THE EARLY ENGLISH STYLE.

The origin of what is loosely called Gothic architecture--which is
generally considered to include the styles, with their transitions, from
Early English to late Perpendicular, or Tudor-Gothic--is not free
from obscurity, but it is certain that it began to be employed in
ecclesiastical edifices about the time that the Goths settled in Italy,
although all the available evidence goes to prove that the style
originated and underwent its earliest developments in the north-west of
Europe, and penetrated by slow degrees to the south and east.

England was somewhat later than France in introducing this style of
architecture, our earliest purely Gothic building being Salisbury
Cathedral, begun in 1220, although the choirs of Rievaulx and Fountains
Abbey were commenced a few years earlier. The Early English style in its
earliest developments is nowhere seen to better advantage than in
Salisbury Cathedral, and in its very latest forms at Westminster Abbey,
the period of time being chronologically measured by the reigns of
Richard I., John and Henry III.

[Illustration: An Early English Arch.
Rochester Cathedral. _Photograph Eastmead._]

Most of our Gothic buildings were carried out under the supervision of a
master-mason, but the most subordinate workman was left plenty of scope
within reasonable limits for whatever artistic individuality he
possessed, and the enrichments and ornaments of the Gothic era point out
the noble aim, the delicate and graceful thought, the refined and
exquisite taste expended upon every portion of their buildings by these
Gothic masons.

[Side note: The Pointed Arch.]

One of the chief differences between pure Gothic and Norman
architecture is in the use of the pointed form of arch, yet in the study
of the early buildings of this date it is curious to notice how evenly
the balance is held between the pointed and the round arch, and how at
one time it was quite an open question whether the Gothic style would be
distinguished by a round or a pointed arch. In Germany and Italy the
round arch held its own and continued to be used right through the
Middle Ages. In England, however, the pointed arch soon gained a decided
victory over its rival. Many theories have been put forward concerning
the introduction of the pointed arch, one amongst them being that it was
the result of the intersection of two circular arches such as is very
commonly found in late Norman work;