Architecture And Archæloogy.

Before I conclude , I woula briefly sum up the inferences which may be drawn from the very cursory and imperfect statements I have made on tho very wide and as yet unexhausted subject of Round Churches . You will at least have seen that our four round churches arc only a small remnant of a much larger number which once existed in England , and that those were not invariably connected with

tho orders of the Templars or of tho Hospitallers , though probably in almost every case ( the round chapel of Ludlow Castle , perhaps , being ono exception ) with some crusader or pilgrim to the Holy Laud , and , therefore , constructed in imitation , more or loss direct , of the Rotunda of the Holy Sepulchre- at Jerusalem ; in all which cases , as I have said , the " round " constituted the nave or western portion .

But from tho earliest Christian ages , and linking on by subtile but unbroken chain , with ancient Home and Greece , aud , indeed , with the monumental history of almost every people , there existed a scries of tombs , towers , temples , baptistries , chapels , of circular or curvilinear form , which had no connection with the Holy Sepulchre ( except that it was it-self one link in the general chain ) , and which , quite

irrespective of any imitation of that sacred building , arc to be traced in the round portion , wherever situated , of tho ecclesiastical buildings of tho Middle Ages , and which received their greatest and final devolpment in the manifoiled and multangular Rpscs , which constitute so striking and beautiful a feature of the finest continental churches . In contradistinction to tho use of tho rest of

Europe , England kept steadily , as a rule , to a square east end , and though at Canterbury and Tewkesbury , and in a lew other noted examples , the circular form appears , yet often , with obstinate and hardly excusable persistence , as at Peterborough and AA cstminstcr , she capped the curved apse with

a rectilinear addition , protesting , as it were , against tho foreign clement , aud reserving the round form for the western end . Round apses have been a favourite resuscitation with modern architects , and where , as in tho now chancel of St . Sepulchre ' s , they can give the reason why , there can be no objection to their introduction , but a ne ' w round church wc can never hope , never wish , to sec again :

tho reason and the feeling for it aro past ; and its form , which was ill-suited , even for the unreformed church , is doubly so for our own . As a baptismal vestibule , nothing can . he grander ; but in these days wo want too much room for our congregations to be able , in a new church , to throw away so much space ou mere architectural effect . The more incumbent upon us , thereforeis it to preserve that uni

, que and beautiful feature , when wc find it hero . The fifth round church in England wo shall never see ; but wo may yet make ours the most remarkable of tlie remaining four . There is more of the original in Maplcstcad , more completeness in Cambridge , more splendour of decoration in the Temple ; but for size and usefulness , for correct arrano'emenfc and artistic effect , for local association , and , above all ,

for supplying the urgent spiritual wants of a daily-increasing parish , the work which , your committee has taken in hand will , if carried out in ' its integrity , yield to no church restoration , whether of round church or square : and will , when finished , become the glory , as it has hitherto been the shame , of Northampton . That work is now thrown upon your bandsand I fullbelieve that will accept the

, y you responsibility , and carry it out . Don ' t- trust to groat men . or to rich men , or to strangers ; but do you , the middle ' classes of Northampton , hold it to be an ' honour that you have such a church to restore and enlarge , and enlarge imd restore it accordingly .

GENERAL ARCHITECTURAL , INTELLIGENCE . ' . Vim important work of restoring and cleansum tlie "rand west front of . Lincoln Cathedral has boon brought to a ' close for the present . season . It is anticipated that five vears will elapse before the task will be finished . A larce portion of the lead roofing of tho nave has been remoAxd , and is being replaced with new .

