HANDBOOK TO THE CATHEDRALS OF ENGLAND. Southern Division. PART I. WINCHESTER.-SALISBURY.-EXETER. WELLS. With llustrations. LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 1876. PREFACE THE Handbook for the Cathedrals of England' (Southern Division) was first given to the public in 1862. During the fourteen years which have since passed, all the Cathedrals embraced in this division, with the exception of Canterbury and Winchester, have undergone the most extensive repair and restoration; while works of considerable importance, although not on so wide a scale, have been undertaken and completed at both Canterbury and Winchester. The condition of these great churches while restoration was in progress, the removal of modern accretions which prevented due examination of the fabric, and, in some cases, the uncovering of ancient foundations, and the disclosure of fragments of sculpture and of moulding, built up into walls and arches of later date than the sixteenth century, have afforded opportunity and supplied the means for considerably increasing our knowledge of the architectural history of the Southern Cathedrals, VOL. I.-PT. I. b and of the changes to which they were subjected at different periods. Ancient authorities and beliefs have been thoroughly sifted; and, occasionally, new and important conclusions have been reached. It has, therefore, been found. necessary to add considerably to the first part of each Cathedral, as it appeared in the previous editions of this Handbook. In two instancesChichester, the spire of which Cathedral fell within a month or two of the first publication of the Handbook, and Rochester, where the facts disclosed during the restoration have compelled a complete re-adjustment of the history-the first part has been entirely re-written. For the other Cathedrals it has seemed best to insert some additional notices in the text, but to give descriptions of the new work and of the restoration in general, in notes which form an Appendix. Occasional discussions on architectural questions, dates, and historical facts, have been also consigned to these notes. The Church of St. Alban's is included in the present edition, since, although it has not yet become a Cathedral, its future position as the church of the new see is sufficiently assured. No alteration has been made in the general |