Note 188 — INTRODUCTION. (continued 2)

Sir H. Dryden says this mode of putting on the arch was probably resorted to in order to give a support to the centre on which the arch was built. This seems highly probable, and in some cases it would seem as if the original supports still remain in the shape of two long thin slabs resting on the imposts on either side and meeting in the centre of the arch. See the engraving of the doorway in St. Mary’s Church, Kilbar, Barra, in Mr. Muir’s Characteristics of Old Church Architecture, p. 230.