Bk. VI. Ch. III. WINDOW TRACERY. 159 Choir at Lincoln (1270-1282), in the nave of York (1291-1330), or better, in such abbeys as Tintern or Gainsborough. In the cliapter- hpuse at York (Woodcut No. 593) the style had already begun to deviate from the French pattern, and before the end of the 13th cen- tury, the English had so thoroughly assimilated it that hardly a trace of its original form was left. The chapel at Merton College, Oxford, is perhajS the most beautiful example remaining of that exquisite form of English tracery ; but St. Stephen's Chapel, Westminster, was 592. North Transept Window, Lincoln Cathedral. (Cath. Hb.) the typical example, and specimens of it are found in all our cathe- drals. One at St. Anselm's Ch.apel, at Canterbury (Woodcut No. 594) is perhaps as characteristic as any. When tracery had reached this stage, it seemed capable of any amount of development, and was ap- plicable to any form of opening. All the difficulties of fitting circles into spherical triangles, which had so puzzled the early builders, were conquered,^ and the range of design seemed unlimited. But during 1 It is not necessary to repeat here what was said on the subject in speaking of French tracery, vol. i. p. 566, to which the reader is referred.
