Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 4.djvu/245

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IFFLEY CHURCH, OXFORDSHIRE.
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does not replace an earlier bay, or an apse. It has a good Early English vault, with ribs and shafts, and strings, all of which have very decided and good Early English mouldings: the sedilia, piscina, and ambry, are also good specimens of that style, and the windows are single lancets. The junction of the old work with the new may be clearly traced both on the exterior and in the interior. On the exterior it takes place on each side, in the middle of a flat buttress, which is made wider than usual on this account, with a joint all the way up it. In the interior the vaulting shafts in the angles of the Norman work caused some difficulty in the

Buttress at the north-east angle.

removal of the east wall, which has been got over in an ingenious, yet rather clumsy manner, the shafts being left in their places, and the wall cut away behind them in an oblique direction, receding to meet the new work, as may be observed on the plan: to cover this awkward junction a small arch with the zigzag cut upon it is introduced, forming a sort of tall panel of the intermediate space, which is in fact the thickness of the original east wall. The buttresses at the eastern angles, although flat and resembling Norman, have very decided Early English shafts recessed in the angles. Over the east window in the gable is a small Norman window, or air-hole, with the zigzag all round it; this was probably in the same situation in the original east wall, and was used up again in the new work.

The vault of this eastern bay appears to have had too great a thrust for the strength of the walls, and additional buttresses were added at the sides in the fifteenth century, which sufficed for a considerable period, but latterly the east wall was found to be thrust so much out of the upright as to become dangerous, and two massive buttresses have been added at the east end which are more useful than ornamental, but seem likely to answer their purpose.

The large square font, with its detached shafts or legs, is too well known to require further description. The church is entirely fitted up with open seats in good taste, and has been put into thorough repair. i. h. p.