St . Andrew ' s ( WherrymnnV ) Gliurcli , Yarmouth , has been consecrated . The edifice is in the Early English style . It will accommodate -lOU adults , besides children . The organ , which , for iis size , is ui a fine tone , ivas the gift of Miss finrdett Coutls . The stone pulpit , carved , iV ' the gift of

another lady , as also is the lectern . The contract for the building is £ 1 , 0-50 . There are additional buildings yet to bo erected ; schools , & c , and more ground is required , to moot the cost of which £ 1000 more will he necessary . The paiish church of Bowdon , Cheshire , has been restored . Speaking generally , the characteristics of the old church have been preserved , Tho new building is of the

Perpendicular style of the fifteenth century . North and south transopts , each 13 ft . 9 in . by 20 ft ., arc added , as is also a north porch , an additional length of 21 ft . is also given to the chancel . The tow hasbcen rebuilt , and the total hei ght is 95 ffc ., apart from the pinnacles . The length of the church , from the inner line of the tower to the chancel ivindow , is 130 ft ., the nave is 20 ft . lin . widetho arcaded wallsmaking the side

; , aisles , 2 ft . 6 m . thick ; the north aisle 19 ft . wide , and the south , 17 ft . lOin . The height of nave and aisles has been increased several feet . The nave had an old tie-beam roof : the timbers from it have been converted into those for a hanimcr-bcam arch principal roof , ivith tracery filling the spaiulriis , and also with pendants , stone corbels , & c . The ceiling is panelled , with bosses at tho intersectionsand

, closely boarded . Tho chancel roof has arched principals , with king-posts , & c . The north aisle roof , which was restored some forty years ago , has been retained . The total number of sittings is 1 , 16-f , of which 100 arc set apart for children . The exterior is constructed of Runcorn red sandstone ; the interior work of stone from Lymm . Instead of pews , open seats have been substituted . Tho church is

lighted with gaseliers . Tho whole of the windows are ornamented Avith stained glass ; and in the chancel there is a memorial stained-glass window , representing the Crucifixion , erected by Alderman Neild to the memory of his deceased wife . A stained-glass window in the south of the chancel is also a memorial erected by Mr . Nicholls , of Altrincham . Two largo windows in the transcjits are to be thus decorated . The tower window is the memorial gift of Mrs . Clegg . Tho entire restoration is said to have cost £ 12 . 000 .

The church of Swanswick , Derbyshire , has been consecrated , The edifice is of the Decorated Gothic style , and consists of nave , 61 ft . long by 21-ft . wide ; a chancel , 39 ft . long and 19 ft . wide , with north and south aisles , of about the same length as the nave , and 13 ft . wide . The nave is divided into four bays , on each side supported by octagonal columns with equilateral pointed arches . The chancel arch is 40 ft . in

height . At the east end of the chancel , and occupying nearly the whole of the wall , is a three-light window , and on tho north and south sides are two-light windows . At the west end , and over tho chancel arch , is a triangular window filled with tracery . The sides of the church arc li ghted by four windows on each side of the aisles , and one four-light window over the principal entrance at the west endall of

, varied design and tracery . The ivholo of the roofs are of stained deal o ]) cn framing , with ironwork shown in relief with light blue and gilt . The sittings arc open , made of pitch pine , stained and varnished , and will accommodate about -1-50 persons , about 100 being sot apart for the school children . The floor , together with tho aisles , is boarded .

The church will bo lighted by gas-pendants , descending from the centre of the principals , and terminating in gilt stars , the shafts being of a bright blue . The acoustic properties of the building arc said to bo satisfactory . The church is built of stone from Amber-lane quarries , Ashover ; and the works have been executed at a cost , including the fence-walls , of £ ' 2 , 300 . The church is dedicated to St . Andrew .

Tho parish church of Ivnowle , AVarwiekshire , which had been closed since Easter for the purpose of restoring the interior , hasbcen reopened . The old high-backed peivs are replaced by open scats with stall ends , in Riga oak , many of them carved . The Avails have been scraped and cleaned , and the carved screen repaired . Tho floor has been paved with Minton tilesand other improvements have also been

, effected . . By the new arrangements , 180 sittings for the poor are obtained . The cost of tho alteration is about . 61 , 000 . The lirst stone of anew church at Bottom-gate , Blackburn , lias been laid . The design contemplates sittings for 7 G 6 persons on the ground-door , including children , and the estimated cost of erection is £ 3 , 000 . A suite of schools iilso is contemplated .