A B C of Gothic Architecture

1195.
PEEIOD OF TEANSITIOIT, A.D. 11 GO "
71
"We have seen that during the half-centurywhich
intervened between 1125 and 1175 an immense num-i
her of churches were built or rebuilt in England, and
that the art of buildingconsequentlymade rapid progress,
the work becoming every year better executed,
more highly finished,and of lightercharacter,it being
one of the characteristics of a good workman not to
waste his material. In the early Norman period the
masonry
was
very bad, and, to make the work secure,
great masses of material were used ; but at the period
to which we have now arrived the masonry is as good
as at any subsequent period, and the workmen were
fast discoveringthe various modes of economizing their
material. This practice, in combination with other
causes, tended greatlyto introduce the change of style,
and to facilitate its ready and rapid adoption,in the
generality of cases, when introduced. The custom of
vaultingover large spaces, which was now being commonly
adopted, and the difficultyof vaulting over
spaces of unequal span, also without doubt contributed
largelyto the use of the pointed arch.
The capitals of the period are also very characteristic,
and the gradual change may be clearlytraced;
at first the abacus
-
molding
is very wide, and frequently
only chamfered ; a littlelater it is molded.