height and to spare, the window over the western opening has the arched head. From all this it will, I think, appear that these buildings are just such as would naturally be built at the date which is on so many grounds claimed for themfull of details borrowed from Roman work, the only architectural tradition of the time, but having distinctively non-Roman features. The nave of St. Martin's, Canterbury, has, both from Bede's writings and from the details of its west windows and the pink plaster on its walls, been claimed as actually of Roman date; but I 0 5 10 20 30 40 50 FIG. 7.-SILCHESTER. must here confine myself to giving a few objections to the Roman theory shortly:-First, that if so, the chancel, being undoubtedly earlier, must also be Roman, and with it the church of St. Pancras, which it too closely resembles to be many years apart in date, and which is in plan and arrangement unlike any known Roman building; second, that it is not good enough for true Roman work, but is just what а non-Roman imitator might build; thirdly, that Ythanchester gives a parallel to its buttresses with brick heads, and the proportions of its nave are very much those of Rochester, South Elmham, and St. Pancras's; and fourthly, that its close resemblance to Roman detail in the two respects before mentioned tells no more for than against the argument; for Reculver, built in 670, showed lacing courses of brick as regular as any Roman work, and a floor of opus signinum throughout. We have only one possible instance remaining of a Roman Christian church, namely, the little basilica of Silchester, whose plan, Fig. 7, in no way resembles that of St. Pancras's or St. Martin's. The first cathedral of Canterbury on the present site, as described by Eadmer, may have been a Roman building, and certainly in Bede's time the idea that Roman Christian churches had been reconsecrated and used by Augustine and his followers was strong. There would be a charm, too, in the thought of a tangible connection between the earlier and later Christianity, which might count for something. Compare for this Bede's Life of St. Vedast, where it is recorded that the saint when sent on a mission to Arras made it his first business to discover and reconsecrate the abandoned church of the Roman Christians. For the present, I think the churches of the St. Pancras type may be arranged thus: Before 600. St. Martin's, Canterbury, chancel. Rochester. Lyminge. St. Martin's, Canterbury, nave. South Elmham. It only remains to me to make some small acknowledgment of the invaluable help given me during the writing of this paper by Mr. Micklethwaite and Mr. Hope, by the free use of all their notes and plans of these buildings and everything connected with them; and in particular I must thank Mr. Micklethwaite for coming with me to Ythanchester last autumn, and Mr. Hope for his timely notice of the excavations at St. Pancras's, which enabled all his discoveries there in their first me to freshness. WOLLATON AND HARDWICK HALLS. By J. A. GOTCH, F.S.A. WOLLATON HALL,1 Wollaton Hall is sometimes quoted as a typical example of the work of the English Renaissance. Those who are in sympathy with that phase of domestic architecture point to it as a magnificent specimen of an Elizabethan palace. Those who are out of sympathy direct the finger of scorn to its extravagances and its pretentiousness. As a matter of fact it cannot be called a typical example. In its chief characteristics it stands by itself, namely, in its lofty central hall and its four corner pavilions. In its extreme regularity of treatment, and in the great care bestowed upon its detail, it exhibits far more of conscious effort in design than the majority of houses built at that period. The interesting question is, Who was responsible for the design of Wollaton? So little is really known from actual records of the architectural designers of that period, or of their method of work, that the field of conjecture is a vast one, and offers scope for manœuvres on a large scale. But there are one or two facts connected with this house which help us to a certain extent. We know from the inscription over the garden door that it was built by Sir Francis Willoughby, constructed with uncommon art and left as a precious possession to the Willoughbys. It was begun in 1580 and finished in 1588. We also know that in John Thorpe's collection of drawings in the Soane Museum there is a ground plan of the house and half the front elevation. We also find in Wollaton Church a monument to "Mr. Robert Smythson, gent. architector and surveyor unto the most worthy house of Wollaton and diverse others of great 1 Read at Wollaton, July 25th, 1901. |