symbolic art, known as Celtic, of
which we have examples on old Irish crosses, and particularly on
illuminated MSS. was wrought by the Christian monks of the 7th and 8th
centuries, but what is generally understood as Christian symbolic art
had its finest development about the 13th century. Gothic art is
essentially symbolic and in many instances, its individual forms have
specific significance. Thus the common equilateral triangle was used to
symbolize the Holy Trinity, as are the two entwined triangles. Other
symbols employed at this period setting forth the mystery of the Unity
of the Trinity, without beginning and without end, are three interlaced
circles, and a very curious one is that in which three faces are so
combined as to form an ornamental figure. Baptism under the immediate
sanction of the Divine Trinity was represented by three fishes placed
together in the form of a triangle. So numerous, indeed were such
Christian symbols after the 9th century that a mere enumeration of them
would occupy considerable space. Every trefoil symbolized the Holy
Trinity; every quatrefoil the four Evangelists; every cross the
Crucifixion, or the martyrdom of some saint; and in Gothic ornament and
decoration, we find the Chalice, the Crown of Thorns, the Dice, the Sop,
the Hammer and Nails, the Flagellum and other symbols of our Lord's
Passion.

[Illustration: Plan of a Typical Gothic Cruciform Parish Church.
(St. Mary, Luton, fully described in No. 47 of this Series).
_Drawn by Ed. Craven Lee._]

Although presenting the same characteristics in their external design,
our town and village churches are very various. The simplest form, and
the one most commonly found, is that of a nave and chancel, with a tower
at the west end; to which plan may be added aisles and transepts, the
latter often being wrongly called "cross-aisles." When the walls of the
nave above the arcade rise above those of the aisles and are pierced
with windows, the upper portion is called the clerestory, the meaning
of which word is not free from obscurity; it seems probable that it
indicates the clear story--the story which rises clear of the nave and
aisles. In large buildings, they are important both for utility and
beauty, but in small and early churches, they are of less importance.

It is a well-known fact that the chancel and nave of a church generally
stand east and west. This arrangement, called the orientation, is
symbolic of the teaching that