THE three great Kentish doorways of the Norman period at
Rochester, Patrixbourne and Barfreston are almost unique for two reasons,
for their charming beauty, and for the disposal of their rich ornament
over the whole of their wide upper surface. It is rare to find both
Tympanum and arch mouldings adorned with so great a profusion of figure
sculpture.1 An extended search through the County of
Yorkshire has lately convinced the writer that it quite equals our county
in the richness and variety of the carvings on the voussoirs and capitals
of the Norman doorways, while it lacks elaborate tympana to accompany
them.
There is no part of a doorway, even the bases and jambs,
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which may not sometimes be heavily ornamented; but Barfreston owes much to
the fact that its lower half is plain. The writer has been interested in
Norman doorways, and particularly in Barfreston, for over thirty years. He
has had the advantage of the generous help of experts in many fields,
whose names are given in this article. They have confirmed or corrected
his opinions on several obscure points. He cannot however saddle them with
a more general responsibility. The use of a Dallmeyer telephoto lens,
giving up to eight magnifications on a half-plate has enabled large scale
photographs to be taken, which may enable readers to judge for themselves.
1 Cf. Romilly Allen, Christian
Symbolism, p. 330.
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