VOL. XVIII. (2) EXCURSION— TINTERN 109 



The church to-day is not the church erected in the year 1131 by the 

 founder of the Abbey, Walter de Clare, founder of the powerful family of 

 Clare. That disappeared a century and a half afterwards, to make room for 

 the edifice which, even to-day, despite its roofless walls, dismantled windows, 

 and ruined mouldings, is without a peer. Its ground-plan is simple — just 

 an ordinary cruciform, with a comparatively short Nave. Yet the visitor 

 has only to step inside the west door to be struck with its noble proportions. 

 For this effect there are two primary causes. One is that the entrance is 

 down a flight of steps, a very unusual arrangement in Engird, though 

 common on the Continent ; the other is that the shortness of the Nave brings 

 the Transepts and the Choir into prominent view. The grandeur of the 

 edifice is, however, best seen from the crossing. There the majestic height 

 and proportions of the arches, and the great piers of the arcades, with their 

 small detached shafts, are exceedingly impressive. There, too, one can see 

 how the four great arms of the church were filled with great windows, the 

 beauty of which is indicated, though feebly, by the central mullion and the 

 scanty remains of tracery in the eastern window. To the student of window 

 tracery the tracery is of special interest, because, as Mr Blashill points out, 

 " while it retains in its general design the purity of detail which marks the 

 style of the thirteenth century, it seems to grasp all that is really admirable 

 in the style of the forthcoming age." One feature of the church is in striking 

 contrast to the churches of the period. As the Cistercians insisted upon quiet 

 and repose in daily life and work, so they also insisted upon simplicity in their 

 sacred buildings. Towers and peals of bells, sculpture and pictures, coloured 

 glass in windows, were alike forbidden, while even the number of candles and 

 lights was strictly limited. At Tintern the carving is limited to bosses which 

 were necessary to hide the intersection of the vaulting ribs, and the same 

 limited use of carving appears to have been true of the Cistercian Abbey of 

 Hayles, which lies in a sequestered nook near the ancient town of Winch- 

 combe. Finally, as to the general design of the church, it may be noted that, 

 unlike Continental churches belonging to the Cistercian Order, the eastern 

 limb of all English Cistercian churches has a square end, and there is no 

 Lady Chapel. The square end is said to be due to the influence of a Dorset- 

 shire monk who was one of the founders of the Cistercian Order, while the 

 absence of a Lady Chapel is due to the fact that all the churches of the 

 Order were dedicated to St. Mary. 



Time permitted- for a refreshing cup of tea on a lawn commanding an 

 excellent view of the ruined Abbey, to which so many Americans as well as 

 Englishmen make pilgrimage, and around whose dismantled walls and arches 

 circle noisy jackdaws, as they have doubtless done for centuries. 



The return journey to Chepstow was by way of the road which passes the 

 Moss Cottage and the steps leading up the Windcliff. From this point the 

 party looked across the valley to Mr Butt's summer-house, perched high on 

 the cliff, and so were able to take farewell of Oakwood, and to carry away to 

 Chepstow station, and thence to towns and villages of Gloucestershire, recol- 

 lections of unqualified enjoyment. [J-S.] 



HALF-DAY EXCURSION DOWN THE GLOUCESTER AND 



SHARPNESS CANAL TO "THE JUNCTION." 



Saturday, June 28th, 1913. 



Directors : A. J. Cullis, C. Upton and The President. 



{Report by W. Thompson and L. Richardson) 



The Members who attended this excursion were : — The Rev. Walter 

 Butt (President), Mr Charles Upton (Vice-President), Mr J. H. Jones (Hon. 

 Treasurer), the Rev. A. R. Winnington-Ingram, Dep. -Surg. -Gen. G. A 



