A B C of Gothic Architecture

60 THE ^'ORMAN PERIOD.
TnE Corbel-tables are at first very plain,consisting
merely of
square
on flat stones which
blocks at intervals,carryingthe beam
support
the roof, or with
small arcs between them,
or merely rude triangles,
like the Anglo ""
Saxon
arches; and these are
sometimes continued in
late work, as at Iffley,
but in general, in late
work the corbels are
Norman
Corbel.
carved, and the small
arcs
or less enriched. The
buttresses are usuallyflat and plain in earlyexamples,
but have moldings on the angles in late examples.
Corbel-tables under the caves of the roof are very
abundant in late ISTorman and Transitional work, and
are often proof that the walls are Norman, when this
is not otherwise evident, later windows having been
inserted. They are frequently square
blocks of stone
only, as if intended to be carved subsequently, when
convenient, and this has never been done ; more
usually they are beads, or grotesque masks, as at
Homaey.