|
|
Page 40:-
the company in the side passage would be concealed by the
pillars, and the vaulted roof, that groined from those pillars,
would have a truly Gothic disproportionate appearance of sixty
feet by thirteen. The two side alleys were lighted, each by a
pair of similar lights, besides another pair at the upper end, at
present entire, and which illustrate what is here said. Thus,
whilst the upper end of the room had a profusion of light, the
lower end would be in the shade. The noble roof of this singular
edifice did but lately fall in, and the entrance or porch is
still standing, a fine circular arch, beautified with a deep
cornice, and a portico on each side. The only entire roof now
remaining, is of a building without the inclosure-wall. It was
the school-house of the abbot's tenants, and is a single ribbed
arch that groins from the wall.
There is a general disproportion remarkable in Gothic churches,
which must have originated in some effect intended by all the
architects; perhaps to strike the mind with reverential awe, at
the sight of magnificence arising from the vastness of two
dimensions, and a third seemingly disregarded; or, perhaps such a
determinate height and length was found more favourable than any
other to the church song, by giving a deeper swell to
|