nament, on the outer as well
as inner surface of old churches, so as to cut each other, and
consequently to produce the figure of a Gothic arch; and if there is no
mistake in the date, they are probably among the most ancient of that
style in Europe. Those of the church of St. Cross near Winchester are of
the reign of Stephen; and generally speaking, the pointed style,
especially in vaulting, the most important object in the construction of
a building, is not considered as older than Henry II. The nave of
Canterbury cathedral, of the erection of which by a French architect
about 1176 we have a full account in Gervase (Twysden, Decem Scriptores,
col. 1289), and the Temple church, dedicated in 1183, are the most
ancient English buildings altogether in the Gothic manner.

The subject of ecclesiastical architecture in the middle ages has been
so fully discussed by intelligent and observant writers since these
pages were first published, that they require some correction. The
oriental theory for the origin of the pointed architecture, though not
given up, has not generally stood its ground; there seems more reason to
believe that it was first adopted in Germany, as Mr. Hope has shown; but
at first in single arches, not in the construction of the entire
building.

The circular and pointed forms, instead of one having at once supplanted
the other, were concurrent in the same building, through Germany, Italy,
and Switzerland, for some centuries. I will just add to the instances
mentioned by Mr. Hope and others, and which every traveller may
corroborate, one not very well known, perhaps as early as any,--the
crypt of the cathedral at Basle, built under the reign of the emperor
Henry II., near the commencement of the eleventh century, where two
pointed with three circular arches stand together, evidently from want
of space enough to preserve the same breadth with the necessary height.
The same circumstance will be found, I think, in the crypt of St. Denis,
near Paris, which, however, is not so old. The writings of Hope,
Rickman, Whewell, and Willis are prominent among many that have thrown
light on this subject. The beauty and magnificence of the pointed style
is acknowledged on all sides; perhaps the imitation of it has been too
servile, and with too much forgetfulness of some very important changes
in our religious aspect rendering that simply ornamental which was once
directed to a great object. [1848.]

[690] The curious s