The Cathedral, Siena: by Perino del Vaga. (1500—1547.) In Eugland : S. George, Hanover Square, S. Andrew, Holborn, The chapel of Lincoln's-Inn, London. The chapels of Lincoln, Wadham, and Queen's Colleges, Oxford. The east window of S. Peter's College Chapel, Cambridge: of Flemish glass. Ely Cathedral: part of the west window. King's College Chapel, Cambridge. Lichfield Cathedral: the windows of the apse. In Belgium : S. Gudule, Brussels. Bruges part of a window in the cathedral. May all good angels defend us from anything so detestable as the present attempt at ornamental glazing in the large windows round the dome. We would suggest that some experiments be offered up,' as was done in Notre-Dame at Paris. Some of the huge figures of kings and prophets from Bourges and Strasburg were copied on thin canvas, and pasted against the glass. The effect was admirable, and the cost, of course, trifling. The committee and the public would thus be enabled to judge of the effect likely to be produced when the designs are executed in glass, and would be induced to contribute. Private munificence has, however, given two or three windows, and we hear that other persons have been stimulated to like actions. Will none of our great glass painting firms offer a window or two? To take the lowest view, the advertisement would be a good one. A costly marble pulpit has been presented, in memory of a deceased Indian officer, Captain R. Fitzgerald, and stands where the temporary one used to be placed, namely, at the south-east angle of the lantern. We must conclude by a most earnest appeal to every one who loves church architecture to help this good work. The Dean laments, in his circular, "that there are no capitular revenues available for such purposes, these having passed out of the control of the Dean and Chapter;" and the Dean and Canons, with other members of the cathedral body, have not only subscribed largely, but are also at a great annual expense in maintaining the special services." Government is not likely to help, as it did to the building of the church; and therefore private munificence is all that they have to look to. We subjoin the accompanying statement, which was circulated in the cathedral during the oratorio, that persons desirous of contributing may know to whom to forward their money. "Donations will be received to the account of the treasurers of the S. Paul's Cathedral Fund by the following bankers: Messrs. Drummonds, Charing Cross; Coutts and Co., Strand; Goslings and Sharpe, Fleet Street; Hoares, Fleet Street; Smith, Payne, and Co., Lombard Street; Barclay, Bevan, Tritton, and Co., Lombard Street; Barnett, Hoare, and Co., Lombard Street; at the Bank of England; and at the Chapter House, 68, S. Paul's Churchyard, E.C., by William Calvert Shone, Secretary." 109 HEREFORD CATHEDRAL RESTORATION. We are requested to give publicity to the following appeal. "The Restoration of this Cathedral, under the direction of Mr. Gilbert Scott, commenced about three years ago, from funds arising out of the Fabric Estate belonging to the Dean and Chapter, and in a manner which the following statement will explain: These funds being now nearly exhausted, it becomes necessary to appeal to the County and Diocese at large, and to those of the public who take an interest in the restoration of the Mother Church of the Diocese. "The object of this appeal is to raise funds for the purpose of completing works necessary before the Cathedral can be opened, and if possible, to enable the Chapter to undertake others which are thought desirable, but which must entirely depend on the success of this appeal, as to whether they can be undertaken or not. "The Members of the Chapter have no wish to indulge in any particular fancies of their own in the Restoration of this Cathedral, but to follow the advice of their architect Mr. Scott; and, as far as possible, to preserve and restore those architectural features of the different parts of the building which belong to the respective ages in which they were built-thus making the whole a monument of the past, historical in its architecture, correct in taste, and true to the spirit and design of the original building. "The Fabric Estate was encumbered with a debt of £8,000, incurred many years ago, and the interest on this sum paid out of its annual proceeds, left little towards present repairs. In the year 1856, the Chapter took upon themselves the whole of this debt, undertaking to redeem it by yearly instalments amounting to one twenty-fifth of the principal, which, with the interest, makes at the present time an annual charge upon their divisible revenues of upwards of £600. The amount already thus paid off, with the interest, somewhat exceeds £2,400. By providing for this liability out of the divisible income-which is tantamount to a large subscription on their part, continued over a series of years, the Dean and Chapter set the Fabric Property free from incumbrance, and in 1857 they