Cotmania. Vol. III. 1928-9

It would not be proper to dismiss the question, whether England or France affords the earliest specimens of Pointed architecture, without adverting to the statements of Mr Dawson Turner. That gentleman, having surveyed the ecclesiastical edifices of Normandy, may be considered as qualified to give a sound opinion on this intricate question. He conceives that the Pointed arch was introduced into Norman buildings earlier than into English churches. Speaking of the Cathedral Church at Lisieux, he observes, "The date of the building establishes the fact of the Pointed arch being in use, not only as an occasional variation, but in the entire construction of churches upon a grand scale, as early as the eleventh century. Sammarthanus tells us that Bishop Herbert, who died in 1049, began to build this church, but did not live to finish it; and Ordericus Vitalis expressly adds, that Hugh, the successor to Herbert, upon his death-bed, in 1077, while retracing his past life, made use of these words: - 'Ecclisiam Sancti Petri, principis apostolorum, quam venereabilis Herbertus, praedecessor meus, coepit, perfeci, studiose adornavi, honorifice dedicavi, et cultoribus necessariique divino servitio vasis aliisque apparatibus copiose ditavi.' Language of this kind appears too explicit to leave room for ambiguity; but an opinion has still prevailed, founded properly upon the style of architecture, that the cathedral was not finished till near the expiration of the thirteenth century. Admitting however, such to be the fact, I do not see how it will materially help those who favour the opinion; for the building is far from being, as commonly happens in great churches, a medley of incongruous parts; but it is upin one fixed plan, and as it was begun, so it was ended."
In assigning this early date to the introduction of the Pointed style in Norman buildings, Mr Turner differs materially in opinion with the Abbe de la Rue, who says, "We do not find usually any semicircular arches in Normandy of the tenth, eleventh and twelfth centuries; on the other hand, Pointed arches, and ogee arches are only to be found in the roofs, windows and doorways of churches raised in the thirteenth and following centuries. In the same manner, we find those two styles prevailing in England at corresponding periods, and their differences affords English antiquaries the principal means of distinguishing Norman and Anglo-Norman structures from those of another kind."
These remarks of a writer, whose authority, on points relating to the antiquities of Normandy, must necessarily have considerable influence, if they do not directly invalidate the opinions of Mr Turner, at least render somewhat questionable the high antiquary which he attributes to certain Norman buildings in the Pointed style. That gentleman, indeed, makes a remark which shows that the criterion mentioned by Mons. de la Rue is not always to be depended on. "Those who attempt to decide upon the dates of Norman edifices, judging from the character of their ornaments, or the comparative profusion of their decorations, will do well