Ornamental iron work was executed in France and in England before the Roman occupation of these countries, but any early remains of this work that have been found in either country are supposed to be of the Roman period. The Romans were not skilled in the working of iron, although well conversant with the manufacture of bronze objects.

Remains of iron hasps, escutcheons, window grilles, candlesticks, folding chairs, etc., have been found in France and in England, of the Romano-Gaulish and British periods, that have a great similarity of style, and, indeed, up to the fifteenth century the style and design of iron work in both countries were pretty much alike.

The most interesting examples of the blacksmith's art of the Middle Ages - in England especially - are the hinges to the church doors. The first hinges were simple single straps of iron that passed from back to front of the door, the socket being formed out of the solid piece at the angle on one side. The front side of this strap by degrees was clawed out, or otherwise elaborated, to cover as much of the door as possible, so as to form an armour of defence against predatory robbers, such as the barbarous Norse pirates who were continually invading the British shores.

A favourite form of the hinge was the crescent shape; sometimes the hinge branched out in a simple crescent with curved and bifurcated endings that may have symbolized the snake or birds' heads, and often two or three of these crescents branched out from a central bar. Between the hinges additional bars or straps were sometimes run across the door to strengthen it, and elaborate foliated crosses often occupied the central part, as in Fig. 199.

On some of the old Norman doors, in addition to the hinges, as at Stillingfleet Church, there are designs in iron work which consist of mystical signs of Danish origin, such as a viking ship or sun ship, the swastika or fylfot, moon signs, and rude images of the human figure.

The crescent hinge may have had a symbolical meaning, perhaps Scandinavian, or it may have originated in the Saracenic crescent, and may have been brought from Sicily, the birthplace of Norman architecture.

The art of the blacksmith in the Middle Ages was more developed in France than in any other country of Europe, and the art of stamping the leaves, stems, and rosettes with steel or chilled iron dies and punches was practised there earlier than the thirteenth century, and at a period a little later in England. The ornament was in style very little more than the Romanesque type of the conventional vine, or other leaf of a like nature - the cinquefoil, trefoil, rosettes, and scrolls, but these few elements were used in the most effective manner (Fig. 200).

The Magnificent Hinges On The Porte St. Anne Of Notre-Dame

The Magnificent Hinges On The Porte St. Anne Of Notre-Dame at Paris show to perfection the French stamping on the leaves and other parts. These unrivalled hinges (Fig. 201) are of the Early French style of the thirteenth century. Nothing, however, is known of their origin, nor even the name of the smith who forged them. Each hinge is composed of six large scrolls springing from the central bar or stem, all of which are richly clothed with spirals, foliage, birds, and dragons; the whole design is supposed to represent the terrestrial Paradise.

Exceedingly rich, but not so elaborated as the hinges of the Church of Notre-Dame, is the herse, or grille, of English work of the same period, which surmounts the tomb of Queen Eleanor in Westminster Abbey (Fig. 202). This fine example of English smithery was made by Thomas de Leghtone in the year 1294. It is a clever adaptation of hinge-work to the design of a grille. Mr. Gardner supposes Leghtone to be connected with Leighton Buzzard, as the same kind of iron work as the Eleanor grille occurs in the hinges of the parish church door of that place, and also from the fact that similar work is found on many other church doors of the same-period lit Bedfordshire at Eaton Bray and Turvey, for instance; also at Norwich, Tunstall, Windsor, Lichfield, and Merton College, Oxford, are examples of the same kind of work, which no doubt was executed by Thomas de Leghtone and his assistants.

After the end of the thirteenth century examples are scarce of genuine wrought-iron work, for the fashion changed at that time in the manner of working the metal. Sheets and bars of iron were cut in the cold state into various patterns by the use of chisels and files, the pieces being fastened together by rivets and small collars or ties of metal. Much of this work was done in Italy, in imitation of marble and wood panelling, and a very common method consisted in making the grilles in Italy of riveted quatrefoils. A fine grille of this character is in the Church of Santa Croce of the date of 1371. In the churches and palaces of Venice, Florence, Verona, etc., there are many good examples of grilles that resemble in a great degree joinery work in iron.

In Germany the love for iron work was not developed so early as it was in France and England, and it was not until Gothic architecture took a firm hold in that country in the end of the thirteenth century that the first serious attempts were made in the use of decorative iron work, and, like their architectural forms, the German wrought-iron work was inspired by French examples.

German Work In Iron Of The Thirteenth Century

German Work In Iron Of The Thirteenth Century is very scarce: one of the best-known examples occurs in the iron work on the doors of the Church of St. Elizabeth at Marburg, near Cassel, which consists of branching scrollwork clothed with vine-leaf endings.