Archaeological Journal/Volume 2/Notices of New Publications: Practical Geology and ancient Architecture of Ireland

 

Notices of New Publications.

 

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Practical Geology and ancient Architecture of Ireland, by George Wilkinson, Esq., Architect, M.R.I. A., &c. London, John Murray. Dublin, William Curry. Royal 8vo., 1845.

This is an exceedingly interesting volume, which embraces in a comprehensive manner the subjects mentioned in its title, and exhibits in a new light the intimate connection existing between them; the antiquary and the professional architect will find in it a valuable contribution to scientific literature, and a familiar and instructive account of the ancient architecture of our sister island. It proceeds from the pen of a gentleman who possesses a practical and professional acquaintance with the subject, and appears to have had extensive opportunities of obtaining information on the matters of which he treats; the result of his researches he has submitted to the public in a systematically arranged volume, accompanied by well-executed illustrations on wood, stone, and steel.

The first division of the work comprises Geology, and exhibits a concise and familiar exposition of the science, describing the characters of the various rocks suitable for building operations; the able and comprehensive manner in which the subject is handled cannot fail to diffuse valuable information, and shew the necessity there is for an acquaintance with geological phenomena, and the character of the different rocks which have supplied materials for our varied structures. The author clearly sets forth the advantages to be derived by the public, the architect, and the antiquary from the pursuit of this science, and how indispensable is the study of it in order to pursue architectural design on right principles, and to arrive at that excellence which ancient edifices display. He observes that,

 

"The importance of practical geology will, doubtless, be hereafter better appreciated than at the present time, and the rocks which possess so great a variety in their composition will be profitably studied, their differences of character become better known, and those which are of easy conversion and durable composition be employed more to the permanent advantage as well as ornament of the country; and when people become sensible of the different qualities of the stones of the locality in which they have to operate, designs will be made to some extent subservient thereto, proper constructive arrangements will be adopted, and the simplicity of application, and originality of conception, belonging to ancient structures will be again equalled. At the present time so little is the geology of a district understood or studied, that designs are almost invariably prepared without the least reference to this important consideration: inquiries are rarely made as to the cost of obtaining the kind of materials suited to the execution of the design; the distance of the place of supply, or their suitability to the circumstances of the locality, as well as the capability of the workmen in regard to the use of them, are seldom taken into account.

In this respect our buildings of the early ages present us with fine examples of simple constructive arrangement, being almost always erected with the materials of the locality, to which the design is made subservient: and hence we see a homogeneous effect and local adaptation which greatly enhance the general beauty of these structures. So in regard to the buildings of greater antiquity: in those ruins which have long survived the wear of time, simplicity of construction, and an adaptation of the design to the locality, as well as to the materials with which they are built, are strikingly characteristic. The antiquary may derive most profitable information from the distinguishing characters of the different rocks, and may thence frequently determine the age and other circumstances connected with the erection of the structure he is investigating, more accurately than by tradition and imperfect records. Uniformity of materials or other peculiarity in churches, &c., as compared with that which is found elsewhere, may, with collateral circumstances, determine facts otherwise obscure. The nature of the stone employed in many of the ancient structures originated in later erections, where the same stone was not available, a kind of ornament varying from that which the antiquary would expect or could otherwise account for—a variance at once explained by the difference of materials used in the later structure and that from which it was borrowed." Pp. 6, 10.

 

To our readers the most attractive portion of the work will naturally be the ancient architecture of Ireland. The subject is treated in chronological order, commencing with the earliest efforts of constructive skill, as displayed in the monolithal monuments, or pillar-stones, circles, cromlechs, and sepulchral remains; amongst these we recognise none equal in magnitude to the noble temples of Avebury and Stonehenge, but large circular enclosures, forts, and moats are described as existing in great numbers, and some very curiously designed examples are noticed. Amongst these we cannot omit to refer to the New Grange, a large subterraneous chamber, of which a plan and section are given; it is considered to have been a sepulchral monument of a very remote age, and consists of a large conical mound occupying an area of about an acre. This mound is composed of an immense assemblage . of stones, covered on the surface with earth, and is now overgrown with trees. In the centre of this mound, and nearly level with the natural surface of the soil, is a bold but rudely domed chamber, of very primitive construction; the height of it is about twenty feet; it is formed by the inward inclination of large horizontally bedded stones, the sides being composed of very large upright blocks. The chamber is approached by a passage about sixty feet in length, formed by upright stones and covered by large horizontally disposed slabs, which make a rude kind of ceiling; this passage is about three feet wide by four to six feet high. Such is the famous New Grange, of which Mr. Wilkinson has given the most accurate representation yet published^[1]. Several of these large tumuli occur in the same locality, the banks of the river Boyne, near Drogheda, in the county of Louth.

