ENGLISH ARCHITECTURE (ANGLO-SAXON STYLE). 327 A comparative table showing the approximate period covered by each is given : — Dates. Ricknian. Sharpe. A.D. 449 (arrival of Anglo-Saxons) to the Con- quest in 1066 ... ... ... ... ... Saxon. Saxon. 1066-1189 (/.f. to the end of I2th cent.) ... Norman. ^°"^^"- ^ ^ ' Iransition. 1189-1307 (/.^. the 13th cent.) ... ... ... Early English. ^3^7 ^377 W-^- the 14th cent.) Decorated. ( Lancet. Geometrical. ( Cuivilinear. 1377-1485 (i.e. the 15th cent.) ... ... ... Perpendicular. Rectilinear. i485-i558(/.£. the first half i6th cent.)... ... Tudor. Tudor. Although the period of each style is thus defined, it niust be remembered that the transition from one style to the next was slow and gradual, and can often hardly be traced, so minute are the differences. It is only for convenience in alluding to the different stages that the division is made, for it must not be forgotten that the mediaeval architecture of England is one continuous style. ANGLO-SAXON STYLE (a.d. 449 to 1066). The buildings are sometimes composed of the fragments of Roman architecture in Britain, or of rude copies, but the scanty remains of this period render it difficult to estimate the character of the buildings. It is probable that timber was the material mostly employed in all classes of buildings, and that the great development in timber work of the later Gothic styles was due to this early use. The masonry work is considered to show signs of the influence of wood architecture, as in the " long and short " work, the triangular-headed openings, the pilaster strips, and the baluster muUions (No. 134), but these features are more likely rude attempts to copy the conteniporary Romanesque work of Ravenna and other Italian towns. The following are a few of the examples of this period : — Worth Church, Barnack Church, Brixworth (Northants), Dover Castle and Church, Earl's Barton (No. 134, a, b, d), Sompting (Sussex) (No. 134 H), Wickham (No. 134 f), Deerhurst (Glouces- tershire) (No. 134 c), Greensted Church (Essex), and the crypt at Ripon Cathedral. A. Plans. — Churches seem to have been planned as two simple oblongs, joined by a small chancel arch, the chancel being square- ended (borrowed from the Keltic type), lower and smaller than the nave, and distinctly marked as such externally and internally. There was often a descent of a few steps from the nave into the chancel. Another type of plan is that of the Roman basilican form, as S. Martin, Canterbury, and Brixworth. Towers, of which Earl's Barton, Northants (No. 134), is an example, are without buttresses.
