Dr. Milner's
"intersecting hypothesis," as it is technically termed, is brief and
simple: "De Blois," he says, "having resolved to ornament the whole
sanctuary of his church with intersecting semicircles, conceived the
idea of opening them, by way of windows, which at once produced a
series of highly-pointed arches." Hence arose the seeming paradox,
that "the intersection of two circular arches in the church of St.
Cross, produced Salisbury steeple." Conclusive as this hypothesis may
appear, it has been much controverted, and among its opponents have
been men of great practical knowledge in architecture. Messrs. Brayley
and Britton observe "though the specimens referred to by Dr. Milner
may not entirely warrant the above supposition, yet they clearly mark
the gradation by which the Saxon and Norman styles of architecture
were abandoned, for the more enriched and beautiful order that has
conferred so much celebrity on the ecclesiastical architects of this
country."[9] The clever writer in _The Crypt_ remarks "the history of
the science appears so easy and natural according to Dr. Milner's
hypothesis, and so many difficulties must be softened down, so many
discordances reconciled, according to any other, as to go a very great
way towards establishing the credibility of his idea.
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