The author, after describing other interesting structures of dry-walled masonry of early date, gives a sketch of the progress of Architecture from the decline of the Roman Empire, and arrives at the period of the introduction of Christianity into Ireland, at the end of the fifth and beginning of the sixth century. Amongst the first stone edifices are to be noticed those interesting and very peculiar structures, the Round Towers, some of which are ascribed by Mr. Wilkinson to the early Christians, under the influence of the missionaries from other lands, who first evangelized Ireland at that early period. He appears to avoid reference to historical records, if indeed there are any upon which reliance can satisfactorily be placed, and grounds his conclusions upon the architectural character displayed in these monuments. Mr. Wilkinson, therefore, has investigated this subject in a different way from that in which it has hitherto been treated. The work contains a tabular statement, describing and shewing by lithographed drawings and numerous woodcuts, the constructive peculiarities, varied features, and present state of nearly every round tower in Ireland, with a description of the materials of which they are built. Some are of rough stones, ingeniously fitted together without mortar, and of very early character; others of rubble masonry, more or less rude; while others again are well built of ashlar masonry, with sculptured ornaments similar to those in general use in the 12th century.

Round Tower, Devenish Island.

The round tower on Devenish Island, county of Fermanagh, exhibits the form common to almost all these structures in their original state. Many round towers at the present day exhibit embattled tops, which are considered to be the work of a later period; many have doubtless al- together disappeared, and others are more or less in a state of decay. The general height of the towers in a perfect state varies from about 70 to 100 feet, their internal diameter, at the level of the doorway, measures about 8 to 9 feet; the walls are about 4 feet thick, and the door is usually placed from 8 to 10 feet above the surface of the ground; the doorways are either circular or square-headed, more usually the former; several openings occur between the door and the top of the tower, which are either square-headed, angle-headed or circular, generally either square or angle-headed, and of variable size; at the top, just below the base of the conical covering are, in most cases four, and sometimes five large openings^[2].

The masonry and the doorways are stated to have a close resemblance to the architecture common to the Lombardic and Norman structures, which erected on the decline of Roman architecture.

Doorway of Tower of Donoughmore.

Some of the doorways present highly enriched examples of the Norman style, others contain carvings exhibiting emblems of the Christian religion; one of these, on the doorway of the tower of Donoughmore, county of Meath, represents the Crucifixion; another, on the large lintel of a flat-headed doorway of the Antrim round tower, exhibits a cross of a different character; bands and tori are also occasionally met with. All these features of decoration are supposed by Mr. Wilkinson to be original. The interior of the towers is divided at certain regular heights for floors, which rested on the sets-off formed in the diminished thickness of the walls, or on transverse beams, the ends of which were inserted in holes; the several floors are considered to have been approached by ladders, or some such moveable contrivance. A section of one of the floors at present remaining in the round tower of Meelick, county of Mayo, is here given.

Section of Floor in the round Tower of Meelick.

The great height of the towers is considered to be owing to the necessity for using them as watch-towers, for observing the approach or retreat of hostile parties, as they were, probably, often surrounded by trees; at the same time they may have indicated the position of the church with which they were connected. An interesting example of the combination of the round tower with the early stone-roofed church, is afforded by the Crypt of St. Kevin, as it is commonly called, of which a representation is given in the following page. Mr. Wilkinson considers the churches of this description as displaying what may be termed the transition style from the round tower to the later church. The similarity of construction and contrivance, which is to be observed by a comparison of the round towers with early Anglo-Norman castles, is illustrated by a sectional drawing of the circular keep at Pembroke, of which

Round Tower Crypt of St Kevin.

Mr. Wilkinson has given, for the first time, as we believe, a detailed representation. In reference to this structure, he makes the following observations.

"Its security, too, so much like that afforded by the round towers, was owing to its small circumference, erected for the reception of a warrior chief, the lord of the castle and his family. The space obtained is but limited, but protection, the chief object of the erection, is, as in the round tower, admirably obtained; for the staircase ascending in the wall, which was thick enough to admit it, would render the approach to the upper rooms, even if the entrance door was passed, to be a matter of difficulty, and would place a limited party of defenders on equal terms with a powerful body of assailants, whose only approach could be that of the narrow passage; and in those days when artillery was slumbering, they were free from all danger except that of famine, until released by succour, or the retreat of their assailants; for their stone-built castle was proof against, doubtless, the most powerful agent in those times, viz., fire; and if even floor after floor was demolished, they would only advance still higher—and fearful would be the destruction they would cause to the assailants from the elevated and advantageous position the defenders would occupy, where, by gravity alone, stones would become more powerful weapons than any which could be brought against them by their assailants, from the reach of whose arms they would be almost free." P. 89.

