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instance where a wholly new church might have been expected. The architect, however, offers some pleas in justification of the plan he chose to follow. At any rate, we have here an old church-of no great merit, to be sure-exactly re-produced, and fitted up in better style and taste. The floors are all laid in black and red tiles, of Haywood's manufacture, and the windows are glazed with Powell's flowered quarries.

S. Peter, Frocester, Gloucestershire.-The history of this church is curious. It stands at a considerable distance from the village, with only two or three scattered cottages in its neighbourhood; the consequence has been that for a long period it has been completely deserted, and left in a state all but ruinous, while a small and mean chapel in the village has been employed as its substitute. We are uncertain whether this last was built when the old church was deserted, or was of older date; we must confess that we have never seen its interior, and consequently cannot speak as to the only architectural feature which could throw any light upon the question,—the chancel arch. However, to judge from some of its windows, it must have existed at least a century and a half; and, if not actually an elder church disfigured, it was by no means built in contempt of ecclesiastical precedent. It has a distinct and well-proportioned nave and chancel, with high roofs and central bell gable; consequently, though the buttresses are mere props, and every window and doorway of unmitigated ugliness, it may be allowed to pass as a sufficient church. It reminds us a good deal of the meaner sort of churches in some parts of Wales, especially in Cardiganshire. There also, the ancient work being usually without detail, and the modern without gimcrack, it is often by no means easy to distinguish the respective extent of the two. In these circumstances, as it was clear that something more comely ought to exist in the parish than either of the existing churches, a question arose which church should be restored; one, we must allow of considerable difficulty. Taking all the features of the case into consideration, our own feeling would be that the best possible course would have been to have* built a new church in the village on the site of the chapel, and to have restored the original distant parish-church to serve as a cemetery-chapel to the churchyard which surrounds it. If both objects could not be accomplished, we would have carried out the first completely, and put a part-say the chancel-of S. Peter's church into such condition of decent repair as might allow of the performance of the funeral service, and have simply preserved the rest from further injury, till an opportunity might arise for the thorough restoration of the whole. The course actually adopted has been quite different; it has been determined, not only to effect a thorough restoration of S. Peter's, but to return to it, notwithstanding its distance both from priest and people, as the ordinary church of the parish. What is to be done with the chapel we cannot say, but those concerned should remember that it is as much a church as S. Peter's, however inferior as a building, and ought,

* We speak thus, for to have added a tower and aisles to the chapel, and remoulded its chancel with new windows, &c., would have been pretty well equivalent to rebuilding.

as little as it, to be destroyed, desecrated, or unnecessarily disused. It will be seen that we do not at all object to the mere fact of the restoration of S. Peter's church; we only think that it should have been preceded, or better still, accompanied, by another work which we regard as of greater importance. We have now to criticise the manner

in which this restoration has been effected.

S. Peter's church was one of those buildings which, without any pretence to architectural splendour, and hardly any to actual beauty, derive a very great charm from mere picturesque effect. Small and plain, without even any individual feature of excellence, it still, from one point at least, presented an outline extremely pleasing to the eye. It consisted of a nave and chancel, high-roofed, a south porch, a north aisle, with a compass roof, prolonged part of the way along the chancel, and a tower, whose singularity of character and position was the only remarkable thing about the church. It was engaged in the aisle, so that a part only of its lower stages projected from its level; of low and heavy proportions itself, it was finished with a low and heavy wooden spire, its natural and appropriate covering. The view from the north-east, which commands this curiously placed tower, with the two roof lines and eastern gables of the chancel and aisle, was, from the simplicity of its architectural forms, combined with the felicitous variety of its grouping, one of the most striking that we have ever seen on so small a scale. From the south the appearance was much less satisfactory; the length of the chancel and nave was too unbroken, and here the common disadvantages of a side tower, carried off on the other side by a picturesque and unique outline, did not fail to present themselves.

