arches, transversely into three portions, consisting of the

• Centre Aisle,
• North Aisle,
• South Aisle.

3. The Main Wall of each of the first-mentioned separate portions of the building is divisible, in the interior vertically into three portions, or Stories, consisting of

• The Ground-story,
• The Triforium or Blind-story,
• The Clere-story.

Now on viewing any of these Main Walls of a building, whether on the inside, or the outside, it will be at once seen that they consist, in their entire length, of a series of single and separate portions, or Compartments, tied together, and connected by the horizontal lines, or String courses, which traverse them from end to end; and that each of these single Compartments embodies within itself the spirit of the whole design, and may be said to represent, individually, the MAIN IDEA of the Building.

It is this portion of such a building then—a single Compartment of the Exterior and Interior of the Main Walls of the Choir or Nave, and its adjacent Aisle—that we have selected for the purpose of instituting that comparison which will enable us to fix and define the characteristics of the Seven Periods of English Architecture.

Neglecting, therefore, for the present, the Gable Ends, the Towers and Turrets, the Porches, the Doorways, the Chapels, the Cloisters, and all the other adjuncts of an Ecclesiastical Building, and bestowing our entire attention upon these Exterior and Interior Compartments, we will proceed at once to a comparison of their several parts, and consider in order the mode of treatment they received at the hands of the builders, of each of these Seven Periods, commencing with the earliest and descending to the latest.

CHAPTER IV.

THE SAXON PERIOD.

A.D. —— TO A.D. 1066.

Inasmuch as there does not remain to us a single Exterior or Interior Compartment in any Cathedral or Conventual Church of genuine Saxon Architecture, the comparative illustration of this Period is rendered impossible.

A few Piers and Arches exist indeed, in all probability, in the Churches of Brixworth in Northamptonshire, St. Michael's at St. Albans, and Repton in Derbyshire; but they differ considerably in their character from one another, and as widely probably in their date. We have also a few Chancel and Tower arches left, which appear to belong to this Period; as well as some singular and interesting Towers, a few Doorways and Windows, and some considerable portions of masonry. Altogether, however, these remains are not such as to enable us to define, with any degree of certainty, the nature and character of the Main Walls of a Saxon Cathedral, and are, therefore, not available for our present purpose.

BUILDINGS
OF
THE SAXON PERIOD.