l manner, according to the style of the age in which such were
built, were defrayed, some out of the immense revenues of the monasteries,
which at their suppression were granted away by the crown, and others by
the private munificence of individuals who frequently built an aisle, with
a chantry chapel at the east end, partly inclosed by screen-work, or
annexed to a church, a transept, or an additional chapel, endowed as a
chantry, in order that remembrance might be specially and continually made
of them in the offices of the church, according to the then prevailing
usage; which chantries having been abolished, one motive for
church-building was gone.

Q. What concurrent causes may also be assigned for this change?

A. The almost imperceptible introduction and advance, about this period,
of a fantastic mode of architectural design and decoration, which is very
apparent in the costly though in many respects inelegant monuments of this
age, and in which details of ancient classic architecture were
incorporated with others of fanciful design peculiar to the latter part of
the sixteenth and early part of the seventeenth centuries.

Q. What are the characteristics of this style?

A. A general heaviness and inelegance of detail, doorways with
pointed-arched heads exceedingly depressed in form, and also plain
round-headed doorways, with key stones after the Roman or Italian
semi-classic style now beginning to prevail; square-headed windows with
plain vertical mullions, and the heads of the lights either round or
obtusely arched, and generally without foliations; pointed windows
clumsily formed, with plain mullion bars simply intersecting each other in
the head, or filled with tracery miserably designed, and an almost total
absence of ornamental mouldings. Indications of this style may be found in
many country churches which have been repaired or partly rebuilt since the
Reformation. In the interior of churches specimens of the wood-work of
this style are very common, and may be perceived by the shallow and flat
carved panelling, with round arches, arabesques, scroll-work, and other
nondescript ornament peculiar to the age, with which the pews,
reading-desks, and pulpits are often adorned. The screens of this period
are constructed in a semi-classic style of design, with features and
details of English growth, and are often surmounted with scroll-work,
shields, and other accessories. Of this description of work the screen in