THE ABBEY CHURCH OF DORCHESTER. 279
twelfth. There can be no doubt whatever as to this being a mere individual freak; but it shows the independent and eclectic animus of the architect.[1]
Another singularity is to be found in the four little windows at the back of the superb sedilia and piscina. These form externally a sort of rough arcade; within, their form is a Flowing modification of the spherical triangle. It is well worthy of notice that the glass which they now contain—old glass of the twelfth century—has only been in them about twenty years, though it is so well adapted to its position that Mr. Addington seems to have supposed the peculiar form of the openings to have been specially accommodated to its reception.
It is to be noticed that these sedilia, though part of the same work as the rest of the presbytery, must have been an afterthought, inserted after the window was finished,[2] as they cut through the string beneath it. Also this string is prolonged quite to the east end, so that the jamb-shafts of the east window can never have been added.[3] The capitals and bands stand ready for them; probably distinct Purbeck shafts—a late instance again—were contemplated, but never added.
I have now gone through the history of the whole building, except the timber porch on the south side, and the western tower. The former, as a mere Perpendicular addition, the only one in the church, sufficiently tells its own story: so that I need only call attention to it as a good specimen of its own date and material; and remark that, as in several other instances, as the school-house at Higham Ferrers, its original low roof has been raised in plaster.
The tower appears to be chiefly a reconstruction of the seventeenth century, but portions both of Norman and Decorated work seem to have been preserved or
- ↑ Professor Willis thinks that this is a case of old materials being worked up again. Still, as they are worked up in a position, and probably for a use, quite different from their original one, such a freak of preservation has no essential difference from a freak of imitation.
- ↑ I have to thank Mr. Jewitt for a suggestion, that they may have been removed from some other position. It is not, however, easy to see what, in this case, could have been their original position. I might mention that the sedilia now occupying an anomalous position in the north aisle of Dursley Church, Gloucestershire, have also apparently been moved.
- ↑ Professor Willis doubts this, remarking a break in the string a little to the east, and considering that the eastern stone has been thrust out of its proper place.
