning them; but monuments of that kind are very rare, and what descriptions we have are mostly expressed in such general terms, as give little or no satisfaction in the particulars we want to know."

But William of Malmesbury, in his history of the Kings of England, has given us a melancholy picture of the degraded state of immorality into which the Saxons had fallen some time previous to the Norman advent: and speaks likewise of a new mode of building introduced by the Normans. Their clergy, he observes, contented themselves with a slight degree of learning; and a person who understood grammar was an object of wonder and astonishment. The nobility, given up to luxury and debauchery, went not to the church in the morning after the manner of Christians, but merely in a careless manner, heard matins and masses, from a hurrying priest in their chambers, amid the blandishments of their wives. The commonalty being left unprotected, became a prey to the more powerful, who amassed ample fortunes, by either seizing on their patrimony, or by selling their persons into foreign countries. Drinking and revelling in parties was a

universal practice among the Saxons. In this vice they passed whole nights as well as days. They consumed their whole substance in mean and despicable houses; unlike the French and Normans, who, in noble and splendid mansions, lived with frugality. In short, vice and irreligion had gained the ascendant, and their moral character had sunk to the lowest ebb.-Malmesb. de Reg. Angl. Lib. iii.

The Normans, on the contrary, were richly apparelled, but abstemious and delicate in their diet; and, as just related, they lived in stately and sumptuous edifices with economy. On their arrival in England, they again introduced civility and the liberal arts, restored learning, and revived the observances of religion, which had every where become languid: to accomplish this, they repaired and enlarged all the churches and monasteries; so that you might see churches rise in every village, and monasteries in the towns and cities, erected after a style unknown before. De Regibus Angliæ, Ibid. This latter passage our historians take notice of, and call it a new mode of building introduced by the Normans; but we apprehend this new kind of building, ("novo ædificandi genere,") consisted chiefly in its extent and amplitude of dimensions, in which the Normans far exceeded the Saxons, and not in any change that took place whatever in the style of architecture, as we shall show in the following description of the particular characteristics of the Norman structures.

CHAPTER II.

DESCRIPTION Of norman arcHITECTURE, FROM 1066 to 1189.

FORM AND EXTENT.-The form much the same as the Saxons, but of more ample dimensions, from 300 to 600 feet in length, and from 70 to 90 feet in breadth, and from 60 to 100 feet in height, which was divided into three separate stories or tiers, consisting of the pillars and lower arches; the triforium, or middle gallery; and the clere-story. The nave and choir always flanked with side aisles, the east end terminated in a semicircle, and the cathedral and conventual churches were often surrounded by small chapels of various and rather curious forms; they had invariably transepts, or cross aisles, to which was attached sometimes one side aisle