lier period, and
gradually led to the complete adoption, in the succeeding century, of the
early pointed style in a pure state, and to the general disuse of the
semicircular arch.

Q. By what is this style chiefly denoted?

A. By the intersection of semicircular arches, the frequent intermixture
of the pointed arch in its incipient state with the semicircular arch, and
the pointed arch with its accompaniments of features, mouldings, and
ornamental accessories, exactly similar to those of the Norman style, both
in its earlier and later gradations, and from which it appears to have
differed only in the contour or form of the arch.

[Illustration: Early specimen of intersecting Arches, St. Botolph's
Priory, Colchester. (12th cent.)]

Q. Whence are we to derive the origin of the pointed arch?

A. Many conjectural opinions on this much-contested question have been
entertained, yet it still remains to be satisfactorily elucidated. Some
would derive it from the East and ascribe its introduction to the
Crusaders; some maintain that it was suggested by the intersection of
semicircular arches, which intersection we frequently find in ornamental
arcades; others contend that it originated from the mode of quadripartite
vaulting adopted by the Normans, the segmental groins of which, crossing
diagonally, produce to appearance the pointed arch; whilst some imagine it
may have been derived from that mystical figure of a pointed oval form,
the _Vesica Piscis_[76-*]. But whatever its origin, it appears to have
been imperceptibly brought into partial use towards the middle of the
twelfth century.

[Illustration: Semi-Norman double Piscina, Jesus College Chapel,
Cambridge.]

Q. What are the characteristics of this style?

A. In large buildings massive cylindrical piers support pointed arches,
above which we often find round-headed clerestory windows, as at Buildwas
Abbey Church, Salop; or semicircular arches forming the triforium, as at
Malmesbury Abbey Church, Wilts. Sometimes we meet with successive tiers
of arcades, in which the pointed arch is surmounted both by intersecting
and semicircular arches, as in a portion of the west front of Croyland
Abbey Church, Lincolnshire, now in ruins. The ornamental details and
mouldings of this style generally partake of late Norman character; and
the zig-zag and semicylindrical mouldings on the faces of arches appear to
predominate, though other Norman mouldings are common; but we also
fre