Darent church, Kent.
We cannot understand upon what ground Mr. Bloxam considers the ruined church in the castle at Dover as some centuries older than Darent church, Kent, which is a good example of early Norman work, and has quite as early a character as the ruins at Dover; though these have some Roman remains worked up in them belonging to an earlier building, the present structure has nothing to distinguish it from work of the twelfth century.
It is worthy of remark that many of these structures are mixed up with late Norman and transition work, in a manner that seems almost unaccountable if the Saxon theory were admitted. Daglingworth has a lancet window in the chancel in the original wall without any appearance of insertion, and the same thing occurs also at Wittering, and in several other instances. These objections to the theory should be fairly stated and examined.
After all, this supposed style is a very immaterial point, of no practical importance, though very interesting for archæological discussion. Mr. Bloxam's description of the characteristic features of the regular styles is good and clear, and his illustrations extremely beautiful, and as good as their small size will admit, though we could have wished the drawings to have been more correct in some instances. The manner in which Mr. Jewitt has preserved the spirit of Early English foliage in the capitals from York and Durham is highly creditable to his skill. The foliage from Salisbury and Lincoln is also beautifully engraved, and Mr. Bloxam's description of it is good and accurate. "Sculptured foliage of this era is much used in capitals, brackets, corbels, bosses, and crockets, and is generally called stiff-leaved, a term not applying so much to the formality of design or execution, which are frequently very elegant, and done with much freedom of hand, as to designate a kind of crisp foliage in which the stiff stems as well as the leaves are used in the composition. In this it chiefly differs from the later styles, where we see an approximation to nature, and the foliage appears of a much thinner and more flexible texture, evincing a greater freedom both in conception and execution. This is particularly observable where the thick stems rise from the mouldings and support the foliage above. Among the forms of foliage the trefoil is most predominant, and very characteristic of the style." (See the cuts opposite.)
