character they are ornamented with foliage of very similar character to the Early English, called stiff-leaf foliage (174), but the work is in general not so highly finished, nor so elegant and graceful. The moulded capitals, bell-shaped without foliage, which are so common in Early English work, are scarcely found at all in France.

EARLY FRENCH BASES are either of the character which in England is transitional Norman, or they are nearly the same as the Early English, with the deep hollow to hold water. In some instances the plinth is ornamented with fluting, or otherwise enriched.

EARLY FRENCH ORNAMENTS differ much from the Early English, except the foliage, which is of nearly the same character, though generally not so highly finished, and less elegant. The tooth-ornament, which in England is so abundantly used as to bo rarely wanting in a building of this period, is rarely found in the Royal Domain of France. An ornament closely approaching to it is found in transitional work, as it is also in England, but the true tooth-ornament with undercutting, which is one of its chief characteristics, is found only in some parts of France, and does not occur in some of the finest buildings of this style, where we should naturally expect to find it; and when used at all, it is very sparingly. Its place is supplied either by crockets or by foliage; and in the hood-moulds of windows, the hollow mouldings of canopies, &c., an ornament not found in England is freely used; it sometimes bears a resemblance to the ball-flower, but is in general more like a rose.

EARLY FRENCH BUTTRESSES are generally very massive and bold; in the earlier examples quite plain, but in later ones enriched with shafts and pinnacles, and often with figures under canopies on the face of them. From the great height of the vaults to be supported, the flying-buttresses often consist of two, sometimes of three arches, one above the other, and under each arch there is usually a detached shaft near the face of the wall, but separated from it by a passage (170); the lower arch is also frequently filled up with an arcade of small arches, or a range of small shafts. Each of the large separate buttresses is often quite a fine structure.

EARLY FRENCH TOWERS do not greatly differ from the Early English, but the belfry windows are frequently much more elongated, often forming a triplet of long narrow lancets (175); and these are frequently well moulded, even when the windows of the church are entirely

The example here given is perhaps rather an exceptional one than what is usual, but for that very reason it indicates more clearly the idea, and shews the marked difference in the recesses between an English and a French belfry-tower of the same period.

without mouldings. These towers are frequently placed at the angles of the west front and of the two transept fronts, but seldom rise much above the level of the roof, because they are often left un

finished. They are sometimes terminated by square pyramids hardly amounting to spires, but these belong generally to the earlier period; short octagonal spires of wood, covered with slate or shingles, are sometimes

used, and round or conical spires, which are generally placed on an octagonal belfry-story'. In small village churches the tower is often in the centre, and frequently terminated by a high-pitched roof, with two gables, commonly called a saddle-back roof: this kind of roof is very common in some parts of France, espccially in the Cotentin and other districts of Normandy. These sometimes have a stair-turret in the centre of one of the sides, of a semi-hexagonal form, corbelled out at the top to form a square, and carry a similar roof to the tower itself, as at Versainville (176). In the Cotentin, an octagonal tower often has the angles corbelled out to carry the square base of a saddle-back roof, the effect of which is extremely picturesque, but the antiquity of these roofs is somewhat doubtful: in some instances the roof is considerably later than the tower; in fact, this fashion seems to have continued in that district quite to the last century, along with ridgecrest tiles and other medieval customs.

Early French spires differ considerably from the English type. They are generally octagonal, with a small round moulding on the angle. Some of the finest examples are St. Stephen's at Caen, the old one at Chartres, and that of Vendome, all belonging to the early Gothic. Openings are pierced at intervals, sometimes merely small round holes, sometimes trefoils or quatrefoils; and at intervals between these openings are bands of ornament cut upon the surface, most commonly in the form of wooden shingles, as at

• For more full information respecting the church towers of France, see the article Clocher in the admirable Dictionnaire of M. Viollet-le-Duc.

St. Peter's at Caen (177), the actual date of which is A.D. 1308; but its style is that of the thirteenth century. At a somewhat later period there are also very commonly crockets on the angles of the spire, sometimes large, more often small, and at more rare intervals than is the case in England, where` crockets are used; but in English work they are not so frequently used. There are several very fino Early French spires in the neighbourhood of Cacn; but perhaps the most remarkable in France is that of the Kreisker Church at S. Pol de Léon, in Brittany: from its enormous height, and the consequent great projection of the buttresses, the whole church seems built as a support to the spire.

THE WEST FRONTS of Early French churches are generally very fine, though it is rare to find one perfect. The design is generally the same, or there is at least a great general resemblance: the principal features aro thrco largo doorways, usually very much enriched with sculpture: over the central doorway is a large window, which generally has a foliated circle in the upper part of it, and over this the gable, crocketed, sometimes with sculpture on the face of it, and a small figure on the finial. On each side are the flanking towers, which, if perfect, are