SUMMARY OF THE REPORT. 
N brief my report is, that the Tower is in a very bad 
state. That the evils affecting it have not been pro- 
duced by one great radical defect, but rather by a number 
of causes operating in various ways. 
The Foundations appear to be solid and secure, and the 
walls, (though not so massive as in some other instances,) 
are of considerable thickness. And yet many of the pre- 
sent evils must have manifested themselves shortly after 
the completion of the building. 
The chief of them is the want of sufficient strength in 
the great arches supporting the Eastern and Western 
walls, from the absence of proper relieving arches over 
them. This deficiency has at an early period produced 
vertical fractures in the superimposed walls, extending to 
nearly half their height, and in spite ofall the remedies yet 
applied (in the shape of iron tie bars and cramps,) these 
settlements have extended, until large portions of the walls 
are almost ruinous. 
The mode by which I propose to remedy this evil, is by 
inserting even now, proper relieving arches, and then re- 
storing the walls above to a sound condition. 
The second great cause of mischief seems to be, the 
defective construction of the masonry of the walls behind 
the ashlared fronts. Almost every where, large flints and 
stones are built in without regard to their position, and 
without any secure bond ; hence vertical joints are seen 
with scarcely a break, often six or seven feet in height, 
the result has been, that every tendency to settlements, or 
unequal pressure, has shewn itself by long vertical fissures 
opening. Fortunately the excellency of the mortar, has 
served to retard their extension. 
The whole Tower is faced on its exterior with dressed 
stones laid in courses ; hence the fractures seen on the 
interior surfaces do not correspond with similar ones on the 
outside ; in each case they generally follow the joints of the 
