The west front, in which the
windows are all pointed, was probably one of the last portions
completed. The interior is principally of semi-circular architecture,
with piers unusually massy, and capitals no less fanciful and
extraordinary than those already noticed at St. Georges. Here, however,
we have fewer monsters. The ornaments consist chiefly of foliage, and
wreaths, and knots, and chequered work, and imitations of members of the
antique capital. Some of the pillars, instead of ending in regular
capitals, are surmounted by a narrow projecting rim, carved with
undulating lines. It has been supposed that this ornament, which is
quite peculiar to the church of St. Hildebert, is a kind of
hieroglyphical representation of water.--Perhaps, it is the chamber of
Sagittarius; or, perhaps, it is a _fess wavy_, to which the same
signification has been assigned by heralds.--If this interpretation be
correct, the symbol is allusive to the ancient situation of the town,
built in the midst of a marsh, intersected by two streams, the Epte and
the St. Aubin.
While we were on the point of setting out from Gournay, we had the
pleasure of meeting Mr. Cotman, who landed a few days since at Dieppe,
and purposes remaining in Normandy, to complete a series of drawings
which he began last year, towards the illustration of the architectural
antiquities of the duchy.
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