of any such arbitrary Division so to define and to cha-racterize the Architecture of its different Periods, as torender this Historical Survey and our future descriptionssufficiently intelligible.
One principal Division of Church Architecture hasbeen recognised and adopted by all who have studiedand written on the subject; that, namely, which sepa-rates Ecclesiastical Buildings into two classes, in thefirst or earlier of which the circular arch was exclusivelyemployed; and in the second or later, the pointed archalone was used. To the former of these two Classes,the term Romanesque has been given, and to the latter,the term Gothic.
This division is so simple, and at the same time sostrongly marked, that without entering into a discussionas to the value or propriety of the terms themselves,and contenting ourselves with the fact that they arealready in general use, we can have little hesitation inadopting this primary division as the groundwork ofour system.
At the same time, it is manifest, that, for purposes ofdescription, it is not sufficiently minute; and that afurther subdivision is necessary: it is also clear, thatit excludes a large class of buildings that were erectedduring the period which intervened between the firstappearance of the pointed arch, and the final disappear-ance of the circular arch.
As regards the buildings of the Romanesque Period,no subdivision of them can be more satisfactory than thatwhich has already been for some time in use, and whichdivides them into those which were built before and afterthe Conquest, and designates them accordingly Saxonand Norman.
As regards the buildings of that Intermediate Periodjust mentioned, to none can the term Transitional,so aptly be applied as to those erected under influences
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