But as no probable reason can be assigned for this supposition, and I think
it is very certain that the Jews who were settled in Cambridge had their
synagogue, and probably dwelled together in a part of the town now called
the Jewry, so we may reasonably conclude the round churches we find in
other parts of this kingdom were not built by the Jews for synagogues,
whatever the places may be called in which they stand."--It has been
generally allowed by these and other writers on archaeology, that the
primitive church of this form was that of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem,
and that the Temple Church at London was built by the Knights' Templars,
whose occupation was the protection of Christian pilgrims against the
Saracens. It has been further urged by a correspondent (Charles Clarke,
Esq. F.S.A.) in the first volume of Britton's "Architectural Antiquities,"
that two of the before-mentioned round churches, namely, Northampton and
Cambridge, were in fact built by "affluent crusaders, in imitation of that
of the Holy Sepulchre;" and in support of his opinion he cites several
historical notices.

[1] The circular part.

The late perfect restoration of the Temple Church ought to be proudly
recorded in our architectural annals. The excellence of the workmanship,
and the native purity of the detail, evince not only scientific skill, but
also a laudable motive of preserving this antique specimen of pure
Anglo-Norman architecture from the ravages of time. Let the architect's
attention be directed to the western doorway, and also to the interior of
the church; and here, in good preservation, he will see excellent specimens
of their mode of ornamenting the moldings by the cable, the lozenge, the
cheveron, the nail-head, the billet, &c. &c., ornaments peculiar to the
_round style_. The circular-headed windows, with their slender columns,
also show, that in the restoration the style has not been tampered with;