XVIII. Observations upon some Ancient Buildings in Prussia; by John Adey Repton, Esq. F.S.A. In a Letter to Nicholas Carlisle, Esq. F.R.S. Secretary

Extract

Permit me through your hands to communicate to the Society of Antiquaries, a few Specimens of ancient Buildings, collected during a professional journey in Prussia. I did not meet with any remains of pure Saxon or Norman Architecture, i. e. buildings consisting of the Semi-circular Arch alone. The earliest specimens of antiquity I have been able to find, are those composed of a mixture of the Semi-circular and the Pointed Arch, as in the drawings marked I. and II. If we are to judge from the style of Architecture in England, these buildings appear to have been erected between the year 1150 and 1200; and which is remarkable, they are composed of moulded bricks, of which we have no example in this country at so early a period (except in the works of the Romans). In the northern part of Germany bricks are generally used, and frequently covered with composition, see a specimen of a church tower in Berlin, in the drawing No. III. the character of which is of the reign of our Henry the Third. The drawing No. IV. represents two windows from another Church in Berlin, which may be considered curious from the slenderness and great length of the munnions, composed of moulded bricks, which like the church windows in Holland are carried to great perfection, and differ much from the heavy brick munnions as executed in England during the 16th and 17th centuries.