Now we must confess that, familiar as we were with the exterior of this church, we had never seen its interior while it remained in its pristine state. With a mass of other work on our hands, and thinking it might be done at any time, we had not so much as taken a note or drawing of the outside, and one ineffectual attempt to trace the habitat of the key satisfied our conscience in postponing a second till an expected interval of more leisure. Consequently we can say nothing as to the original arcade, nor, what is of more consequence, as to the manner in which the tower was introduced into the aisle. And, even as to the exterior, we do not profess to carry every stone of the old steeple in our memory with the same accuracy as if we had committed its likeness to paper. Our alarm, and to a certain extent, our shame, may be imagined, when we were suddenly informed that the destruction of the church was actually commenced. The architect employed was Mr. Niblett, who has acquired a considerable local reputation, but whose late much questioned performances at Thornbury in the neighbourhood had not impressed us with any great confidence in his skill or judgment. We were informed that the church was in other respects to be simply renovated without alteration, but that the place of the tower was to be somewhat altered, so as to be completely external to the aisle, and that a stone spire was to be substituted for the old wooden roof. All this we regarded as bad news; the church was of that class which derived its sole excellence from felicitous, and, as it were,

fortuitous, combinations of outline, and in which consequently innovation is far more dangerous than in buildings of greater pretensions and more regular architectural design. Moreover, we considered the low timber spire as singularly appropriate to the proportions of the tower, and the character of the whole building; we argued that a stone spire of the same proportions would be simply ugly in itself, while one of greater elevation or more ornate character would be simply out of place. We thought also that the change in position of the tower would destroy the familiar and excellent outline of the whole, and substitute the generally unsightly, and, unusual as it is, still thoroughly commonplace, appearance of a tower-porch. The work is now nearly completed, and our a priori expectations are in every respect confirmed by an inspection of the actual building; besides which, we have to record a good stock of bad and fantastic detail, which we could not calculate on beforehand.

The work that has been effected is a strange mixture of religious preservation of actual ancient remains, with sovereign contempt for the precedents and principles suggested by them to the modern artist. The mason has diligently and carefully worked up again the original portions of the nave and chancel, while the architect has immortalized his own lack of skill and genius by the conversion of a very pleasing tower into a very unpleasing one. The exterior of the whole church, except the tower, has been very carefully restored; it has been nearly entirely rebuilt, but the old windows, &c., chiefly Third-Pointed, have been used up again with such praiseworthy accuracy, that through the whole south side of the church there is nothing beyond the unavoidable air of freshness to show that any change has taken place. This of course so far is just as it should be; this is the only kind of restoration which a church of the type of Frocester allows. Of the interior, not having seen it in its old state, we cannot speak with the same confidence; the arcade, is, we believe, actually new, whether literally copied from the old we cannot say, but at all events the capitals and bases are utterly poor and characterless. But, as we have seen old ones quite as bad, this may be the fault of the original architect. When we last saw the inside, the work had not proceeded so far as for any fittings to be introduced, and the open roof even was not sufficiently advanced for us fairly to judge of its effect.

But the unfortunate tower at once destroys any slight satisfaction which may be derived from the rest of the church. All the ancient character has utterly departed from it; the proportions indeed remain the same, but the spirit and effect of the whole thing is altogether changed. And this, not merely because it is new; the other part of the church is equally new, yet thoroughly retains its old character. As we before said, we have no note or drawing to refer to, so we are not quite certain whether the belfry-stage of the old tower was recessed or not; but certainly, if it was, the fact of its being so was not so strongly forced upon the eye as it is at present,* and we are equally sure that

This is just the sort of change in effect which some almost imperceptible alteration might produce. A slight difference in the slope of the set-off, without changing the width an inch, might be enough to ruin everything.

