William Bromet

“ Have any bones of man been found, and to what compass-point was the upper part of the skull directed? or the bones of inferior animals, or any wedge or hatchet-like objects of stone or metal—any shields, spears, swords, or other weapons—arrow-heads or knives of bone and flint—pottery, bone-pins, rings, beads, bracelets, collars, coins, been discovered under or near any such monuments as above designated, or in other localities? ”

“ Of these however, not noticing those described in guide-books, we have only space to mention—a chapel of Greek-cross form; a circular Byzantine building with a dome on a circular series of columns; a singular mosaic-like insertion of bricks into the stone-work of its early churches; a window-arch (bearing the date 1152) springing from columns based on couchant lions; and a flying buttress of the twelfth century; the symbolic statuary of the cathedral with its ancient tombs and mural inscriptions, and marble lining set in red cement ”

“ As to the most ancient vaults in Anjou—with the exception of the Byzantine cupolas at Loches and Fontevrault, which are completely domical—M. Godard stated them to be generally either of semicircularly wagon-form or very flatly groined and ribless; observing that Angevine churches, being usually without triforia, are not so lofty as those of other provinces. It appeared also that in Anjou pier-arches and their spandrels are plain, and that church-towers are mostly placed over the transepts, and consist of cubes surmounted with octagons. ”

“ Business was opened by a narration of the origin of the Society and of the good works that it had already accomplished, and of which the assembly testified its approbation by loud applause. Reports were then severally made on the historical monuments in the province of the Lyonnois, M. Branche requesting aid towards the restoration of a church in the Romano-Auvergnat style, and of one of the 14th century remarkable for a Dance of Death painted on its walls, and for being a good architectural example of a church suited to a village congregation. ”

“ Are they single or divided? Is their chief opening to the east or south? Have any bones or cinerary urns, or instruments of stone or bronze, been found beneath them? Are there any Celtic tumuli in their vicinity, and are there any collections of upright stones artificially placed in circles or otherwise? ”

“ The inspector of the Moselle then enumerated the labours of the Society in his department, one of which was the preservation of a Roman aqueduct, and the purchase of which structure was recommended as an instructive example of ancient subterraneous masonry. He stated, moreover, that the Préfet had forbidden any appropriation of the stones of a certain Roman causeway in the vicinity of some modern roadmaking, and that he had ordered all designs for any 'beautifications' of the cathedral at Metz to be previously subjected to the approval of a committee of taste ”

“ Aubin, the Director stated that, during the Romano-Byzantine epoch, our infant Saviour was almost always represented with the intellectuality of a good man, however inferior the art of sculpture then was in portraying the human figure, compared with that of representing vegetable substances. ”

“ Is there any ancient Castellated building in the parish? what is its natural position, and its ground plan, as to fosses, (wet or dry,) walls, ballia, mounds, towers, keep, chapel, kitchen, lodgings for the garrison, well, &c.
2. What old domestic edifices are there, whether mansions, halls, granges, or farm-houses? What are their general ground-plans, and their elevations, as to gables, parapets, dormer windows, roofs and chimneys, oriel windows, porches, and doorways? ”

“ At the second sitting, at two o'clock, M. Godard, the author of an excellent monumental history of Anjou, informed the Society as to the mouldings most worthy of remark in that province. M. de Caumont then animaderted on the great utility of locally studying the peculiarity of mouldings towards the formation of what might be termed architectonic zones ”

“ A statistical report was next made on the civil and religious edifices in the diocese of Le Mans, whence it appeared that of seven hundred churches therein no fewer than five hundred were as old as the eleventh and twelfth centuries—many of them having crypts and stained glass, of which a tabular view was in course of publication for the Society. ”

“ At the morning sitting of the 24th of June, under the presidency of the Marquis de la Porte, a memoir on the cathedral of Cahors was read, and a proposition thereon made that the Society should take down a wall then hiding a fine Byzantine doorway. Next followed a report upon the monuments of the province of Saintonge, proving that many of the towers therein said to have been erected by the English during their occupation of that district, were not built until after their departure. ”

