Mr Hawkins, in the same chapter (x.) likewise re lates, upon the authority of Della Valle, his letters Sen d, vol. ii. that, in 1321, during the erection of the dome of Sienna, six architects were appointed to examine the work, who reported, as their opinion, that the new work should not proceed any farther, because, if completed as it had been begun, it would not have that measure in length, breadth, and height, which she rules of a church require ; and, they farther added, that the old structure was so justly proportioned, and its members so well agreed with each other in breadth, length, and height, that if, in any part, an addition were made to it, under the pretence of reducing to the right measure of a church, the whole would be destroyed. Here she rules for a church are distinctly and repeatedly referred to, and must therefore have existed.
Browne Willis, in the preface to his History of Ab beys, vol. ii. states, that in the most stately abbeys, the height was equal to the breadth of the body and side aisles ; that the steeple and towers were frequently in height equal to the length of the whole fabric, or some times to the cross aisles from north to south, as in Bristol, Chester, St David's ; that the cross aisles often extended half the length of the whole fabric, as did the nave or western part, that is, from the great door at the west end, to the lower great pillars which supported the stee ple ; that the side aisles are half the breadth and height of the nave. But the following dimensions of cathedral and conventual churches will better enable the reader to judge of the relative proportions of the great mem bers of these sacred edifices.
In the cathedral of York the lengths of the nave and choir arc determined by equilateral triangles, formed upon the whole extent of each side of the transepts, which terminate upon a line drawn across the face of the buttresses, at each end of the nave and choir.
With regard to the form of the essential parts, they are mostly defined in the following description of the three orders of architecture, as given by Dr Milner in his reply to Mr Whittington ; the first order is character ised during its formation, that is to say, till near the lat ter end of the 12th century, chiefly by its acute arch (its pillars and other members being frequently Saxon,) but after its formation, not only by the narrowness and acute ness of its arch, but also by its detached slender shafts, its groining of simple intersecting ribs, its plain pediments without crockcts or side pinnacles, and its windows, which were either destitute of mullions, or have only a simple bisecting mullion, with a single or triple trefoil, quatrefoil, or other flower, in the head of them. Of this
order are the cast end of Canterbury, the west end of Lincoln, and the whole of Salisbury cathedrals, besides the transepts of York Minster, and of Westminster Ab bey. The second order is marked, not only by the fine turn of its perfect equilateral arch, but also by the clus ter columns being, for the most part, formed each course out of the same stone ; by the elegant, but not over crowd ed tracery of its windows and groining ; by its crocket ted pinnacles, tabernacles, and pediments, the latter of which, towards the conclusion of the fourteenth century, were made with an ogee sweep towards the arch they covered. To this order belong the nave of Westmin ster Abbey, the nave and choir of York Minster, the naves of Winchester, Exeter, and Canterbury cathedrals, Wykeham's two colleges, St Stephen's chapel, Sec. The third order is known, not only by the flatness of the point of the arch, but also by its numerous, large, and low de scending windows, together with the multiplicity and in tricacy of its tracery ; by its pendents from the roof; by the minuteness and profusion of its ornaments, both exteriorly and interiorly ; by its fan-work and numerous shields and devices on the ceiling. To this order belong King's College chapel Cambridge, St George's chapel Windsor, and King II enry the VIPs chapel Westminster.
One of the finest features of Gothic architecture, and which, in many instances, still forms the most striking ornaments of our cities, is the tall tapering spire, which was first built of wood by the Normans, and afterwards in stone early in the 13th century. In the course of the 14th and 15th centuries, they were greatly increased in number. The following are the most noted.
Although the loftiness of these spires produces a very striking effect, yet it must be evident, to the most super ficial observer, that much also depends upon the relative dimensions of the tower and spire. The following are taken from the church of St Alkmond, in the town of Shrewsbury, which, though not remarkable for magni tude, is reckoned, by persons of good taste, to possess singular elegance of form. The height of the tower, from the surface of the ground, is 70 feet, and it is 22 feet square on the outside ; the height of the spire is 114 feet, and its diameter at the base 19 feet.