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THE OLD ROOF OVER THE NAVE OF WEST CHURCH, STERLING.* By J. McLean. The old oak roof on the nave of the West Church, Stirling, is of very rude workmanship, its timbers being merely squared with the axe or the adze, the by-wood left unreduced, and the oak pins used for fixing the parts together being, in the upper portions, left projecting through both sides of the timbers, in the manner I nave endeavoured to show on the drawings. My first impression on seeing it was, that it had not originally been intended for exposure as an open timber roof; but on investigating the matter I found that the pendant parts rested upon carved stone capitals and corbels, and that the masonry between them was as well executed as that of any part of the interior of the church, 'also that there was not the slightest traces of a ceiling of any kind ever having been fixed to the walls or tie beams. And it was on considering these and other indications of minor importance that I was led to believe that the roof had been intended for an open timber one, that it was at least as old as the walls upon which it rested (apparently late fourteenth century) and taking into consideration the flat ness of its pitch, its peculiar construction and the rudeness of the workmanship, there was a great probability of its having belonged to a church of a much earlier date, the nave, pillars and responds of which support the clerestory of the present building. These pillars are circular on plan, 4 feet in diametre, and have bases and cppitals belonging to the transition Nor man style of architecture. There are other circumstances which may have had some thing to do with the great strength and flatness of the old roof, and the chief of these is that of the church being within range of the guns on the castle walls, and consequently liable to damage or destruction by any enemy who might be in posses sion of the same. This the builders of the church seem to have provided for, by making the walls of great thickness (4 feet) and putting no windows in this part of the clerestory which faces (the castle and the esplanade. The side aisles are vaulted with stone, and are at present covered with modern lean-to slated roofs; but, being of opinion that that was not the way they were roofed originally, I examined the space between the top of the vaulting and the said roofs, and there law corbels projecting from the clerestory wall at about the same level on the top of the aisle walls, and ovex - these corbels is a dripstone course, such as is used for covering in a roof, thus clearly indicating that the roof of the aisles had originally been perfectly flat, and in all probability so constructed for purposes of defence. Another reason fox - the strength and flatness of the old roof suggests itself on looking at the roof on the east end of the East Church (a building of much later date), where the cover ing is composed of large stone flags. It is likely that the oth S roofs were covered in the same maimer at one time, and were altered when they ceased to be water-tight; but this part being vaxxlted with stone, the admission of a little water would not be attended with the same discomfort, and so the flags would be allowed to remain. This view] of the matter is strengthened by the fact that the wall-heads behind the para pets of both the churches are done in this manner instead of with lead. The tower of the West Church has been designed with a view to safety or defence, as it has bartizan parapets on the north and south sides, and an embattled platform on the top. On the east face of the tower there are drip-stones pro jecting in a line corresponding to the pitch of the roof, which seem to indicate that the roof of the chureh has been lowered, but on examination there are no traces to be found of the roof ever having been higher than it is at present; and, judging from the appearance of the masonry and the baronial character of its design, I am of opinion that the tower is a work of later date, and that when they were building it they had intended adding height to the clerestory, ox - perhaps groining the nave at the same time, and so left the drip-stones above refer red to. * Communicated to the Royal Institute of British Architects. ART AT 'ATHENS. Signor Kaftangioglu, Architect, in a communication re cently made to the Royal Institute of British Architects, states:—“ I wish to give you some account of Art at Athens, knowing the interest you take in the subject. After the fall of King Otho, art lost a great protector at Athens, and I was myself obliged to resign my appointment as Director of the School of Fine Arts, which is now in the hands of the mili tary engineers. In revenge I was happily charged by the executors of a rich individual to execute my project for a School of the Fine Arts, called Polytechnic, at a cost of £80,000. Four years are passed since it was commenced. The sub-basement, all the columns, the cornices, windows, are of Pentelic marble. The plan of the edifice is divided into three separate blocks ; three-fourths ax - e now built, and I hope to cover it in in the course of the year. The elevation has a length of about 330 English feet; in fact, it is the largest building now constructing at Athens. Besides this Poly technic School, we are now erecting a Museum for Antiquities after the plan of a German architect, Professor Lange, of Munich. The expense will be met by a rich Greek at Peters burg, M. Tosigon, and a Candiot lady, Mdlle. Bernardachi. The works also of an Academy of Literature and Science will be soon resumed, after having been suspended for some time : it is being built by Hanson, at the expense of the rich Greek banker, Sina, of Vienna. The Archffiological Society have decided, with the money raised by means of a lottery, upon laying open the remains of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, which, as you know, are covered by the houses of the village. But unfortunately the money required, amounting to £8,000, is not sufficient to buy up the village. Neither France nor England have yet taken part in this important matter. In the meantime I send you a leaf of laurel, which I plucked on the spot. The day before yesterday a representation took place in the Odeum of Herodes Atticus, of the Antigone of Sophocles. Thus after so many centuries, the Theatre of Herodes Atticus again vibrated with the accents of the uni versal poetry of Sophocles. The railroad from Athens to Piraeus, by an English contractor, is on the point of being commenced. Unfox’tunately the line chosen fox - the station is not favourable either fox - the antiquities nor commercial in terests, having been injudiciously selected.” CAUSES OF SHOALS AND POOLS IN RIVERS. To the Editor of the Civil Engineer and Architect’s Journal. Sib,—Having had occasion with reference to a legal ques tion, to inquire into the causes of the formation of pools and shallows which existed in the upper part of a river to which the tide had no access, I beg leave to bring before your readers the conclusions at which I arrived. Where not due to changes in the geological formation of the soil, shallows are occa sioned either by sudden bends in the river, in which case they are formed on the convex side <J the stream, or by great enlargements of the flood-water channel. Conversely, that deep pools are due either to sudden bends, in which case they are formed on the\concave side of the stream, or to sudden contractions of the flood-water sectional area, owing to the banks above the summer icater-level being high and steep. In other words, where the stream has a straight course and the soil is homogeneous, there is a constant relation subsisting between the flood-water and summer-water sectional areas, and these two are inversely proportional to each other. I believe these views will be found to tally with what is everywhere observed in nature, and as I have never seen them stated, perhaps you will find room for this letter in your next number. January, 1868. T. S. THE ARCHITECTURAL ASSOCIATION. The regular fortnightly meeting of this Association was held on the 20th ult., on which occasion twelve new members were elected. The President stated that at the distribution of prizes at the