obtained a private Act of Parliament, at a cost of £540, enabling them to borrow a sum not exceeding £13,000, towards the necessary repairs of the Cathedral, and on the security of the Fabric Estate. The amount thus raised to be repaid in 32 years by means of a Sinking Fund, according to the provisions of the Act. "This sum of £13,000 will be nearly all expended on the contracts already completed or in progress, and which include the external and internal Restoration of the North Transept, the South Transept, the lesser North and South Transepts, the North and South Aisles of Choir, Bishop Stanbury's and Bishop Audley's Chapels, Bishop Booth's Porch, and the Great or Bishop's Cloisters, &c.,-all necessary and substantial, and at the same time, costly works. "Mr. Gilbert Scott, in a recent report, places the remaining works under three heads. "First.-Those which the Dean and Chapter may be enabled to execute out of their own funds-viz.: the flooring generally, exclusive of the Choir; the repairing and refixing monuments, &c.; all further necessary re-leading; further repairs of the stonework, &c. The cost of these works Mr. Scott calculates approximately at £2,600, and their execution the Dean and Chapter are prepared to undertake out of the resources still remaining to them. "Second. The second class comprises such works as are necessary, or of pressing importance-viz.: the fitting up and flooring of the Choir; the external Restoration of the stonework of the Tower; the lighting and warming of the Cathedral for Congregational use; the fitting up of the Lady Chapel for service for S. John's Parish, &c. Mr. Scott adds, The Restoration of the exterior of the Tower is very pressing, and should be proceeded with as soon as the present works are complete.' The total cost of all the works classed under this second head is estimated between £8,000 and £9,000, exclusive of the Organ, upon which a sum of £1,000 or upwards would require to be expended: for this a separate fund is being raised, and the management of it kindly undertaken by Sir F. Gore Ouseley, Bart., Precentor of the Cathedral. "Under the third division, Mr. Scott specifies such works as are desirable for the perfect restoration, or for the improvement of the building, but are of a less immediate nature-viz.: addition of the leaded spire to the Tower, as it originally stood; the re-building of the West Front of Nave, and its restoration to its original length; improvements in Clerestory, and in other parts of Nave; estimated all together at £7,000. "The undertaking of the works comprised under the two latter heads must necessarily be contingent upon the success of this appeal. "Under these circumstances the Dean and Chapter feel themselves justified in appealing to the County and Diocese of Hereford, and to those of the public at large who feel an interest in historical monuments of this kind, and are willing and able to give a helping hand in placing them in such a condition as may preserve them to future generations. "Signed on behalf of the Dean and Chapter, "R. DAWES, DEAN. 46 Deanery, Hereford, 66 'January, 1861.” A DISCOVERY IN COBHAM CHURCH, KENT. To the Editor of the Ecclesiologist. SIR,-Those of your readers who are familiar with the church of S. Mary Magdalene, Cobham, either by actual inspection or from engravings, will doubtless have noticed a thickening of the wall at the south-east corner of the chancel. In the course of the present restoration, by Mr. G. G. Scott, the workmen's attention was called at this spot to portions of sculptured figures laid bare by them, and on proceeding to remove some considerable quantity of the added wall they came upon a small internal staircase east of the sedilia and piscina which had been thus blocked up most probably at the Reformation. The fragments of the images consisted of three female (or angelic?) heads, life size, very well and fully coloured, with parts of eleven smaller ones much mutilated especially in the emblems, so as not to be recognizable. One has a something (scrip?) depending from his right shoulder by a long leather strap and buckle, and in his right hand part of what may be either a pair of compasses or a pair of pincers, another has a part of what may be a pastoral staff. These figures are interest ing from their colouring, but the chief interest centres in the staircase, respecting the object of which if you or any of your correspondents can give information it will be very acceptable. This staircase, then, consisting of about seven or eight steps perhaps, rising from the chancel floor makes half a turn and comes to the face of the wall again to the west; there seem to be no signs in the masonry within of any work, at least of any magnitude, having been connected with it, nor has it any communication with the exterior. Many conjectures have been hazarded about its use; it has been supposed to have led to a pew, to a minstrels' gallery, or to have been connected with the