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the change is not for its advantage. And it is clear that the change of position altogether alters the whole character of the steeple; before, while half imbedded in the aisle, it was part of the church; now, standing free, its unbuttressed mass receives an independence for which it is unsuited. Nor is any improvement effected by a strange innovation of the architect's. The tower, though First-Pointed, had the remarkable, though far from unique phenomenon of transomed belfry windows,-two trefoil lights, divided by a monial. Here was a peculiarity to be reproduced in any new work; so apparently thought the architect; so think we also, if any new work afforded any appropriate place; but Mr. Niblett's view appears not to have been troubled with any of those small Aristotelianisms of που, πῶς, and ποτέ. Of all odd things, a vestry has been made in the lower stage of the tower, and the vestry wanted windows; therefore Mr. Niblett, forgetting that a belfry-window is unglazed, while a vestry-window is glazed; and that a glazed window, unless very large, cannot require a transom, has treated us to trefoiled lancets, with a transom across them: the most ludicrous vagary we have seen for a good while. We very well remember those in Oxford Chapter-house; but these last may perhaps have been constructively necessary, and at all events they are a great deal too ugly to be imitated. The tower is also treated to a new doorway, with a roll-and-fillet moulding of gigantic size. But now for the roof and crown of things," the grand ornament, the stone spire. This is a heavy broach, very heavy, with the most attenuated of spirelights, their pediments approaching very nearly to an angle of zero. They have rudimental tracery, but a divorce has taken place between the lights and the figure in the head, which has taken flight upwards, like the well-known • Græculus esuriens." Finally, the spire is neither allowed to drip, nor yet to rest on a natural support of corbeltable, but is supported by an enormous cavetto, such as one sees under a parapet. Did Mr. Niblett think that a stone spire stood to a wooden one in the same proportion that a battlement does to a dripping roof? At all events, we never saw greater ugliness of general effect produced by a smaller matter of detail. We should recommend a journey into Northamptonshire to Mr. Niblett before he builds his next spire, only recommending him to study Warmington on one hand, and Rushden on the other, and to shut his eyes to Kingscliffe and Denford, as by a judicious combination of their defects, something might be produced approaching in an infinitesimal degree to the ugliness of his present production.

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Ely Cathedral.-The apsidal chapel of S. Catherine, projecting from the south-west transept, has been rebuilt from existing remains, and the polychrome of the roof of the great south transept is restored, which is to be followed by that of the walls, of which many indications remain. M. Alfred Gérente completes the windows, for which his lamented brother had received orders.

S. Patrick's Cathedral.-The south side of the nave of this cathedral, is absolutely falling down, which will necessitate its being rebuilt. We can hardly be sorry at an event which has necessitated the commencement of its restoration. Mr. Carpenter has advised its being rebuilt with all the ornaments left in block.

S. Tallan, Talland, Cornwall.-Some mural paintings have recently been discovered in this church by some workmen who were engaged in repairing the walls. (1.) The first is a representation of the Crucifixion : the colours are remarkably brilliant; beneath are a group of weeping females and some soldiers. (2.) In the next is represented a figure, wearing a cloak which reaches a little below the knees, standing beside three wells, and drawing water from the middle one; another figure is seen departing from the well, and bearing upon his back a leathern vessel slung upon a spear. (3.) In the next is represented a ship under full sail, with four masts fitted with square-sails, &c. Six brightly painted streaks are carried along her side, bearing crosses. A square green flag, bearing S. Andrew's cross in red, hangs from the top of each mast. (4.) This very curious design comprises detached limbs of the human body. Amongst them a hand is placed with the two fore-fingers pointing to the picture of the Crucifixion. Over these paintings a coat of plaister had been placed, and on it a second set painted, the subjects of which are as follows: a most horrible picture of Satan; a limb of some frightful reptile, at Satan's feet; a nun, resting her elbows on the back of an ugly dwarf; and a prison with two windows and a small door. The windows are represented as secured by bars crossing each other, and the door by large iron bolts. The original paintings are considered to be coeval with the church, as the plaister on which they are delineated appears to be the first with which the walls were covered.

NOTICES AND ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.

THE article on stained glass in our last number has elicited, as might have been expected, several communications from different quarters. First of all Mr. Warrington addressed to us a letter, which seemed in justice to claim publication at our hands, but which, having privately obtained Mr. Warrington's full and courteous consent to this course, we do not propose to insert in full.

We shall, however, give the substance of the principal counterstatements made by Mr. Warrington: and first we observe,, that he explains his placing in Winchester two saints in one niche by saying that the church is dedicated in honour of S. Clement and S. Thomas conjointly. Mr. Warrington also states, that his design for the House of Lords was not "rejected," though it was not adopted; there being a tertium quid, viz., the being accepted as a guide to the Fine Arts Commission, in the ultimate selection of the artist to be employed.

Mr. Warrington further mentions that it is no fault of his that he has never been able to draw and copy accurately the glass at Canterbury, inasmuch as the authorities of that cathedral had refused him permission to use his pencil within their walls. We need not assure Mr. Warrington that we knew nothing whatever of this. The dignitaries of that cathedral are (we know) very-we are inclined to think

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