clerical and lay worshippers, as well as on that of superior architectural effect, that the altar should be advanced from the eastern extremity of the cathedral; that an ample unoccupied sanctuary should still intervene between it and the choir proper; that the latter, having the open screen designed for it, should be reserved for clerks; and that the area of the lantern should be devoted to the accommodation of the lay portion of the congregation. The question I submit for consideration, is whether the most desirable mode of accomplishing these objects would not be to allow a retraction of three bays, and to limit the sanctuary to a similar number; and accordingly to erect the altar-screen between the piers third in succession from the eastern wall, instead of between the second piers as at present proposed.

The following are the principal reasons in favour of the alteration. 1st. That a sanctuary of three bays, is quite adequate for the most sumptuous Anglican ritual, and satisfies the fullest demands of reverential propriety. 2ndly. That such a sanctuary would be co-extensive with the choir proper; which, short as it will appear when reduced to a row of twenty-two stalls on each side, would seem still more conspicuously so, if in juxta-position and contrast with a disproportionately large four-bayed sanctuary. 3rdly. That the voices of the clergy at the communion office would, of course, with more difficulty be audible to the congregation westward of the rood-screen, should the altar stand seven bays, than if only six, removed from it. 4thly. That this difficulty would at any time constitute the most plausible pretext for the introduction of congregational benches into the sanctuary; which, if possessing an amplitude of four bays, might to many seem to invite the intrusion. 5thly. That a retraction of three bays would afford a much more suitable space, than one of only two, for the early matutinal prayers; and might then, like the lady-chapels of Salisbury and of Winchester, be furnished with an altar, and with other requisites for the due performance of that service, instead of remaining a disused, and perhaps desecrated, waste. 6thly. That the symbolical intention of the nine-bayed eastern limb of the cathedral would seem best followed out by sub-dividing it in accordance with the number forming the base of the multiple. Lastly. That the precedents of Lincoln and York Minsters, which have similar eastern limbs to that of Ely, (and in both of which, the choir, sanctuary, and retrochoir, are each of three bays,) give every possible sanction and countenance to the tripartite arrangement now advocated.

I trust, Sir, that the foregoing reasons, put forth with the utmost deference, may be carefully and fairly weighed; concerning, as they do, a very important point in the restoration of one of the most noble of English temples,-a church, which in past days, rose to the first rank in grandeur and beauty, through the pious munificence and architectural skill of its founders, and which, now again, under the continued operation of the same instrumental causes, bids fair, after a chilling interval of centuries, to rejoice the hearts of churchmen by revealing anew, in unimpaired magnificence, the solemnity and glory of the LORD's house. I am, Sir, your obedient Servant,

Φ.

VOL. X.

D

Our readers will, we are sure, peruse with interest the following statement of the works completed and in progress at Ely, which has just been published by the Cathedral authorities :

The DEAN and CHAPTER of Ely beg leave most gratefully to acknowledge the liberal contributions which they have received towards the restoration of their Cathedral and the formation of a new Choir. The amount thus placed at their disposal is nearly sufficient to meet the contracts and engagements into which they have already entered: but a very large sum will still be wanted to complete the entire work in conformity with the plans which have been proposed: and it is to meet this additional expenditure, that they still venture very earnestly to solicit the assistance of the friends of their Church.

The designs for the new Choir have been prepared by Mr. George Gilbert Scott, an architect of great experience and skill; and contracts have already been made for a new open screen, for the throne of the Bishop and the stall of the Dean, and for entirely new sub-stalls, upon a scale and character suited to the magnificence of this part of the church. They are to be finished before the first of March, 1851, and their cost alone will exceed £4200. The superior stalls, the work of the great architect, Alan de Walsingham, in 1340, and which are much mutilated and covered with several coats of paint, are to be restored as nearly as possible to their original condition. Plans and contracts are in progress for the removal of the organ to the north side of the Choir, with a case and fittings in full accordance with the stall-work. The other works are advancing satisfactorily, and some of them are completed; all the vaults have been restored, and nearly all the marble piers and shafts re-polished, and when wanting or seriously injured, re-placed; the beautiful canopy work, next the altar, of the chapels of Bishops Alcock and West, which was nearly destroyed, has been carefully restored. There still remains to be executed the new altar and reredos, the pavement, the staircase to the organ, the enclosure of the stall-work, and the re-arrangement and restoration, where necessary, of the tombs of the Bishops. It is hoped, however, if funds are forthcoming, that the whole may be finished before the end of the year 1852.

The Dean and Chapter have been compelled, from a sense of imminent danger, to undertake, at the same time with these and several other works, a very extensive and costly repair of the Southern Transept of the Cathedral, the principal timbers of the roof of which were found to be rotten, and the upper walls and arcades, upon which they rested, seriously dislocated. It is intended to replace entirely the mutilated sculpture of the timber cornice, the painting of the roof, the ancient fresco decorations of the walls, and to open partially the arches of the western aisle. The Dean and Chapter gladly avail themselves of this opportunity of returning their grateful thanks for many special benefactions which have been given or promised: they subjoin a list of the most considerable of them.

