Chap. III. CAPITALS.

977
and extent of the great piers In cathedrals and abl)eys. Piers in the perpendicular period
are generally of ol)long or parallelogramniic plan, the longitudinal direction extending
from north to south
{Jig.
1:516.). On the east and west sidi?s
half shafts are attaclied, which bear the innermost order or
soffit mouldings of the arcli ; the rest, including the great
hollow, being usually continuous, witliout the interruption of
any impost. The plan of the pier in Henry VI I. 's Chapel is a
fine example
{fig.
1324.) of such an arrangement ; and
fig.
1059.
shows the continued adoption of the decorated piers in the later
portion of the nave of Westminster Abbey. Sometimes tiie
ground plan is a square, set angleways (as in the nave of
Canterbury Cathedral,
fig.
1299., and at Bath Abbey Church,
fig.
1320.),
and each angle maty have an engaged shaft of a
Fig. 1079. iiowi.KN ciiLucH.
circular or ogee form.
CAPITALS.
The mouldings of capitals and bases are more definitely marked in the various periods
tl'an any otlier kind of mouldings.
"
It is by no means impossible, evon for an experienced
oyc, to mistake the details of a decorated for those of a perpendicular arch
; but no one
moderately acquainted with the subject could hesitate in pronouncing the style of a capital
or hase, provided it possessed any character at all. In the Norman period, when the shaft
was round, the highest and lowest members only were S(]uare, the parts itnmediately next
them being rounded off to suit the shape of tlie shaft
{fig.
1266.). This is seen in the
ordinary form of the cushion capital. We may observe the lingering reluctance to get rid
of the square plinth, in the tongue-shaped leaves or other grotesque excrescences wliich are
ol'ten seen to issue from tiie circular mouldmgs of transition Norman bases." Fig. 1080. is
a curious example of the square form in front (N), and the circular moulded form in rear, of
the shaft, shown on plan,
fig.
1076. As soon as a sub-arch was introduced the corners of the
capitals were either cut oif or cut out : the former process
produced the octagonal form
;
the shape of tiie shaft produced
KiB. I
OK
I.
FOUNTAINS AliUKY ; Cllflllt.
Scale, the same lu to fig. 1UU4.
the circular capitals and base. But capitals became octagonal before plinths : and
similarly octagonal plinths were retained long after circular capitals had become universal.
3 R