his palace at Welles, and another at Owky, as also many other edifices in the same houses, and lastly, the church of Welles itselfe being now ready to fall to the ground, notwithstanding the great cost bestowed upon it by Bishop Robert, he pulled downe the greater part of it, to witte, all the west ende, built it anew from the very foundation, and hallowed or dedicated it October 23, 1239."

Notwithstanding the enormous sums which must have been expended on this work, and the quantity of beautiful sculpture with which it is adorned, we do not find the same waste of labour and expense which we observed in the earlier work of St. Hugh, at Lincoln; there is no expense spared, but there is none wastedd.

The chapter-house at Christ Church, Oxford,

It is scarcely possible to overrate the value and importance of the extraordinary series of sculptures with which this west front is enriched; they are superior to any others known of the same period in any part of Europe, and when the key has been learned, will be found also to be a valuable illustration of the history of the province, secular as well as ecclesiastical. It is hoped that Mr. Cockerell's long-promised volume on the subject will remove the veil of ignorance by which they have long been obscured.

the choir of Worcester cathedral, a considerable part of Fountain's abbey, the choir of Rochester, the south transept of York, the presbytery of Ely, the nine altars at Durham, the choir of the Temple church, London, the nave of Lincoln, are amongst the well-known examples of this period, the first half of the thirteenth century.

In the year 1245, King Henry the Third, "being mindful of the devotion which he had towards St. Edward the Confessor, ordered the church of St. Peter at Westminster to be enlarged, and the eastern part of the walls, with the tower and transepts, being pulled down, he began to rebuild them in a more elegant style, having first collected at his own charges the most subtle artificers both English and foreign." This work is of the richest character, but still pure Early English. The surface of the wall is covered with diaper work, the triforium arcade is double, and has foliated circles in the head of bar tracery. The points of the cusps are flowered, and the outer moulding of the arch is. enriched with foliage resembling crockets.

Triforium Arcade, Westminster Abbey, A. D 1250.

The beautiful Lady Chapel of Wells cathedral was commenced by Bishop Bitton in 1248, he died in 1264, and was buried in it.

The north transept of York Minster was built between 1250 and 1260 by John le Romaine, treasurer of the church, or rather probably by the chapter of which he was

treasurer and

paymaster, and

so his name be

came attached

to it, more especially as he afterwards became archbishop of York. The records of the ca

thedral clearly prove that it

was the regu

lar practice of

the chapter to

keep a gang of workmen

in their pay as part of the establishment, the number varied from twenty to fifty, and the same families were usually continued generation after generation: to their continued labour, always doing something every year, we are indebted for the whole of that glorious fabric. This practice was by no means peculiar to York, but appears to have been the usual custom. We are however indebted to Mr. Brown for printing the documents in the case of York.

The chapter-house at York is also attributed to this period, but its exact date is not recorded. The chapter-house at Salisbury is of the same period, and very similar style.

The presbytery, or, as it is usually called, the eastern part of the choir of Lincoln cathedral, was built between 1256 and 1282, in which latter year the relics of St. Hugh were translated to the new shrine prepared for them in the new work. This work is of the richest character, and approaches very nearly to the following style, the windows have foliated circles in the head, and actual tracery,