“ M. de Caumont, as Director of the Society, then distributed a list of the questions for discussion at its subsequent great meeting at Angers, in which those questions not otherwise intelligible were illustrated by marginal woodcuts, and he afterwards read an essay on the Lantern-towers of ancient cemeteries, which was succeeded by a description of a beautifully carved organ-case put up A.D. 1531. A grant of money was then voted for two casts from some ancient sculpture at Le Mans; one for the museum there, and one for the Society's museum at Caen. ”

“ In reply to a question as to the manner of depicting Vice, reference was made to certain representations of men entwined by serpents, and of women sucked by toads and snakes. The Director then enquired the usual mode in Anjou of figuring Christ—whether by surrounding Him with the evangelistic emblems—one hand being in the attitude of benediction, and the other holding an open book—or by the Cluniac mode, with His arms spread out on each side; and whether the representation of God the Father by a hand placed on a crossed nimbus was ever met with in Anjou. ”

“ Have any ancient coins or seals been found—If so, state the metal of which they are composed, and send impressions in sealing-wax from the various kinds of them, stating precisely in what locality, and with what other ancient objects they were found? ”

“ What is its general direction by compass—And what are the names of those parts of the parish, whether hamlets, farms, or fields, which it traverses?
4. Have any ancient sculptured stones, or the foundations of any edifice been discovered near it?
5. Are there any regular elevations of earth, or enclosures called ancient camps, and does any ancient road or causeway terminate at such enclosures?
6. Is there any spot traditionally said to be a battle-field—and have any intrenchments, bones, warlike instruments, &.c. supporting such tradition, been found thereon or about? ”

“ Have any coffins of stone or of baked earth been found, either singly or in groups—And in what direction of the compass were the heads laid— If such coffins still exist, and have any ornaments or inscriptions, it would be desirable to take rubbings or impressions from them according to the method stated at page 211 of our first volume ”

“ M. Boilet then noticed a credence-table at Chasselay, and a description was given of a newly-discovered portion of the theatre at Lyons, the only Roman monument, except the aqueduct, now remaining in that city, urging the mayor to require notice of the discovery of any ancient substructure that may be discovered by the engineers now erecting the new fort, and to prevent any new houses from being built with Roman remains ”

“ The origin of various manufactures in Anjou, and the influence of monasteries on agriculture, having been discussed, an account of the castle and church of Noatre was read, and M. de Caumont, in the name of the Society, then thanking the inhabitants of Angers for their hospitality, concluded the session by requesting their assistance at the session to take place the next year at Bordeaux. ”

“ Other questions discussed were—Whether any Angerine churches of the eleventh and twelfth centuries were of circular or Greek-cross form, or with unusually arranged masonry, or peculiarly shaped buttresses, or the beak-moulding, the pearl-studded moulding, or that called by the French flabelliform, and more especially what churches had been fortified with machicolations. ”

“ Are any of them long stones vertically planted in the earth; are they isolated, or are they within, or near a circle of similar upright stones or other such monuments of a similar character?
6. Are any poised in equilibrio upon one another, as rocking-stones—Or are they in groups of two, three, or four, with another placed upon them horizontally so as to form a kind of altar—Or, if in greater numbers than three or four, are they so arranged as to form a long covered gallery, and to what point of the compass does such gallery open? ”

“ The meetings of the Society in 1841 took place at Clermont, at Le Mans, at Angers, at Cherbourg, and at Lyon during the session there of the Congres Scientifique de France. The meeting at Clermont was held on the 11th of June, under the presidency of M. Bouillet, its divisional inspector ”

“ Are any of these monuments on or near the bounds of the parish, or other ancient geographical division?
10. Are there any isolated or grouped conical or other shaped earthen mounds formed by man, not being parts of medieval fortifications—and were they, apparently, for military or sepulchral purposes ”

“ The Cherbourg meeting took place on the 18th of July, during the session of the Norman Association, M. de Caumont being president. Business began by voting thanks to M. Renault, for having stopped the demolition of a gateway of the twelfth century at Dompont. ”

“ Business commenced by a report on the restoration of a window of the twelfth century in the cathedral there, and a description of its subject, (the history of St. Julien;) followed by a notice of a Dolmen lately discovered in the vicinity, and the presentation of sundry archæological prints and drawings. ”