A vote of thanks was passed to Sir Joseph Terry for presiding. The members then visited the King's Manor, just within the old city walls. Mr. A. Buckle received the visitors, and conducted them over the building. Mr. Buckle's paper, read later on, will be found at pp. 7-14. The party were much pleased with the visit.

Before leaving, the Marquess of Ripon expressed the indebtedness of the members of the Association to Mr. Buckle for having afforded them such an interesting half-hour.

The party then proceeded to the Minster. After the service Canon Raine described some of the main features connected with the structure. He said it might be convenient if he gave a preliminary sketch of the history of the church and the different fabrics represented in the present structure.

The history of York Minster practically began on Easter Day, 607. A little wooden chapel had been put up, and in this the King of Northumbria, who had been brought over to Christianity by Paulinus, was baptized. Afterwards the King built a stone church, keeping the little wooden chapel inside it as a sort of reliç. The King of Northumbria being killed in battle a few years after, the church was finished by Oswald, one of his successors. That church was improved and enlarged in the same century by Wilfrid, the founder of Ripon; but in the middle of the eighth century the great changes that were taking place in York rendered a new church necessary. York had become a great University town. The school of York was something more than a school in our acceptation of the word; it meant a great University. York University was one of European fame, for from it the French Universities took their origin: indeed, in York they had practically the starting-point of the whole system of scholastic life throughout Europe. A new Cathedral was, therefore, built, and it continued till the Norman conquest, when William, in revenge for the defeat of some of his troops at York, destroyed the whole place, burning the Cathedral and town. Consequently one of the first duties that fell to the first Norman Archbishop, Thomas I, was to build a new Cathedral, and he constructed it in the Norman style, resembling Southwell very much. In the latter part of the next century Archbishop Roger, a Frenchman, who was a great builder, had an opportunity of showing his architectural skill in repairing the ravages of a fire in the choir. They did not want much excuse, in those days, for introducing a new style of architecture, for they were only too glad, very often, to pull down the most glorious fabric simply to bring in something new. Roger built a new choir, and no change was made after that till the middle of the thirteenth century, when the architectural spirit had revived, and they thought they had in justice some excuse for making a little further change. The northern tran,

sept was undertaken by the Chapter of the time, and the southern transept was begun almost contemporaneously by the Archbishop, Walter de Gray, who built the nave of Ripon Cathedral. The transepts must have been built between 1230 and 1250; at all events the south transept was complete when Walter de Grey's death took place, for his remains were laid there, and the visitors would presently see his beautiful, canopied monument. They had got now the old Norman nave, the Transitional choir of Archbishop Roger, and two beautiful Early English transepts. What were they to do next? They began to build a new nave, Archbishop le Romayne laying the foundationstone on the south corner about 1292. Between then and 1340 the existing grand nave was built. The choir must have been beautiful, judging by the remains ; but it was resolved that it must come down. In 1363 Archbishop Thoresby began a new choir at his own expense, and he lived long enough to finish the four easternmost bays. On his death he was laid in front of the great east window, at his side being the remains of six other Archbishops, he having removed their bones from different parts of the church lest they should be disturbed by the restoration which was going to take place. Thoresby died in 1373, and the chapter did not complete the choir to the central tower till about 1405. It was a time when money was very scarce, and there was also great difficulty in keeping masons, as when any royal personage or statesman wanted any work done he had a sort of press-gang system in operation upon the workmen. The real difficulties of the Chapter commenced when the Norman tower was reached. They did not dare to pull it down because that would have brought down the choir, nave, and transepts; but they must, he thought, have made some attempt at that, for in one or two places there were signs of shrinkage in the neighbouring arches, and they must have taken warning from what they saw, and desisted from the attempt. But they recast the Norman pillars with Perpendicular architecture,-a very dangerous and critical operation. He regarded the choir-screenwhich on the face of it seemed so light and elegant, but in reality was many yards thick-as being actually a great buttress to the tower. It was found necessary to put it there in order to make everything quite safe. With that work completed, they had the interior of the fabric as it stood now. In the latter part of the fifteenth century the two western towers were put up, and the pinnacles and flying buttresses. Then there was the Chapter House, and that was a great difficulty in the architectural history of York Minster. They had no documentary evidences as to the building of it, and could only form an idea of its date from the architectural details. It was Early Decorated work, and must date from 1280 downwards for twenty or thirty years. That the work must have been done very leisurely was proved by its ela

boration. In viewing the Minster, the thought arose, How did they get all that work done? The fact was that they only had a limited fabric fund of their own; but they could rely without any hesitation upon the unlimited generosity particularly of all the people of Yorkshire. Any one who read the wills of the Yorkshire men of the time when the work was going on would see how bequest after bequest was left for its continuance, the sums ranging from 6d. to many pounds; and they must be multiplied by a considerable amount to bring them up to our present money value. It must be remembered also that the Chapter had "brief-bearers" going about the country begging money

in

every direction. Again, there were the offerings made at the shrine of St. William, the patron Saint, and the moneys placed in the almsbags, which went, for the most part, to the great work of restoration. The love which Yorkshire men had for the Minster was a matter of common knowledge, and he did not hesitate to say that any wilful harm done to the edifice would make something like an insurrection in the county. In further remarks the Rev. Canon referred to the fires which occurred in the Minster in 1829 and 1840, and passed on to point out how wonderfully the stained glass in the building had been preserved. He said they owed that largely to Lord Fairfax. He believed it was true that at the siege of York he put a guard round the Minster, and they had orders to blow out the brains of any one who hurt the fabric. No one was allowed to fire a ball at it; and he (Canon Raine) believed the Minster on that occasion saved York from terrible fire and destruction, because the soldiers could not well fire at the town without hitting some part of the sacred edifice. It was an astonishing thing that every window had two-thirds or more of old glass in it.

