and followed to some extent the
same lines as in France, with, however, certain notable differences that
were the outcome of the national feeling which had begun to make itself
felt as early as the close of the 11th century. Until then the Normans
had remained a distinct and alien element in what appeared to them a
foreign land, but now they had become fused with the natives of that
land, sharing their aesthetic as well as their political aspirations. The
note of change was first sounded in the architecture of the now united
races in a rebellion against the heavy massiveness of the Norman style,
and a desire for a greater redundancy of what may be called structural
decoration in place of extraneous surface ornamentation. The general
proportions of buildings gradually became slenderer, the walls loftier,
the windows longer, the piers and columns slighter, and the arches more
pointed, these peculiarities becoming more and more accentuated as time
went on, till they culminated in the noble and exquisitely beautiful
cathedrals and churches that vied even with the best of those of
Northern France.

[Illustration: Early English Capital]

It is usual to divide the development of English Gothic architecture
into three periods: the Early English, the Decorated, and the
Perpendicular--the first prevailing from about 1189 to 1307, the second
from the latter date to 1380, and the third from 1380 to 1485, whilst
the name of Tudor has been given to the transitional time between the
last phase of Gothic and the introduction of the Renaissance style,
lasting from 1485 to about 1546. It must, however, be added that hardly
any buildings exist belonging entirely to one period, architects having
in almost every case been compelled to be content with adding to or
modifying the work of their predecessors.

Amongst the characteristics of Early English architecture are groined
vaulting with main diagonal ribs only, long narrow lancet-headed
windows, clustered piers with capitals consisting generally of
delicately carved foliage, pointed arcading, the archivolt or arched
portion enriched with mouldings, in which the ornament known as the
dog-tooth is of frequent occurrence, ornate yet dignified western
facades with deeply recessed doorways decorated with slender columns and
beautiful bas-reliefs, high-pitched roofs with stilted gable ends, lofty
towers and spires, and plain buttresses ranged in pairs at the angles of
buildings.

The Early