RDPORT OF MEETINGS FOR 190§ 2S5 



flumina habitans "—suggests a harmless and unobtrusive 

 carriage, the members on the call of the President accorded 

 a hearty vote of thanks to the Mayor and his lady for their 

 successful endeavour to render the Club's visit pleasant, and 

 rich in historical reminiscence. 



Resuming their seats in the brakes, which were in waiting, 



the party drove off to the site of Newminster 

 Newminster Abbey, proceeding by what is locally known 

 Abbey. as the "Dogger Bank," without any untoward 



incident or mishap ! There, on a rising ground 

 in the centre of the grass-covered ruins, amid charming 

 sunshine, and with a sense of replenishment, the members 

 ranged themselves, and listened to a graphic account by 

 Mr Fergusson of the historical incidents connected with the 

 Abbey, and to a no less minute description of its ruins. Unfor- 

 tunately very little of its original proportions can be traced, 

 the walls having been levelled, and made use of, as in so 

 many other instances, as a convenient quarry for the construction 

 of new buildings in the neighbourhood. It is called 

 the first daughter of Fountains in Yorkshire, whither its 

 founder, Ranulph de Merlay, had repaired " to behold the 

 conversation of the brethren"; and being greatly impressed 

 with the purity of their Order was led "under the inspiration 

 of God to assign a certain place in his paternal estate " for 

 their use and benefit. This he did in 1139, when on his 

 return he gave a part of his estate for the maintenance 

 of a brotherhood of the same Order, and laid the foundation 

 of a monastic house on the plan of the famous Yorkshire 

 Abbey. Its main features are Norman in design, consisting 

 of nave and choir, and North and Solith transepts, as a rule 

 proportionately short. The choir has been recently enclosed 

 with a strong rail; and during excavations made in it, in 

 1875, there were discovered the site of the high altar, and 

 the tomb of St. Robert, the first Abbot. On the South of 

 the nave lay the cloister-garth, and on the West an annexe 

 of divergent architecture, after the manner of the well-known 

 Galilee in Durham Cathedral. On the North stands the only 

 remaining archway over a doorway of the church, but it 

 seems to be a late insertion of the 14th century. Only eight 

 monks formed the fraternity at the foundation of the Abbey, 



