A B C of Gothic Architecture

168 THE DECOKATED STYLE.
Timber Eoofs of this periodare comparativelyscarce,
although they are more common than is usually supposed
; but it is lamentable to observe how fast they
are disappearing: that of the hall of the abbey of
Great Malvern, the finest example
that existed in this
country, or probably in any other,was wantonly destroyed
: it was a wooden ceiling,with an outer roof.
Eradenstoke Priory, or Clack Abbey, near Chippenham,
in
l(Viltshire, is, or was, a fine example. The
timber roofs of churches of this styleare not generally
so fine as those of halls. There are, however, many
very good specimens of Decorated roofs remaining in
churches, as
at Adderbury,Oxfordshire, Eaunds, HS'orthamptonshire,
and several others in that neighbourhood.
It should be observed that what are called open
timber roofs are, very frequently, inner roofs or ceilings
for ornament only, with a plainsubstantial outer
roof over them, as at Sparsholt,Eerkshire. These inner
roofs or wooden ceilings,are sometimes of precisely
the same form as stone vaults, which are,
in
fact,
ceilingsof another kind. The wooden vaults of Warmington
and the cloisters of Lincoln have been already
mentioned
; those of the nave of York Minster and
AVinchester Cathedral are also of wood only.
At Kiddington,Oxfordshire,is
a good example of a Decorated
timber-roof of an ordinary parish church. At Kid-