114 DR CLABKE ON HOLY ISLAND PRIORY. 



mind by appearing to support the arches above, and that the eye, which 

 had been accustomed to strong lines in every other part of the build- 

 ing, 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 light- 

 ness 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 un- 

 connected 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 

 regretted, is a departure from the u.nity 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 ; bu.t in them we 

 may trace the rudiments of what became, in the hands of the Grothic 

 builders, so beautiful 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. 