Alexander Beresford Hope, Esq., M.P., has given £300 for the new Pinnacle on the east front. Of this sum, £200 has been expended; the remainder is to be applied to some alterations of it which are considered necessary. Lady Mildred Hope undertakes the restoration of the great stone cross of the Eastern Gable.

John Charles Sharpe, Esq. has given £100 towards the re-building of the ancient apsidal Chapel of S. Catherine, opening through the noble arch on the east of the south-west transept; a restoration which cannot fail to add greatly to the effect of that beautiful part of the Cathedral. This work is now proceeding; it will require additional funds to the extent of at least £200, to complete it. This is Mr. Sharpe's third benefaction of the same amount: one towards the restoration of the choir; and the other towards that of Prior Crauden's chapel, including the new wooden vault, which is nearly finished. His sister, Mrs. Smart, has undertaken to fill the great eastern window of this chapel with painted glass, designed and executed by herself.

The Master and Fellows of Jesus College, Cambridge, have given £25 for a new encaustic pavement of the chapel of their founder, Bishop Alcock; the design for it was given by Lord Alwyn Compton, and is now in the course of execution. This is in addition to a former gift of £100 towards the restoration of the interior of the chapel.

The Rev. Edward Bowyer Sparke, one of the Canons of the Church, gave £200 towards the great restoration of the south-west transept: the new pavement and

painting of the roof, for the last of which the Rev. David Stewart gave a beautiful design, are deferred until the completion of the apsidal chapel.

Hugh Robert Evans, Esq., the Steward of the Manors of the Dean and Chapter, gave £150 towards the opening of the great lantern in the western tower.

The Rev. William Selwyn, one of the Canons of the Church, gives a new font, designed by Mr. Scott, to be placed in the south-west transept, which it is proposed to make the baptistery of the Cathedral.

Bowyer Edward Sparke, late Lord Bishop of Ely, gave in 1832, the sum of £1500, for the purpose of filling the windows at the east end of the Cathedral with painted glass. The execution of this great work has been deferred until his trustees are fully satisfied that the art of glass painting has attained such a state of perfection as may make it a monument worthy of the important position which it occupies.

The Rev. Edward Bowyer Sparke gave the painted glass in the great south-east window of the central lantern, the first of a series of four designed to commemorate the founders and benefactors of the ancient Monastery and Cathedral; it was executed by Mr. Wailes. The church is indebted to the same munificent benefactor for three windows in the northern transept, also by Mr. Wailes, representing the history of S. Paul; for a window in the south transept, by M. Gerente, of Paris, representing the history of Joseph: as well as for many other proofs of his deep interest in the restoration and becoming decoration of the Cathedral.

The Rev. Chancellor Sparke, one of the Canons of the Church, has undertaken to present a painted window to the Cathedral.

The memorial window above the monument of Bishop Sparke, in West's chapel, was put up by the members of his family. It was executed by Mr. Evans of Shrewsbury.

The Undergraduates and Bachelors of Arts of the University of Cambridge gave the painted glass in the tracery and the upper half of the great north-eastern window of the central lantern; the remainder will be executed as soon as sufficient contributions are collected: the artist is Mr. Wailes. A subscription is in progress, on the part of the Graduates of the University of Cambridge, to fill the northeastern window of this lantern in a similar manner.

The Lessees of the Bishop of the diocese gave the second of the lower windows in the south end of the south transept; the artist is M. Gerente, of Paris: the subject is the History of Moses.

The Incumbents of livings in the patronage of the Bishop of Ely and within his diocese have given funds, though not yet sufficient for the purpose, for one window, and those not within his diocese for another, in the south end of the south transept. These windows are nearly finished: the artist is M. Gerente. The subjects of them are the Histories of Abraham and of Jacob.

The funds for another window by contributions from Prelates and Peers educated in the University of Cambridge, are collecting under the auspices of his Grace the Duke of Rutland.

The Very Rev. the Dean gave the funds for a window at the south end of the south-west transept: the artist is Mr. Wailes. The subjects are Jacob and Rachel, and Esther and Ahasuerus.

Hamilton Cooke, Esq., of Carr House, Doncaster, gave the funds for a second window in the same transept, by the same artist. The subjects are Isaac and Rebecca, Ruth and Boaz, and the Marriage of Cana.

William Wailes, Esq., the eminent artist, gave, as his own offering to the Church, the window in the south aisle of the nave. The subject is the History of the Venerable Bede.

William Warrington, Esq., the eminent artist, gave, as his own offering to the Church, the window in the south aisle of the nave. Subjects, the Annunciation and Birth of our LORD and the Salutation of Mary and Elizabeth.

M. Gerente, of Paris, the eminent artist, proposes also to give a third window to the south aisle of the nave and two other artists and a distinguished amateur, whose names we are requested at present to withhold, have undertaken to make similar gifts to the same part of the church.

