230 RIPON, FOUNTAINS AND DURHAM. 
Another interesting part of this great Abbey is the 
Cellarium, Crypt, or Great Cloisters. It does not appear 
that the original and subsequent uses of this building are 
positively known, but in any case, it supports the Dor- 
mitory of forty cells above, and consists of two parallel 
vaulted aisles, each 300 feet in length and 21 feet in width, 
built during the 12th and 13th centuries. 
There is no doubt that at the zenith of its history this 
Abbey exercised great hospitality. There is the evidence 
of the large area covered by the outer buildings to support 
this. The great hall was unquestionably one of the most 
magnificent apartments ever erected in this kingdom, meas- 
uring 178 feet by 70 feet (wider than Westminster Hall, 
and only about 50 feet shorter), and divided into aisles by 
eighteen columns shafted and banded with marble. 
Again, the Refectory was of immense size, capable of 
dining between 300 and 400 persons. Here may be found 
the pulpit from which the brethren were read to during 
their repasts. To these buildings may be added the 
Hospitium, the Gate House, and the Infirmary for strangers, 
and numerous others offices necessary for the administra- 
tion of one of the finest ecclesiastical residences in England. 
It is pleasant to know that the Marquis of Ripon keeps 
this ruin in decent order, and takes sufficient steps to pre- 
vent its utter decay and obliteration. 
DURHAM CATHEDRAL. 
HE length of my paper rendered it necessary to 
confine my remarks to general rather than particular 
reference to the interesting details of this magnificent 
edifice. One cannot help feeling, upon the first glimpse 
of this stately pile, perched on the top of the rock covered 
with verdure and trees right down to the river’s edge about 
a hundred feet below, how enhanced these massive buildings 
