Bk. II. Ch. VII. NORMANDY. 519 shovv^ great progress towards the more ornamental style that soon afterwards came into use. The parochial church of St. Nicolas at Caen is naturally plainer than either of these royal abbeys. It shows considerable jjrogress in con- struction, and deserves far more attention than it lias hitherto met with. It is the only cliurch, so far as I know, in Normandy, that retains th.e original external covering of its apse. Tiiis consists, as shown in the woodcut (No. 384), of a Idgh, pyramidal roof of stone, 384. East End of St. Nicholas, Caeu. (From Dawsou Turner's " Normandy.") following to the eastward the polygonal form of the apse, and extend- ing one bay towards the west. From an examination of the central tower, it is clear that this was not the original pitch of the church roof, which was nearly as low in all Norman churches as in those of Auvergne. In this instance the roof over the apse Avas a sort of semi- spire placed ^over an altar, to mark externally the imjiortance of the ])ortion of the church beneath it. In appearance it is identical with the polygonal cones at Loches, before mentioned. At Bonrges, and elsewhere in France, similar cones are found over chajiels and altars ; but in most instances they have been removed, probably from some
