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ROUND TOWERS

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Originally appearing in Volume V23, Page 774 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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ROUND TOWERS . A See also:peculiar class of round See also:tower exists throughout See also:Ireland; about one See also:hundred and twenty examples once existed; most of these are ruined, but eighteen or twenty are almost perfect. These towers were built either near or adjoining a See also:church; they are of various See also:dates, from perhaps the 8th to the 13th See also:century; though varying in See also:size and detail, they have many characteristics See also:common to all. They are built with walls slightly battering inwards, so that the tower tapers towards the See also:top. The See also:lower See also:part is formed of solid See also:masonry, the one See also:doorway being raised from 6 to 20 ft. above the ground, and so only accessible by means of a See also:ladder. The towers within are divided into several storeys by two or more floors, usually of See also:wood, but in some cases, as at Keneith, of See also:stone slightly arched. The See also:access from See also:floor to floor was by ladders. The windows, which are always high up, are single See also:lights, mostly arched or with a See also:flat stone See also:lintel. In some of the See also:oldest towers they have triangular tops, formed by two stones leaning together. One peculiarity of the See also:door and window openings in the Irish round towers is that the jambs are frequently set sloping, so that the opening grows narrower towards the top, as in the temples of . See also:ancient See also:Egypt. The later examples of these towers, dating from the 12th and 13th centuries, are often decorated with See also:chevron, See also:billet and other See also:Norman enrichments round the jambs and See also:arches. The roof is of stone, usually conical in shape, and some of the later towers are crowned by a circle of battlements.

The height of the round towers varies from about 6o to 132 ft.; that at Kilcullen was the highest. The masonry differs according to its date, the oldest examples being built of almost uncut See also:

rubble See also:work, and the later ones of neatly jointed See also:ashlar. Much has been written as to the use of these towers, and the most conflicting theories as to their origin have been propounded. It is fairly certain, however, that they were constructed by See also:Christian builders, both from the fact that they always are or once were near a church, and also because crosses and other Christian emblems frequently occur among the sculptured decorations of their doors and windows. Their See also:original purpose was probably for places of See also:refuge, for which the solid See also:base and the door high above the ground seem specially adapted. They may also have been See also:watch-towers, and in later times often contained bells. Their circular See also:form was probably for the See also:sake of strength, angles which could be attacked by a battering See also:ram being thus avoided, and also because no See also:quoins or dressed stones were needed, except for the openings—an important point at a See also:time when tools for working stone were scarce and imperfect. Both these reasons may also See also:account for the Norman round towers which are so common at the See also:west end of churches in See also:Norfolk, See also:Suffolk and See also:Essex, though these have little resemblance to those of Ireland except in the use of a circular See also:plan. One example exactly like those of Ireland exists in the Isle of See also:Man, within the precincts of See also:Peel See also:Castle adjacent to the See also:cathedral of St See also:German; it was probably the work of Irish builders. There are also three in See also:Scotland, viz. at Egilshay in See also:Orkney, and at See also:Abernethy and See also:Brechin. Round towers wider and lower in proportion than those of Ireland appear to have been built by many prehistoric races in different parts of See also:Europe. The towers of this class in Scotland are called "brochs "; they See also:average about 5o ft. high and 30 ft. in See also:internal See also:diameter.

Their walls, which are usually about 15 ft. thick at the bottom, are built hollow, of rubble masonry, with See also:

series of passages one over the other See also:running all round the tower. As in the Irish towers, the entrance is placed at some distance from the ground; and the whole structure is designed as a stronghold. The brochs appear. to have been the work of a pre-Christian See also:Celtic See also:race. Many See also:objects in See also:bronze and See also:iron and fragments of See also:hand-made pottery have been found in and near these towers, all bearing See also:witness of a very See also:early date. (See See also:Anderson, Scotland in See also:Pagan Times, 1883, and Scotland in Early Christian Times, 1881.) The nuraghi of See also:Sardinia are described in the See also:article on that See also:island. During the 6th century church towers at and near See also:Ravenna were usually built round in plan, and not unlike 'those of Ireland in their proportions. The finest existing example is that which stands by the church of S. Apollinare in Classe, the old See also:port of the See also:city of Ravenna (see See also:BASILICA, fig. 8). It is of See also:brick, divided into nine storeys, with single-See also:light windows below, three-light windows in the upper storeys, and two-lights in the intermediate ones. The most magnificent example of a round tower is the well-known leaning tower of See also:Pisa, begun in the See also:year 1174. It is richly decorated with tiers of open See also:marble arcades, supported on See also:free columns.

The circular plan was much used by Moslem races for their minarets. The finest of these is the 13th-century minar of Kutb at Old See also:

Delhi, built of See also:limestone with bands of marble. It is richly fluted on plan, and when See also:complete was at least 250 ft. high. The best account of the Irish round towers is that given by See also:Petrie in his Ecclesiastical See also:Architecture of Ireland (See also:Dublin, 1845). See also See also:Keane, Towers and Temples of Ancient Ireland (Dublin, 185o) ; Brash, Ecclesiastical Architecture of Ireland (Dublin, 1875) ; and See also:Stokes, Early Architecture in Ireland (Dublin, 1878). (J. H.

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