RIPON, FOUNTAINS AND DURHAM. 231 
are by their surroundings. Their builders, these old monks, 
had their wits about them when they selected their sites 
and laid out their plans. The Cathedral particularly occupies 
a most unique position. Built on the top of a hill, at the 
base of which on three sides flows the river Wear, the 
east and west ends are particularly devoid of any inter- 
mediate obstruction, and as the hill at these ends slopes 
somewhat precipitously to the river and is thickly covered 
with trees, the effect is altogether charming. 
The Cathedral is 469 ft. 6 in. in length, 81 ft. wide, and 
about 73 ft. high, and its similarity to Fountains Abbey in 
plan and arrangement in regard to the monastic buildings 
and its Chapel of Nine Altars, as well as the Crypt, is re- 
markable. This building is perhaps the finest specimen of 
Norman, or more properly, Romanesque architecture we 
have. The foundation stone being laid in 1093, the work 
was carried on with such energy that in 40 years the great 
body of the church was completed and roofed in. In 
illustration of the massive character of this Cathedral, I 
have ascertained that if all the walls and piers could be got 
together, the stonework would cover an area equal to the 
whole length and breadth of the nave and of its full height. 
An American lady visiting the edifice stated that it was 
the only English cathedral she had seen that was not 
“gingerbread.” As St. Cuthbert is responsible for the 
inception of this cathedral, it follows that it suffers by 
his antipathy to the female sex. A legend to the effect 
that the proposed erection of a lady chapel was stopped by 
its continued dangerous settlements under the influence of 
the deceased St. Cuthbert, necessitating its entire removal 
to the west end, where it now forms the beautiful Galilee, 
may reasonably be put on one side in favour of the more 
likely reason of bad foundations on the edge of the cliff. 
The central tower is 218 ft. in height, and the two 
western towers 144 ft. 6in. The large tower is practically 