In pursuing the notice of the architectural peculiarities of the ancient structures of Ireland, we can only afford space to allude to those which are the most prominent, and in contrast to such as are common in our own island. An interesting and striking feature is presented in the peculiar battlement, which is common to all the ancient structures, ecclesiastical, castellated and domestic, and it is stated to be the only battlement which occurs in Ireland, affording, in the opinion of the author, a happy illustration of fitness or adaptation to the nature of the building materials of the country.

Battlement. Abbey of Jerpoint, Ireland.

The illustration here given represents a picturesque example of this singular battlement, taken from the tower of the abbey of Jerpoint in the south of Ireland: "This peculiar form admits of the most simple construction, being sometimes met with where none but small common stones are employed; where good mortar has been used the work remains secure for centuries." It may be observed, that the churches of Perpendicular date, in the county of Essex, many of which are built of brick, supply examples of a battlement very similar in design. It is a remarkable fact, as stated by the author, that no spires are met with in any ancient buildings in Ireland. In comparison with the ecclesiastical architecture of England, the author remarks, that the Norman style in Ireland exhibits two or three distinct characters. First, that in which the ornament more resembles the sculptured foliage of Roman work; this was probably a style of imitation, originating from the hard nature of the sandstone, which was better suited for work requiring more of surface-cutting than deep carving. Secondly, the style as commonly displayed in England, in which the hollow mouldings contain bold sculptured figures, or flowers, carved heads, &c. Thirdly, a style which appears more of a foreign character, prevailing chiefly in the west of Ireland, in which the arches and groins spring from long, tapering, and ornamental corbels, containing peculiar carvings; of this a very interesting and beautiful example is given in Plate 14, which we regret we cannot here display.

Some beautiful examples of the transition Pointed style are to be found in Ireland, as also of the early Pointed: some fine remains in the style familiarly known in England as the Decorated, are also to be noticed; and the latest or Perpendicular style appears to have developed itself to a limited extent only at the time of the Reformation, when Gothic Architecture, as in England, altogether declined.

The most interesting examples are certainly in the Norman and early Pointed styles, the former appearing to have displayed itself earlier than in England, and to have extended over a much longer period than with us, and in the same manner did the transition, and early Pointed styles.

The author advances some very interesting remarks on the much greater use of stone in ancient buildings than in those of the present day, and illustrates the varied mode in which it was applied. We submit to our readers a curious illustration of a style in which the old domestic buildings in the town of Galway were constructed, and of which many interesting remains are still to be found in some of the towns of the west of Ireland; these buildings were erected at a time when the decline of feudal habits gave importance to towns, by occasioning a change from castles to the castellated mansions, which, being erected with solid masonry, are still perfect, where undisturbed by violence.

Old Domestic Building Galway.

Several towns in the west of Ireland still display curious specimens of architecture, of a modified style of the Elizabethan era ; and speaking of the town of Galway, which at the period in question had much intercourse with Spain, and little with England, Mr. Wilkinson observes that the intricate tracery of some of the ornamental details appears to indicate their Moorish origin.

Of a remarkable class of ancient monuments, intimately connected with the ecclesiastical antiquities of Ireland, and the characteristic style of decoration which is displayed in architectural remains, we regret to find only a passing notice in Mr. Wilkinson's work. We allude to the sculptured crosses, of which a single specimen is given, existing at Kells: a great number of these elaborately decorated works of sculpture are to be found in all parts of Ireland.

They exhibit much variety of form and ornament, and are similar, in some respects, to the crosses which exist in Wales and other parts of our island. These monuments deserve to be carefully investigated and classified, not merely on account of the peculiarities of decoration at different periods, which they tend to illustrate, but as memorials of the progressive establishment of Christianity, and of events in ecclesiastical history, with which the erection of these monuments may, doubtless, in many instances, be connected.

Space will not permit us further to pursue a notice of this work; we confidently recommend it to the perusal of our readers, as conveying much valuable information, illustrated by a profusion of well-selected representations. The second portion of the work contains brief but valuable geological descriptions of the several counties, and the details of a most valuable and extensive series of experiments on the strength, weight, &c, of the various building materials which exist in Ireland.

It is, perhaps, unnecessary to remind our readers, that the means of obtaining the like information, in regard to the building materials which are to be found in England, is most fully afforded by the national collection, freely open to the public, at the Museum of Economic Geology in Craig's Court, Charing Cross. This collection comprises the series of specimens procured by the commissioners who were appointed in 1838 to visit the quarries throughout the country, for the purpose of selecting materials for the new houses of parliament, and with these have been united the collections formed by the persons employed upon the Ordnance Geological Survey, affording not less to the architect and the antiquary, than to the Geologist, sources of most important and detailed information. D.

1. An interesting description of this remarkable monument has recently been given to the public by an intelligent Prussian traveller, Kohl, in his Tour in Ireland.
2. The ornamented moulding, at the base of the conical covering of the Devenish tower, is of very remarkable character, which has not been exhibited by Mr. Wilkinson; and to which at some future occasion we may recall the attention of our readers.