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In the best and most completely developed medieval work the art of masonry reached the highest possible standard ; one need only look at one of the great cathedrals of England or France to see the skill and care with which the stonework is put together, the scientific ability with which the great vaults are constructed, the thrusts met, and the loads carried, often on the slenderest supports. In this higher development of the medieval styles, the masonry is of excellent ashlar. In the humbler structures the facing is often of the plain rubble walling of the district, giving most charming results.

In Ireland, during the modern church building era, at first chiselled or punched ashlar was employed, and occasionally, with excellent effect, the plain local rubble walling. As time went on, what came to be known as 'rock-faced-ashlar was commonly used. It was cheaper than dressed work, but more costly than rubble. It is to my mind, as a rule, a singularly ugly facing, and is, I fancy, inclined to harbour damp. When there is much 'rock' on stone, and the stones are large, it takes away from the scale of the building, but so habituated have the masons and stonecutters become to it, that it is next to impossible to get anything else, unless punched or chiselled ashlar facing is specified. I have several times specified rubble facing, and the builders have put in 'rock-faced' stone, owing, I believe, to the difficulty of getting masons to do good rubble facing; in fact I am afraid it is fast becoming a lost art. As one drives along the country roads in certain districts one may often observe excellent examples of rubble masonry in the older walls enclosing fields or demesnes. Even in the North of Ireland, where freestones are more plentiful, the type of facing known as 'shoddies' is generally used, although the sandstones are capable of making delightful rubble facing, if only the mason knew how to do it. An example of the sensible and artistic use of plain facing is at Killarney Cathedral by Pugin. It is interesting and instructive to observe it and to see what an excellent effect has been obtained with the very sparing use of cut-stone. If one cannot get a good rubble face, I think it is better to pay for 'punched ashlar.' May I here put in a word in favour of the simple white-washed wall of common rubble masonry. It is almost the sole relic of traditional building we have in Ireland, and is quite suitable for an humble country church. It always looks clean and pleasant, never vulgar, and is cheap.

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What is now understood by the term 'cut-stone is chiselled stone in dressings, prepared by stone-cutters. Cutstone is expensive, and used here, there, and everywhere on the exterior of a church, without any well-defined object, runs away with money which might be expended to much better advantage on other purposes in the building. If one cannot have an entirely cut-stone or punched building face, then I think it is far better to try and get good plain rubble face, and concentrate the interest by employing cut-stone for special features, as in a good doorway, a tracery window, or the like. Breaking up the building often adds interest and avoids monotony when skilfully done, but the introduction of numerous breaks without particular reason other than to break it up,' adds enormously to the cost, and is meaningless and ineffective. So, too, are unnecessary finials, crockets, buttresses, etc., which, used without discrimination, only serve to make the church look 'fussy' and suggest the idea that they may have been introduced merely to conceal bad proportions. In fact, many modern church designs would have been vastly improved by a drastic use of india rubber! When stone facing cannot be afforded, good rough cast or pebble dash is by no means to be despised. Smooth cement finish is useful for keeping out the damp, but is better painted or whitewashed, or otherwise treated, and it ought not to be lined out in imitation of stone work.

Next to the walls, the most prominent and important feature of the exterior is the roof covering. It is astonishing how little thought has been given to this important item. In the vast majority of Irish churches, common large thin Welsh slates of ugly purple colour and uniform size have been used, producing an effect as if a huge flatiron had carefully smoothed them out. Even Pugin and other able architects of the day employed them. But then that was just at the beginning of the Gothic revival, and the older classical practice of concealing the low pitched roofs behind parapets had left its stamp. The only variation was to introduce bands of blue Welsh slates, or to surmount the ridge with a cast-iron cresting. Yet, we had at hand native slate of excellent quality and pleasing grey-green colour, harmonizing well with the native stone. Irish slates were occasionally used, but, owing to the practice of splitting them very large and very thin to compete with the Welsh slates in weight, to which the material does not lend itself, they failed on many roofs and 'got a bad name.' Had they

been used small and very thick, they would have been perfectly satisfactory. Trinity College, the Bank of Ireland, and Dublin Castle are roofed with such Irish slates, quite good after a century and a half. It is now difficult to procure properly manufactured Irish slates.

It is impossible to make a church roof look well with the common large thin slates of commerce. Good, thick, small slates of varying size and broken colour, which are sold by weight, laid in courses of graduated size from eave to ridge, should always be used in church roofs. Of course, they cost more, require more skill and care in handling, but they are worth it and, when well laid, make an almost everlasting roof of good appearance, giving scale and texture' to the building. The best slates come from Cumberland and Westmoreland, but good slates are also procured from Cornwall and Precelly in Wales. They vary in colour from a beautiful sea-green to grey-green and silver-grey, sometimes broken by reddish tints. Very effective results may be secured with varying broken tints. Fancy ridge tiles or crestings should be avoided; nothing looks better than a slate roll on the ridge, or a plain ridge tile as near the colour of the slates as possible. Lead was a favourite roof covering in the Middle Ages, but is now prohibitive in cost. Copper makes a beautiful roof covering, but is very costly.

