Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 29.djvu/260

 210 THE SHRINE OF ST. ALBAN. pulled do^Yll. The lower juirt of a fiuure of St. Erasmus, a part of au aim probably of St. Johu ]>aptist, and the Avhole of a very fine statue of St. George, are all that have been met M'ith, except a few pieces of figures, ou a small scale, amongst which is the trunk of a small crucifix. From this we may gather that the images were not removed at the time when the church was made parochial. We cannot hope that all the fragments which have been found can be restored to their old places, but they should not for that reason be the less taken care of. i^fany of them are of great beauty, and correspoiidiug iiortions may at some time be found to them. I would suggest that they be all labelled as to where they were found, and not stacked toge- ther, but placed where they may easily be examined. The Lady Chapel, which is now only used for a Sunday school, and, when re-united with the church, is not likely to be re- quired for ecclesiastical purposes, seems to be just the place for the preservation of these shattered relics ; indeed, the chapel should be treated as one of them, not " restored," but put into substantial repair and left to tell its own tale. [In the following letter. Sir Gilbert Scott explains how the difhculties with respect to the date of the St. Alban's Shrine may be reconciled.] I AM asked to state my opinion on the probable date of the substi'ucture of the shrine of St. Albaii. If we are to believe the statement of Thomas Walsingham, we should set it down at once as having been made under the direction of Abbot John de ^^larinis, in l.'K)Sj as he says that this Abbot caused " the marble tomb, which we now see, to be constructed at a cost of eight score marks.'' As, how- ever, Walsingham wrote two generations later, I think we are at liberty to test his statement by the character of the work. Some paits of the carving of the cornice might very well agree with the date assigned, while other parts of the same look very mu<h later, and the tracery in the in- ternal j»artition is in style iilcntical with that of the windows of the Lady Chapel, erected some year.'^ later by Ilngh de Evcnsdcn. On the otln r hand, the foliage of the cresting on the top, as well as that to the iiori/onlal mouldings of the Ijuttresses, looks very niuch like Litii <entury work.