urch of
Minster Lovell, between Witney and Burford, solved the problem by
removing the supports of their square central tower from the angles of
the crossing to points entirely within the church, and building arches
from the piers thus formed to the angles of the crossing. The
comparatively light piers, instead of hindering the view, allow of easy
access from the nave to the transepts, and there is hardly a point in
the body of the church from which seeing and hearing alike are in any
way impeded. With the earlier builders, however, the natural course was
to leave the piers where they were, and endeavour to lighten them as
far as possible; and, in aisled churches, the difficulties involved
often led to the abandonment of the complete cruciform plan.

Sec. 38. The cruciform church gives occasion for a brief remark on one
aspect of medieval building which is often exaggerated. The revival of
interest in medieval architecture, in the early part of the nineteenth
century, was accompanied by an insistence on symbolism in the plan and
design of churches. A minute symbolism, which often was the fruit of
pious imagination, or was derived from the fancies of post-medieval
writers on ritual, was read into every detail of the medieval church
fabric. It is true that, as has been said, some builders worked
imaginatively, imitating in the round naves of a few churches the
rotunda of the Holy Sepulchre. Other instances of devout imitation might
be found, if we looked for them. But the imitation of a concrete model
is a different thing from translating abstract mysteries into the plan
and elevation of a building. And, although the ground plan with nave,
transepts, and chancel, certainly forms a cross; and, although, as time
went on, the resemblance to the chief symbol of the Christian faith was
no doubt recognised and valued, the plan itself, as we have shown, came
into being from entirely natural causes. Where the central tower was
introduced, the plan was dictated by structural necessity. Where there
was no central tower, transeptal chapels provided accommodation for
altars, for which the body of the church afforded no convenience. In
this and in other cases, medieval builders were impelled by practical
common sense and the requirements of the services of the church; and
symbolism, if it was a consideration at all, was purely secondary.

CHAPTER IV

THE AISLED PARISH CHURCH

I. NAVE, TOWER, AND PORCHES

Sec. 39. The var