Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 6.djvu/455

 THE ARCIIAEOLOGIC.U. INSTITUTE. 301 advanced state; but it was not dedicated till the year 1258. In the year 1331, the Dean and Chapter appear to have entered into a contract with Kichard de Farley for the erection of the tower and spire ; but no sooner was tliis completed, than, to the dismay of the ecclesiastics, the piers and arches upon which it was raised began to give way, and threatened the destruction of the entire building. In this extremity, a special meeting of the Chapter having been called, a promising expedient presented itself for replenisliing their exhausted coft'ers, in the canonisation of Bishop Osmund, although deceased a century or two previously. In 1415, an indenture was made with Robert Wayte, by whose skill the impending ruin was averted. No further event of importance appears to have occurred until the time Avhen Sir Chris- topher Wren was called in to examine and report upon the state of the fabric; and from this period it remained undisturbed until Bishop Barrington called in jIr. Wyatt, by whom the alterations in the chancel Avere effected. The Professor now called attention to a plan which he had prepared, showing the original position of the sculptured effigies which have been transferred from their resting places in then- different chapels to the inter- columniations of the nave, where they remain as so many evidences of the bad taste of modern days. After discoursing on the admirable care with which this building was con- structed, and the skilful manner in which the masonry was made conducive to its beauty, as well as its durability, the Professor proceeded to draw a comparison between the different state of art which existed in this country and on the continent, as exemplified in the cathedrals of Amiens and Salis- bury, which are of coeval date ; and contended that the principles of traeeiy were introduced into this country by French and German architects, and that this more decorative style (which was not fully developed here until the erection of Westminster Abbey) was altogether the production of foreign ai-tists, but subsequently attained that high degree of perfection amongst us which so distinguishes the mouldings and tracery of all our own mediccval buildings. Professor Willis then adverted at length to the number of altars and chantries required in former ages, which, in all probability, accounted for the introduction (as in this instance) of a principal and second transept. He also showed the arrangement of the procession-path both in this cathedral and at Amiens, and descanted on the attemj^ted revival in modern churches of ecclesiastical arrangements of ancient times, the use of which has long since passed away. He apprehended that his concluding remarks would be calculated to shake the .faith of many firm behevers in the infallibility of the constructive genius displayed by mediaeval architects, who seldom succeeded in erecting a tower, of any height, without recoui'se being afterwards had to braces and contrivances for ])ropping it up again. In the case of the present cathedral, he did not think there was any cause to apprehend fiather mis- chief, and he hoped it would long continue to offer a noble subject for the pen and pencils of such men as Wren, Price, Dodsworth, and Britton, of whose admirable works on all our cathedrals it forms a leading feature. It would be beyond our present limits to follow the Professor in his obser- vations made within the sacred edifice, which could scarcely be rendered VOL VI. ' s s.