1843.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



Jl 



but it is a tolerably safe one, since no one will care to rob him of it, 

 the epithet being just next door to that of strolling player. Mr. W. 

 Bartholomew is named as " Honorary Solicitor," and if by that is 

 meant he is to do all the law business of the society " gratis for no- 

 thing," he must be a real phoenix in his profession — something more 

 wonderful than all other Professors put together. We never heard, 

 before, of " Baptisterograpter," yet such is the high-sounding title 

 conferred upon a Mr. W. P. Griffith. Besides these, there are a 

 "Custos," 1 a "Recorder," and a " Cataloguist " ! Of Professors of 

 one kind or other there are no fewer than eight ; so that the title is 

 likely to become quite a drug — so dog cheap that no one will think it 

 •worth having. But the drollest thing of all still remains to be men- 

 tioned : would it be believed that these professed and professing 

 "Free-masons" have got a female among them, contrary to the well- 

 known regulations of that mysterious craft? And what office does the 

 lady fill ? Is she their " Professor or Professoress of cookery." Oh, 

 no ! There would be nothing very ridiculous in that ; especially as 

 there is a "Gibbons' Carver," and there must, accordingly, be a cook 

 to provide materials for him to operate upon. No, the lady's office is 

 to be that of — guess if you can, but we defy you to do it ; therefore 

 not to teaze you any longer, tell you it is to be that of "Embroidress!" 

 Think of Professors, and a Vitruvian Professor among the rest, being 

 jumbled up with an " Embroidress " — alias a Professor of Millinery ! 

 O, Vitruvius, how art thou fallen ! Dignity of Art, how art thou 

 sunk ! — so low that ne'er shall we be able to dig thee out again .' 



Not contenting himself with this bit of quiz, the author of it has 

 very unceremoniously mentioned several gentlemen as individuals on 

 •whom it is proposed to confer Honorary Fellowships, and has even 

 had the audacity to make free with the name of Charles Barry; which 

 is certainly carrying the joke a little too far. He has also put down 

 those of both Willis and Whewell, and we need not say very blunder- 

 ingly, since the " Vitruvian Professor" holds their writings in such 

 contempt, that he has thought proper to omit them in the list of archi- 

 tectural works inserted in his Encyclopaedia. It being merry Christmas 

 time, some license may perhaps be allowed to the jokers and lovers of 

 fun ; but we suspect that many of the parties who figure in this jeu 

 d'esprit, will consider it very sorry fun — not at all better than a fort 

 mauvaise plaisanttrie. 



RESTORATION OF THE CHURCH OF SAINT MARY, 

 REDCLIFFE, BRISTOL. 



[It affords us much pleasure to be able to lay before our readers the 

 following address of the Vicar and Churchwardens of the church of 

 St. Mary, Redeliffe, Bristol, on the proposed works necessary to be 

 done to restore this noble specimen of ecclesiastical building to its 

 pristine grandeur; and we are happy to see that the combined talent 

 of Messrs. Britton and Hosking have been engaged to report upon the 

 necessary works requisite to be done : the one is well known for his 

 antiquarian disquisitions and his love for all that concerns the Chris- 

 tian architecture of Great Britain, and the other for his thorough 

 knowledge of construction and architecture, which insure that the 

 public will have that justice done to the building that it so well 

 merits. We heartily join in the appeal, and do hope that every ar- 

 chitect will exert his influence, in stimulating the public to come for- 

 ward with subscriptions, for the restorations requisite this noble 

 edifice.] 



The Vicar, Churchwardens, and Vestry of the Parish of St. Mary, 

 Redeliffe, having resolved upon a public and extended appeal on be- 

 half of the venerable and once splendid fabric entrusted to their care, 

 prepared and circulated, in July last, an address briefly stating the 



1 QuEere, should not this be " C'ustnrd-maktr P" 



Printer's Devil, 



circumstances which appeared to them to justify such appeal. That 

 address explained the preliminary steps which the parish authorities 

 had adopted, and especially their selection of Mr. BfilTTOM to advise 

 respecting the decayed state of their church, and the best mode of 

 restoring it to its pristine integrity and beauty, with their reasons for 

 such selection. The result of their communication with that gentle- 

 man was his calling to his aid Mr. Hosking, Professor of architecture 

 and of the arts of construction, at King's College, London, whom the 

 Vestry, at Mr. Britton's request, have associated with him in the 

 commission. 



These gentlemen having carefully and fully sup-eyed the church, 

 presented to the parish authorities luminous and detailed reports, on 

 all the matters referred to them, accompanied by plans and drawings 

 illustrative of their views. In the conclusion of their preliminary 

 address the parish authorities stated that the reports were thought 

 too copious for printing on that occasion; but that in a subsequent 

 appeal, an analysis should be given, to embrace their more leading 

 and prominent parts, and illustrated by copies of some of the draw- 

 ings. It is in fulfilment of this intention, and of the pledge contained 

 in their former paper, that the Vicar, Churchwardens and Vestry, now 

 present this more extended address, in the hope and belief that the 

 public will feel as well satisfied as the parish authorities in their pre- 

 liminary address stated themselves to be, that the able and eminent 

 architects alluded to, have, in their consideration of the matters re- 

 ferred to them, " been governed by views not less honourable to their 

 reputation for taste and science, than for sound and practical know- 

 ledge, and that could the views of those gentlemen be carried out. 

 our city would possess a parochial church, and the west of England a 

 national monument, of unequalled beauty, and one to be visited and 

 admired by multitudes of strangers of our own and of foreign 

 nations-" 



In their reports on the present state and contemplated repairs and 

 restoration of the church of St. Mary, Redeliffe, Messrs. Britton and 

 Hosking commence by drawing the attention of the parish authorities 

 to the injuries sustained by the fabric, from the long-continued access 

 of damp and moisture, both in the superstructure and foundation 

 walls — produced, as to the former, by the insufficient means for carrying 

 off the rain and snow — and, as to the latter, by the want of drainage; 

 both which deficiences they principally ascribe to the original ar- 

 rangement for the discharge of water from the roofs, and want of 

 drainage round the fabric. To the former of these defects, they at- 

 tribute, in a great degree, the injury to, if not destruction of, the 

 external faces of the Masons' work upon the wall* and buttresses. 

 Thev have, in much detail, set out the nature, extent, and causes of 

 the mischief; and, in a subsequent part of their report, have sug- 

 gested, with like detail, the extensive and efficient measures recom- 

 mended for remedying the evils alluded to, and for preventing their 

 future recurrence. 



They describe the roof covering as, throughout, in a very defective 

 state, though heavy expence is anuually incurred in repairing it; and 

 they suggest its entire re-arrangement and re-construction, upon the 

 principles described in their reports. 



They have also ascertained and have very accurately described, an 

 original defect existing in the great tower, evinced in a bulging out- 

 wards of the. external faces of that part of the structure, and pro- 

 duced by an inequality of strength and resisting power between the 

 finely-wrought and closely-jointed masonry of the faces, and the rub- 

 ble backing which constitutes the main bulk of the walls ; and they 

 state that, with the exception of the tower and the flank wall and 

 buttresses of the south aile of the chancel, all the walls and founda- 

 tions, throughout, appear to be perfectly sound and but little injured 

 They attribute the settlement outwards of the flank wall first noticed 

 to the want of proper drainage before alluded to, and to the too near 

 approach of graves to the foundations of the wall in question, which 

 are not, in that part of the fabric, more than four or live feet in depth; 



