114 DR CLARKE ON HOLY ISLAND PRIORY. 



to strong lines in every other part of the building, should not here rest 

 in a blank surface. 



We now reach the intersection of the nave and transepts. Here in 

 the strong and massive piers, we have slender circular shafts set in square 

 recesses a style of transition from the short and heavy Norman to the 

 loftiness and exility of the Gothic, by which the weights above being 

 distributed to different and independent props an air of lightness and 

 grace is produced without any diminution of security or strength. 



Above, arose the tower which crowned the whole structure, but of its 

 existence the only remaining evidence is the most singular and beauti- 

 ful feature of the ruin. It is the great cross rib traversing the vault 

 diagonally from N.W. to S.E.. and spanning the mid-air free and uncon- 

 nected with the building but at its spring. Had this been a pointed arch, 

 it would have fallen with its superstructure, but the pressure of the round 

 arch being only at the sides, it is likely to endure as long as the parts 

 which buttress it up. 



The chancel beyond the transepts had originally a semicircular ter- 

 mination, as is still discernible on the floor, a feature retained in all 

 the Norman churches abroad. In this part of the edifice', it is to be re- 

 gretted, is a departure from the unity of style which pervades the rest 

 of the fabric the circular apse has given place to a rectangular, lighted 

 by pointed windows, in compliance with the fashion of the day, and in 

 violation of the grave simplicity of the rest of the structure. 



Buttresses of slight projection run all round the building. They were 

 scarcely needed by the Norman architects, from the enormous thickness 

 of their walls, and their inferior height ; but in them we may trace the 

 rudiments of what became, in the hands of the Gothic builders, so beau- 

 tiful and necessary a member, shooting up into airy pinnacles and spires, 

 and impressing a lofty and majestic character upon the whole. 



Of the conventual buildings the traces are few and indistinct. The 

 most important to their comforts the vast kitchen chimney yet remains 

 in all its original strength and completeness. The large walled space 

 adjoining was probably the Refectory, with which the kitchen would 

 communicate by the buttery-hatch. 



The building is now secured from violence and wanton dilapidation, 

 and as it has only to contend against the silent erosion of lichen and 

 wallflower, we may hope that it will long continue to adorn our district 

 a monument of a far distant age and far different state of society, and 

 a beautiful and affecting link between the past and the present. 