I have dwelt at some length upon walling and roofing, because they are the chief features of the exterior, and when rightly done add great interest to the building.

Brick has been little employed in facing churches in Ireland, and the seldomer the better. Ireland is not a brick country, and ordinary brick walls do not stand well in exposed districts. The only native bricks now procurable are large ugly machine made-bricks of uniform colour, with which it is impossible to make an artistic wall. The modern native bricks are, moreover, too large, and of very poor quality of late. Small handmade bricks of varying colour, which are pleasant to look at, have ceased to be made in this country.

In the East of England, Holland, Belgium, Northern Italy, and parts of Germany, where stone is scarce and brick is the recognized material, there is a brick tradition, and some of the most beautiful churches have been built of this material.

Tiles have scarcely been used at all in this country for covering churches, and it is hardly necessary to discuss

them.

Good tiles make a beautiful roof, if used in broken tints or brindled colours.

The roof of a church is a very important feature of the interior. It would be difficult to imagine anything less artistic than the ordinary roof of varnished pitch pine or stained deal, so invariable a feature. To my mind a varnished pitch pine roof is enough to spoil any church. Best of all is stone vaulting, but it is seldom that funds will permit this most beautiful of all treatments to be adopted.

Next to it are open-timbered oak roofs. Some of the most exquisite examples are to be found in England, and have been described as 'the glory of the Eastern Counties.' Such roofs are also too costly for ordinary resources. Many of the Irish church roofs are open-timbered,' that is to say that all the constructional timbers are exposed to view, up to the ridge. Apart from the fact that they are usually varnished, and of an unpleasant yellow colour, their great fault is that the timbers are much too light for this treatment. The opentimbered roofs of the Middle Ages were of a massive construction, often richly fretted and carved. Thin timbers are a mere travesty of an open-timbered roof. Where only thin timbers can be afforded, then it is much better to cover them up with a with a 'waggon ceiling' or barrel vault, sheeted in wood or plastered, or to adopt some other simple device. Where such open roofs already exist, the best thing is to decorate them in colour and gold.

Ireland was once famed for its excellent oak, its superior density and closeness of grain causing it to be preferred by English architects of the Middle Ages for some of the most important buildings. The great open-timbered roof of Westminster Hall, the roof of Henry VII Chapel, Westminster, and the roof supporting the leads of the magnificent Chapel of King's College, Cambridge, came from the woods of Shillelagh.

Pitch pine or Oregon pine, unstained and unvarnished, left in its natural state, is a very suitable material where oak cannot be provided. If the timbers can be heavy, that is to say, the rafters not less than 4 inches thick, and everything else in proportion, then an open-timbered treatment may be attempted, otherwise it is better to cover up the roof: diagonal panels and similar patterns in sheeting always look cheap and vulgar. If carving or moulding be used it should be done in a natural and appropriate way. A brief study of any standard work on ecclesiastical architecture

containing illustrations of old roofs will explain what I mean. Timber vaulting was also used in the old churches and is very effective, either left plain or coloured and gilded, but never varnished. Concrete vaults may be constructed with good effect, and left as a field for colour decoration. They have the advantage of being fire-resisting.

Fibrous plaster is a very useful modern material that lends itself to colour decoration, but it should be used in such a way as not to imitate stone. As the material is actually cast in slabs, I think it is permissible to show the joints if desired, and so gain that effect of 'scale,' and texture too, which is one of the advantages of stone work.

In the old churches the walls were often lined with dressed-stone. It is rarely we find this in modern churches in Ireland, which is a pity, because the stone construction lends scale to the interior, is durable, and in time acquires a soft mellow tone. A sandstone of cream or reddish colour makes a very soft pleasant interior, and obviates the necessity for colour decoration. Hard limestones are apt to show condensed moisture. The architectural treatment of the doors and windows in stone adds much to the dignity of the church.

If, however, it is only possible to finish the interior in plaster, it is better to do it very simply without unnecessary mouldings, or attempts to simulate stone. I prefer a rough finish on the walls, and it is well to avoid the usual practice of finishing the mouldings or angles in white, the rest of the wall in grey, as it adds a jarring note.

The introduction into a church of columns of polished Scotch granite vulgarizes it. One involuntarily associates polished granite with tombstones and public-house countertops, and the shiny surface is very distracting. It is much better to have simple stone shafts, moulded if possible. It is also destructive of restfulness to introduce a large variety of materials. It is much better to mould the capitals of the shafts, or even to dispense with them, if ample funds for good carving are not available. The foliage carving commonly seen is without interest. It is purely mechanical as turned out by the journeyman carver. If carving is desired, then let it be the best possible, done by a carver who can impress his individuality on his work, and is capable of varying and giving interest to it.

Modern Irish church seats are ugly, and, as a rule, of varnished pitch pine or deal, which is almost an inevitable

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