264 THE BATH ROAD 



even beyond the merit of its arcliitecture. From near 

 the ground-level, almost to the turrets, this curious 

 carving stretches, battered long years ago by the 

 fury of an age which prided itself on its enmity to 

 " superstitious images," and reduced by the further 

 neglect of more than two hundred years to an almost 

 shapeless mass. The origin of this curious decoration 

 is found in the vision of Bishop Oliver King, who 

 restored the then ruined Abbey in 1499. In this 

 vision, by which he was induced to undertake the 

 ofreat work, he saw ano^els ascending^ and descending; 

 a ladder, and heard a voice say, " Let an Olive estab- 

 lish a Crown, and let a King restore the Church." 

 He interpreted this as a Divine injunction to himself 

 to repair the Abbey, and accordingly commenced the 

 work ; dying, how^ever, before it was completed. The 

 "ladders" have sculptured angels on them, wliile on 

 the wall above the arch of the great window is 

 represented a great concourse of adoring angels, with 

 a figure of God in glory in their midst. Many of 

 the fio;ures have their heads knocked off; but the 

 whole of this sculpture is shortly to be restored. 



XLVl 



Bath entered upon a dead period about 1820. For 

 a long while the newer and more easily reached glories 

 of Brighton had taken the mere fashionables away, 

 and even the waters were less favoured. Continental 

 wars had ceased, and unpatriotic Britons Hocked to 



