Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 2.djvu/21

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TONG CHURCH, SALOP.
5

secondary mullion (over the central light) runs up to the very point of the arch, instead of branching off below it, so as to leave a space to be filled up by a quatrefoil; indeed, in the other windows, where the central mullion does so branch off, the four-sided opening left is not foliated, nor does the quatrefoil occur any where in this position, except in the porch and belfry.

The chancel and vestry doors, which are similar, have the four-centred arch. It is clear that these are not later insertions, and no doubt the Tudor arch, as it is called, which is no more than a modification of the segmental arch used in the earlier styles, was adopted for convenience long before it became a decided architectural feature. These doors have spandrels, but the porch, the western and the northern doors, are without that feature, which, as the style advances, becomes in buildings of a high degree of finish, nearly universal.

The west window has four lights, upon which rests a transom, not reaching across from jamb to jamb, but stopping at the points of the extreme lights; from these points also spring the mullions of the tracery lights, which are of the same width with the principal ones, and alternate with them. Consequently there are three of these lights in the head of the window which are cinque-foiled. This arrangement was probably adopted for the sake of painted glass; and in one of these tracery lights there are some remains, apparently in their original position, the subject being a congregation of saints worshipping, with a scroll fitted into the foliation, "In eternuni Patrem omnis Terre." The east windows of the aisles, which are of three lights, have a somewhat similar arrangement, only that in this case the large tracery light stands directly over the central principal one. The other windows of the aisles have two lights each.

The interior of the church, in its architectural features, is much plainer than the outside. The piers of the nave are octagonal; the arches are of two orders, those on the south side being merely chamfered, those on the north side, which, as well as the piers, are of greater height, have the convex moulding we have noticed. The west side of the chancel-arch has a label, which the eastern side has not. I have frequently remarked that the western sides of central arches have been the most enriched, evidently as meeting the eye of the spectator in looking eastward. This is peculiarly the case