THE
SEVEN PERIODS
OF
English Architecture.
THE
SEVEN PERIODS
OF
English Architecture.
DEFINED AND ILLUSTRATED.
BY
EDMUND SHARPE, M.A.,
ARCHITECT.
TWENTY STEEL ENGRAVINGS AND WOODCUTS.
THIRD EDITION.
E. & F. N. SPON, 125, STRAND, LONDON.
NEW YORK: 12, CORTLANDT STREET.
1888.
PREFACE.
"We have been so long accustomed to speak of our National Architecturein the terms, and according to the classification bequeathed to us byMr. Rickman, and those terms and that classification are so wellunderstood and have been so universally adopted, that any proposal tosupersede the one, or to modify the other, requires somewhat more thana mere apology. To disturb a Nomenclature of long standing, to setaside terms in familiar use, and to set up others in their place whichare strange, and therefore at first unintelligible, involves aninterruption of that facility with which we are accustomed tocommunicate with one another on any given subject, that is only to bejustified by reasons of a cogent and satisfactory nature.
"The sufficiency of Mr. Rickman's Nomenclature and Divisions, and theirsuitableness at the time and for the purpose for which they were made,are best evidenced by the fact that, although the attempts to supersedethem have been both numerous and persevering, they have remained fornearly half a century the principal guide to the Architectural Student;and Mr. Rickman's 'Attempt to discriminate the Styles of Architecturein England,' is still the Text-book from which the greater part of thepopular works of the present day have been compiled.
"In referring, however, to these attempts to supersede Mr.[Pg vi] Rickman'ssystem, it is proper to remark that one observation applies to thewhole of them;—although they propose to change the Nomenclature of hisdifferent styles, or to subdivide them, his main division of EnglishArchitecture into four great Periods or Styles, is adopted by all, andstill remains undisturbed. No point, therefore, has been hithertoproposed to be gained by these alterations, beyond a change of name;and this may be taken as a sufficient reason why none of these attemptshave been successful: men are not willing to unlearn a term with whichthey are familiar, however inappropriate, in order to learn another,which, after all, means the same thing.
"Although, however, Mr. Rickman's simple division of ChurchArchitecture into four Periods, or Styles, may perhaps have been theone best suited to his time, and to the elementary state of theknowledge of the subject possessed by the best informed Archæologistsof his day, it may with propriety be questioned how far such a divisionis suited to the exigencies of writers of the present day, or to thepresent advanced tastes of knowledge on the subject.
"Simplicity was doubtless the object Mr. Rickman had in view in hisdivision of English Architecture into four Styles only. This is arecommendation, however, which can hardly be said to hold good at thepresent day: it behoves us to consider well, perhaps more especially atthe present moment, whether Mr. Rickman's system fulfils all theconditio