Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 4.djvu/241

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IFFLEY CHURCH, OXFORDSHIRE.
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enriched with roses and other ornaments, both on the soffit and on the face of the inner order; the jambs are ornamented with large square flowers, and other sculpture; the shafts of the second order are also enriched, one with the zigzag, the other with the diamond pattern, both beaded[1]. The outer order is plain, the shafts not enriched. The capitals are all richly sculptured, and on one of them occurs the Sagittarius or mounted archer, which has been supposed to be a proof that the work was erected in the time of King Stephen, but there does not appear to be any good authority for this notion. This doorway stands in a shallow projection, to give greater depth to the arch; it was formerly protected by a porch.

The north doorway is also good Norman work, but much plainer than the south, and presents no remarkable features.

Window, South side

The windows nearest the west end on each side remain in their original state, with round arches enriched with the zigzag ornament, and are good examples of late Norman windows, which are not very common, the original windows of most of our Norman churches having been replaced in later styles, or altered to suit the taste of a subsequent age. All the other windows of Iffley church have been either rebuilt, or altered by the insertion of later tracery, but the arches of the Norman windows remain; the hoodmoulds round the heads of these windows on the exterior are continued horizontally as strings along the face of the wall.

The parapets of the nave are carried upon corbel-tables, the corbels being generally plain square blocks, but in one part, nearly over the south door, two of these blocks are carved into the usual grotesque forms, and it appears as if the whole had been intended to be carved, the work of carving being commonly executed after the blocks were placed.

  1. There are shafts exactly similar to these in the transition work of the cathedral of Chartres.
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