Note 179 — Chapter VII · Plantagenet Gothic Architecture[174]

Four miles from Angoulême is the curious octagonal church of St. Michel d’Entraignes (1137), built up to its big dome, as it were. Close to it is Fléae, whose three cupolas have no separate bases, but are pierced directly by the big arcades, which is more the Byzantine way of making a cupola than the French. Six miles from Angoulême are the ruins of La Couronne abbatial, where once was a Plantagenet Gothic choir; and ten miles away, at Roullet, is a remarkable sculptured façade. Aulnay’s fine church has a decorated front, well-cut capitals, and a ribbed cupola, without distinct pedestal. Pont l’Abbé possesses one of the best Romanesque façades in France. At Ruffec and at Civray are others. There is a church at Charroux with the curious plan of three aisles round a central octagon. Cupola churches are to be found at Plazzac, Bassac, Gensae, Cognac, Souillae, and Solignac, six miles from Limoges. Studies of these churches by E. Lefèvre-Pontalis, L. Serbat, and André Rhein are to be found in the Congrès Archéologique, 1912.