392 ON THE LATE, OR DEBASED, one peculiarity, which seems to belong to this period, as it is found likewise at Oriel and other places. This is, — the fillet is left broad, and is grooved down the centre with a rather deep channel. This has the effect of dividing the fillet into two lines, and produces a clumsy appearance. Oriel College was built about 1620, but the Hall and Chapel were begun in 1637, and finished in 1642. The character of the building is section 01 winaow. i i mi x Lincoln College Chapel. poor aucl clumsy. Tho traccry is a. Gioove i et. ^£ ^^^^ j^^^ cliaractcr, and it has the grooved fillet above-mentioned. The entrance to the chapel is under a bay-window, which has an open parapet of scroll-work. The windows of the Hall and Chapel of University College, which were built about 1640, are much like those of Oriel. The east window of the chapel is particularly bad. Both colleges are built with fractable gablets. In the Chapel of Brazenose College, which was built between 1656 and 1666, all traces of Gothic, except the windows and roof, seem to have vanished. The exterior is Corinthian, with pointed windows inserted between the pilasters. The tracery is of rather early form, and the whole is a very incongruous mixture. In the east and west windows even the tracery is altered, and the oval form introduced, so that this may be taken as one of the last and most curious examples of the decline of Gothic before its extinction. The roof of the chapel, which is a kind of hammer beam with fan vaulting above, was brought from the chapel of St. Mary's College, which formerly stood in the Corn Market, and which was founded by Henry VI. in 1435. This kind of vaulting seems to have retained its hold longer than any other feature of the Gothic styles, unless it be the windows. It is extensively used in Oxford under gateways and other small spaces, as at Wadham, University, St. John's, &c., but the finest specimen of it is the beautiful staircase to the Hall of Christ Church ; and it is remarkable to find that it was erected so late as 1640 ; but it is stated by Peshall to have been built by Dean Fell, " by the help of Smith, an
