DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6910#0153
98
ARCHITECTURAL ANTIQUITIES.
the middle division of the nave. Some of these are plain and simple in their shape
and mouldings ; others are ornamented with sculptured basso-relievo ; and some
have a central mullion, with tracery, &c. The latter is a peculiarity deserving the
attention of the architect and antiquary,* and may perhaps be considered amongst
the earliest, if not the first, examples of the kind. The next variety of feature is
the intersecting arch, which formed a sort of an ornamental facing round the lower
part of the exterior wall of the church. This member of ancient buildings appears
to have been used only as a decoration; yet its column, and architrave mouldings,
with base, capital, &c. are generally designed with strict regard to symmetry and
system. As each arch passed directly over the next column, and intersected its
proper architrave, it there formed the most perfect pointed arch.f On each side of
the nave is a series of pointed arches, which spring from massive columns, and are
finished with mouldings and dressings, which more properly assimilate with the cir-
cular, than with the pointed style. Above these is a tier of broad round arches,
each of which embraces four others, with an open colonnade to the roof of the
ailes : and over these is a series of long, narrow, pointed, arched windows, with
mullions, tracery, &c. These are the prominent architectural features of the present
building, which, whether considered as a whole, or examined in detail, furnishes so
many interesting examples, that I have been tempted to bestow on it a more than
usual portion of illustrative plates.
Respecting the precise time when the present church was built, I believe there
is no decisive document preserved, and every author who has written on the subject,
seems to have been more desirous of asserting its remote antiquity and Saxon origin,
than of proving the exact period of its erection.
Influenced by a very different sentiment, I shall always prefer fact to fable, and
argument to sophistry ; and shall only expect the confidence of my reader, whilst I
continue to adhere to this principle. Of the religious foundation at Malmsbury, as
of most others, there are many idle and futile traditions related. These might
formerly have answered the sinister ends of some sagacious monks, but are only
deserving of notice now, as tending to display the customs of an age, when craft and
credulity were the prominent characteristics of mankind. The impartial history of
monachism proves, that, from its first establishment in this country, to the time of
* See plate VI. B. -where this window is faithfully represented.
\ See Sir Richard Uoare's elegant edition of Giraldus Cambrensis, at the end of which is a geometrical repre-
sentation of these arches. See also plate VI. A. in the annexed views.
ARCHITECTURAL ANTIQUITIES.
the middle division of the nave. Some of these are plain and simple in their shape
and mouldings ; others are ornamented with sculptured basso-relievo ; and some
have a central mullion, with tracery, &c. The latter is a peculiarity deserving the
attention of the architect and antiquary,* and may perhaps be considered amongst
the earliest, if not the first, examples of the kind. The next variety of feature is
the intersecting arch, which formed a sort of an ornamental facing round the lower
part of the exterior wall of the church. This member of ancient buildings appears
to have been used only as a decoration; yet its column, and architrave mouldings,
with base, capital, &c. are generally designed with strict regard to symmetry and
system. As each arch passed directly over the next column, and intersected its
proper architrave, it there formed the most perfect pointed arch.f On each side of
the nave is a series of pointed arches, which spring from massive columns, and are
finished with mouldings and dressings, which more properly assimilate with the cir-
cular, than with the pointed style. Above these is a tier of broad round arches,
each of which embraces four others, with an open colonnade to the roof of the
ailes : and over these is a series of long, narrow, pointed, arched windows, with
mullions, tracery, &c. These are the prominent architectural features of the present
building, which, whether considered as a whole, or examined in detail, furnishes so
many interesting examples, that I have been tempted to bestow on it a more than
usual portion of illustrative plates.
Respecting the precise time when the present church was built, I believe there
is no decisive document preserved, and every author who has written on the subject,
seems to have been more desirous of asserting its remote antiquity and Saxon origin,
than of proving the exact period of its erection.
Influenced by a very different sentiment, I shall always prefer fact to fable, and
argument to sophistry ; and shall only expect the confidence of my reader, whilst I
continue to adhere to this principle. Of the religious foundation at Malmsbury, as
of most others, there are many idle and futile traditions related. These might
formerly have answered the sinister ends of some sagacious monks, but are only
deserving of notice now, as tending to display the customs of an age, when craft and
credulity were the prominent characteristics of mankind. The impartial history of
monachism proves, that, from its first establishment in this country, to the time of
* See plate VI. B. -where this window is faithfully represented.
\ See Sir Richard Uoare's elegant edition of Giraldus Cambrensis, at the end of which is a geometrical repre-
sentation of these arches. See also plate VI. A. in the annexed views.