Cylchgronau Cymru

Chwiliwch trwy dros 450 o deitlau a 1.2 miliwn o dudalennau

THK WREXHAM REGISTRAR. GRESFORD CHURCH (C05TINUED FROM PASS 112.) " The want of proper glass is, I conceive, more keenly felt in Perpendicular than in earlier Churches. The deep splayed lancet, built before glass staining was much practised, does not admit that flood of light which re¬ quires to be diminished; and the curiously wrought tracery of the Geometric or Flowing1 Decorated has graceful forms and exquisite pro¬ portions, which can be recognised without be¬ ing set in a groundwork of ruby and sapphire. But the broad and heavy windows of the times of the Tudors, as they have little beauty of their own, demand to be enriched with colour: and as the glare is great we feel the deficiency more keenly. I would extend this observa¬ tion to colouring in general, which seems to have been more elaborate in the latest style than in the former ones. And if Churches are built in it, they should follow it in this as in other features. I believe that in other styles Polychrome is essential to the highest excel¬ lence, but in Perpendicular that it is indispen¬ sable to any. The new church of St. Paul, Heme Hill, deserves great praise for being one of the first instances of a systematic em¬ ployment of colouring; and I trust that the same plan may be more carefully carried out in other Perpendicular Churches, if any such must be built. The window at the east of the north chapel is more pointed, it is filled with stained glass, representing in the lower com- " partments the history of the Blessed Virgin, and larger figures above them. The eastern one of the south chapel is somewhat different in form, being more obtusely pointed; in the head of it is some stained glass, a good deal mutilated, which appears to have once repre¬ sented the death of St. John the Baptist. The western window of the south aisle appears to be part of an older building, it is Flowing Decorated, but almost verging on Perpendicu¬ lar. If the opinion of general observers is any test of truth, the preference universally given to this, above all the other windows, is an evi¬ dence which of the two styles is the most beautiful, when viewed in detail. " The arrangements of the windows on the south side is somewhat singular; the most easterly one has a horizontal window still, under which is a small piscina. Such stills are not uncommon, and they may, prahaps, have served for side altars, or at least for supports, to place them on. The two or three next win¬ dows appear to have been used for lychnoscopes; they are considerably lower than those beyond them, and command a view of the high Altar from the exterior. The north side presents a similar difference in the height of the windows from the ground, but the peculiar feature of a flat still in the last window is wanting. " The roof of the nave is richly panelled, but of very low pitch; it is supported by beams rising from corbels, between the clerestory windows, without any pretence at spandrels. The ornaments at the intersections of the rafters in the chancel, which were put up some years ago, are iron. A fact by no means calculated to add much to the tranquility of those who are acquainted with it; as the huge flowers above them seem to have little cohesion with the roof, and their fall would probably involve the most serious consequen¬ ces. It is really quite unfair to the designer of the roof to place such heavy weights where he can have anticipated but little strain; and if they shall ever be found to have impaired the structure, the parish will become prac¬ tically acquainted with the maxim, that those who are penny wise are also pound foolish; and few persons will, I trust, pity them. " The walls of this venerable building are almost covered by monuments of the two last centuries; widows weeping over urns; fat boys naked and unblushing; bodyless head*