Mrs. Pleasance Clough, of Feltwell, has furnished funds for a window in the south aisle of the nave, in memory of Susannah, the wife of John Waddington, Esq., and daughter of Robert Clough, Esq., of Feltwell: the artist is M. Gerente.

The Rev. George Millers, Minor Canon and Registrar of the Church, and Historian of the Cathedral, has undertaken to place a memorial window in the same south aisle, next the grave of his late wife, Mary Millers.

Other windows are also in preparation, both in this part of the church and elsewhere, one of which is the gift of the ladies of members of the Chapter, a second of the Lessees of the Dean and Chapter, a third of various visitors to the Cathedral, a fourth of Clergymen who have been ordained in it, a fifth of various Gentlemen of the city of Ely, and a sixth of the Tradesmen and Officers connected with the Church.

ARCHITECTURAL LOCALISMS, AS ILLUSTRATED BY THE CHURCHES OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE AND LEICESTERSHIRE.

A Paper read before the Oxford Architectural Society, June 6th, 1849,* by EDWARD A. FREEMAN, M.A., Corresponding Secretary.

[On account of the great length of this paper, the larger portion of it was necessarily omitted at its public reading. But in revising it for the press, the author has not thought it necessary to depart from the familiar and individual character of a communication read at a meeting. which would have been nearly equivalent to writing a new treatise on the same subject.]

It is now nearly four years since I first recommended the very interesting subject of the local diversities of architecture to the attention of the society in a paper on the churches† of a district which have received a stronger local impress than any other buildings with which I am acquainted. Since then the subject has not been so much taken up by other members as its importance might have led us to expect. I am only aware of one paper having been read bearing directly on it: I allude to one read about a year back by Mr. Whately, on the churches of a district in Shropshire, which I had not the pleasure of hearing, being then absent from Oxford, but which I imagine to have opened a further very interesting field for inquiry, as to the connection which often exists between the architectural and the geological character of a district, the style of building being so often influenced by the nature of the prevalent stone.

On this latter branch of the subject I am sorry that I am not able to afford you any information, as my own line of study has never led me into any such investigations. The " Hand-Book of Ecclesiology truly observes of the district to which I would now call your attention, that "it will readily be acknowledged by those who are at all conversant with the ecclesiology of this county, [Northamptonshire,] that it

We have not thought it right in a paper bearing the name of its author to alter his nomenclature; but in retaining that of Rickman in this instance, we beg to have it understood that we are not at all more favourable to it than we have hitherto been.-ED.

+Those of the Island of Jersey. See the Society's Report for Easter and Act Terms, 1845, p. 57.

ranks quite among the first as regards the architectural beauty and general interest of its churches. The abundance of good building-stone will in a great degree account for this; and in the northern district, where the stone is the best, the churches are decidedly the finest, though the southern division affords also many elegant features and interesting details." With this division I fully concur, and I may here make the remark, that my present paper will be to a great extent an amplification of the very accurate and observant sketch of the architecture of the county contained in the work which I have just quoted. I shall therefore not think it necessary to refer to it every time that I shall have occasion to repeat its statements. I have observed for myself, and can bear a most willing testimony, both to the general accuracy of the author's individual facts, and to the correctness of his generalizations from them.

And

I do not profess to have seen all the churches in the county, between three and four hundred in number, but I am acquainted with a great majority of them, including nearly all the most celebrated. though I am not equally well acquainted with every part of the county, there is no district of which I am entirely ignorant. I have seen some churches in every deanery; in many I have seen all that they contain. I am most familiarly acquainted with the deaneries immediately round Northampton, and those again to the south-west, between Daventry and Banbury; in the heart of the county, going west from Bedfordshire to Cambridgeshire there is not a church which I have not seen, and but very few crossing the same district northwards, from Buckinghamshire to Leicestershire. I also know most of the noble churches, the pride of the county, in the valley of the Nen, between Northampton and Peterborough, and I have made more desultory excursions into other parts, both north and south. The district I am least acquainted with is the deanery of Weldon, lying to the northeast, towards the Rutlandshire border; though if its churches in general are at all equal to the few which I have seen, it must be one of the most interesting districts in the county.

I must, however, confess that I labour under one disadvantage in the present attempt, namely, my very slight knowledge of the architecture of the neighbouring counties, so that I cannot generally say how far the Northamptonshire peculiarities are common to it with them. With Leicestershire I am better acquainted than with the others, and with Lincolnshire through the aid of engravings; and in both there certainly is some general affinity as contrasted with the architecture of more distant parts of England; but it by no means amounts to identity, and as the Lincolnshire churches greatly surpass, those of Leicestershire, as far as my experience goes-with a few splendid exceptions, such as the stately church of Melton Mowbrayyet more strikingly fall short of their southern neighbours. These, however, I shall compare throughout with those of Northamptonshire, briefly pointing out the points of difference and of agreement.

Northamptonshire is, more conspicuously than any other part of England that I know, the land of handsome, moderate-sized parish churches, such in many respects as we want in the present day. Its monastic in