The visitors were then conducted round the interior of the Minster, an inspection being made of the windows, tombs, tablets, as well as of the details of the various styles of architecture represented. The choir, with its ornate oak-carving, having been viewed, the party visited the Lady Chapel, where the east window evoked admiration. The crypt, with its remnants of Saxon masonry, was also an object of attention. The Chapter House was subsequently visited.

In the evening a conversazione was held, by invitation of the Lord Mayor and the Local Committee, in the Fine Art and Industrial Institution, to which, in addition to the members attending the Congress, a large number of ladies and gentlemen of the city and the neighbourhood were invited. The central hall of the Institution had been handsomely furnished as a drawing-room, and decorated with plants, shields, and banners. There were also on its walls many pictures, busts, natural history specimens, and other objects of interest which form a part of the permanent exhibition. There were also a number

of the ancient records and charters of the Corporation, and the state swords and mace. These relics were inspected with interest, as were also similar records and plate belonging to the Merchant Adventurers' Company and the Merchant Taylors' Company, the latter being lent by the Hon. Sec. of the Company, Mr. Joseph Wilkinson. Mr. A. Buckle had lent valuable books. The guests had the privilege, which was evidently much appreciated, of viewing the magnificent collection of pictures in the Burton Gallery.

The guests were received by Alderman Sir Joseph Terry and Lady Terry, the City Sheriff and Mrs. Millward, Mr. Alderman Rooke, Dr. Tempest Anderson, Mr. Councillor Clayton, Mr. A. Buckle, and Mr. H. M. Platnauer. Shortly after the arrival of the Marquess of Ripon Mr. Buckle, Superintendent of the Yorkshire School for the Blind, read a paper on "A Century in the King's Manor House", which has been printed at pp. 7-14.

Mr. J. S. Rowntree subsequently read a paper on the Guildhall of York, in substitution of a paper on a similar subject which Mr. McGuire, the Town Clerk, had prepared, but which he was by illness prevented from reading. This paper will, it is hoped, be printed hereafter.

The Marquess of Ripon proposed thanks for these interesting papers.

TUESDAY, 18TH AUGUST 1891.

The members of the Association devoted this day to the antiquities of York. At All Saints', North Street, Mr. Brock said that in places where Saxon influence had largely prevailed, as it had done here, they always found considerable groups of churches; but the same thing did not characterise the Norman period. During the Middle Ages there seemed to have been a great struggle for existence amongst those churches, as they found one after another disappeared. The sites of some which existed prior to the time of Henry VIII were known, and their names were also known, but many more were lost in the dimness of antiquity. With regard to York, they found that the enormous number of churches which had existed in the Middle Ages had dwindled down to thirty-two in the latter part of the reign of Henry VIII. In the reign of Edward VI an Act of Parliament was passed dealing specially with York. It stated that owing to the decay of the city and the poverty of merchants there were many churches in the district yielding an income of less than 27s. 6d. per annum; that many were served by monks who had been relieved from duty in their monasteries, and of whom the Act did not render any very good account; and it was, therefore, ordered that churches yielding less than the amount already stated be united to other parishes. Under the provi sions of that Act only some five or six churches were so united; but

about a hundred years after, when the general insurrection and siege of York took place, several more churches were destroyed, and never rebuilt.

Turning to the Church of All Saints, Mr. Brock said it had a character of its own, on account of the peculiar little fifteenth century tower and spire at the west end. In the time to which these belong, spires were not common, though octagonal towers were frequently built in the county, and there were in existence now two or three very beautiful examples. But a prettily contrived spire like that of All Saints', starting from a lofty octagonal tower on a small square base, was a composition not frequently seen, and he commended it very much to their architectural friends as giving a very picturesque appearance at a very moderate cost. In that little church, as they would see, the stained glass was exceedingly remarkable and good. The colours were beautiful, the design was interesting, and it was a matter of very great gratification to find so much remained in fairly good condition. Here he would say that any student of old glass must be aware that its destruction was not owing so much to the violence of Oliver Cromwell and others whose names were so perpetually repeated as to the actual decay of the leadwork. Any one who had the custody of an old church would do great service to the building if he would have the leadwork looked after in good time. Mr. Brock proceeded to point out various details of interest in the little Early English nave, and remarked on the absence of any chancel-arch.

Leaving the Church of All Saints, North Street, the party were conducted to St. Martin-cum- Gregory Church, on Micklegate Hill, an edifice affording examples of Early English work. Mr. Brock, directing attention to the chancel, said that was of much later date than the nave; and it would be noticed how very much wider the arches were in proportion to the supports, a feature which would be found in many other York churches. The church had small one from a grown to a large one, the chancel having been added and the building enlarged in the fifteenth century. St. Martin-cum-Gregory Church afforded an instance of what was an almost invariable rule, viz., that in the extension of ancient churches the line between nave and chancel was maintained as it had existed from the earliest times. He would particularly ask their attention to the stained glass in the windows. That on the south side had almost disappeared; but the window at the east end was a beautiful specimen of fourteenth century work.

The visitors proceeded to Priory Street in order to obtain an cxtcrior view of the north-west tower of the Church of Holy Trinity, Micklegate. This building, Mr. Brock explained, was a conventual church at one time, and must have been one of the largest in York then, as it was now one of the most picturesque fabrics in the city.