infirmary of the adjoining College of Priests, but the state of the masonry within and without seems to negative these suppositions; access to the roof or screen behind the altar has been suggested, but its height and turning to the west do not accord with this. The most probable opinion as far as I can see at present is that which makes it lead to a kind of pulpit either for preaching or reading to the College of Priests assembled in choir; in that case a fragment of carved stone that was found may have served for a book-rest. I am, Sir, Faithfully yours, The Precinct, Rochester, R. P. COATES. ECCLESIOLOGICAL SOCIETY. A COMMITTEE meeting was held at Arklow House, on Tuesday, March 19th. Present, A. J. B. Beresford-Hope, Esq., President, in the chair, J. S. Forbes, Esq., Rev. S. S. Greatheed, Rev. T. Helmore, Rev. H. L. Jenner, Rev. J. H. Sperling, J. G. Talbot, Esq., Rev. W. Scott, and Rev. B. Webb. The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed. R. J. Johnson, Esq., of 10, Belgrave Street, South, was elected an ordinary member. Mr. Slater met the committee, and laid before them accurately-measured drawings of the Chichester spire, taken just before the fall. He mentioned that Professor Willis had been lecturing on the accident, explaining its cause, and showing it to have been inevitable. Mr. Slater exhibited various drawings of the college at Lancing, Sussex; and, in that for the hall, it was advised to leave out a circular window in one gable, in order to give ample room for a fresco-painting, and not to interfere with its effect by the glare. The committee approved the choice of the cast of an angel from a spandrel in the north transept in Westminster Abbey, as the subject for the society's prize for coloured ornamentation for 1862, given in connection with the Architectural Museum. Mr. G. M. Hills met the committee, and after some conversation on the fall of Chichester spire, exhibited his designs for a new girls' school in the churchyard of Kensington, and for some alms-houses at Pulborough, Sussex. Mr. Bodley met the committee, and urged the importance of some steps being taken by English ecclesiologists to protest against the wholesale destruction of the original architecture, and especially the sculpture, of the finest French churches, under pretence of restoration. After much discussion, it was agreed that the officers should be appointed a sub-committee, to draw up a memorial to the Royal Institute of British Architects, requesting them to make a formal appeal to their French brethren on the subject. The committee examined Mr. Bodley's designs for the new church of All Saints, Cambridge, to be built opposite the gate of Jesus College. A strong opinion was expressed against moving the site of the church; and in favour of an alternative design for the tower, which had a lofty spire instead of a gabled capping. Mr. Bodley stated that it was proposed to make a kind of campo santo, with cloisters and a central cross, on the site of the present church. Mr. Withers met the committee, and exhibited his designs for a chapel-school at Castell, Cardiganshire; for rebuilding the church of S. Nicholas, Monnington, Pembrokeshire; for the rebuilding of S. Dogfael's, Meline, Pembrokeshire; for the rebuilding of S. Teilo, Kilcheyden, Pembrokeshire; for the remodelling and partial rebuilding of S. Mary the Virgin, West Torrington, Lincolnshire; for a new school and master's house at Burgh-le-Marsh, Lincolnshire; and for a monument to the lord of the manor of Little Cawthorpe, Lincolnshire. Mr. W. M. Teulon met the committee, and laid before them his designs for a private mortuary chapel at Bryn y Pys, near Wrexham, and for a well-house at Rossington, Yorkshire. The Rev. J. H. Sperling exhibited photographs of his church at Wicken, near Bishop's Stortford, which was restored and enlarged by the addition of a western tower and spire from his own designs. He also showed photographic views of the rectory house built there, in which he was his own architect. Mr. Burges met the committee, and brought a letter for the Ecclesiologist containing his observations on Florence on a late visit. He stated, in conversation with respect to the French mania for destructive restoration, that Avignon was about to be taken in hand by M. Viollet Le Duc. The committee examined some specimens of a method of needlework, independently invented by Mr. A. Bell, which proved to be of the same kind exactly as that used at Cologne, for the hangings behind the stalls, noticed in a recent number of the Ecclesiologist. The work sent was part of a piano-forte-hanging, fancifully designed with singing-birds, and also a more ambitious design, for a banner, of the Annunciation, which was unfinished, but showed the method of working. Mr. Bell announced that he had taken the advice of the committee, and meant to exhibit the specimens at the Architectural Exhibition, in friendly rivalry with the Cologne specimens brought over by |