Page:The Saxon Cathedral at Canterbury and The Saxon Saints Buried Therein.djvu/138

APPENDIX which he says he can bear a faithful testimony, as he was an eyewitness of all that was done.

In the face of such evidence as that given above it is difficult to believe that any portion of the Saxon Cathedral Church of St. Austin can be found above ground. It is doubtless true that materials used in the construction of the early church, if uninjured by the fire, would be re-used by subsequent builders; and that accounts for the curious mixture in the walls still to be found at the west end of the crypt.

If any portion of the early church is above ground it is possibly only core, and it will be found under the present central tower, and in the walls at the west end of the crypt. This was certainly the opinion of "A Committee appointed to make an antiquarian investigation of the Cathedral" in 1888. It consisted of such well-known names as Canon F. C. Routledge, Dr, J. B. Sheppard, and Canon W. A. Scott-Robertson; and inter alia they came to the conclusion that

"the west wall of the crypt was probably pre-Norman and that the plaster on the lower part of this wall was before 1070; that the ashlar work of Caen stone in the upper part of the wall was Lanfranc's; that the lower portion of the wall was part of the pre-Norman crypt, and that the character of the plaster seemed to suggest the possibility that it may have formed part of the original building, granted to St. Augustine by King Ethelbert."

Reference to the text will show in what way I have ventured to disagree with these findings.

The vergers of the Cathedral have for at least forty years stated that this wall was the west wall of St. Austin's crypt, but whether the tradition dates from the investigation of the above committee or whether earlier, it is difficult now to ascertain. With regard to the foregoing evidences of a general destruction, it may be mentioned that the wall on the west side of the present library garden, which is continuous with the west wall of the library, is part of the original wall of the dormitory and is separated from the refectory by the east alley of the present cloister. If these buildings were on the site of those erected by St. Austin, this old garden wall might also be St. Austin's work, and might be part of the buildings recorded by Osbern above mentioned as being unhurt. This wall is well worth an examination and will be found to consist of courses of large rough field flints, set diagonally, herringbone fashion and courses of tufa; all with very wide joints filled with mortar. Much as one would like to believe that this wonderfully early piece of walling was the work of St. Austin, careful consideration leads one to the conclusion that though it may be the work of Saxon workmen it was performed probably under the direction of Lanfranc, the first Norman Archbishop after the fire of 1067. But there is, 100