PURNESS ABBEY. 81 



watch tower on an eminence accessible from the 

 abbey, whose signal-fire was visible all over Low 

 Furness, when assistance was required, or foes were 

 expected. The building is of the pale red stone of 

 the district. It must formerly have almost filled 

 the glen : and the ruins give an impression, to this 

 day, of the establishment having been worthy of 

 the zeal of its founder. King Stephen, and the 

 extent of its endowments, which were princely. 

 The boundary-wall of the precincts inclosed a space 

 of sixty -five acres, over which are scattered remains 

 that have, within our own time, been interpreted 

 to be those of the mill, the granary, the fish-ponds, 

 the ovens and kilns, and other offices. As for tl^ 

 architecture, the heavy shaft is alternating with 

 the clustered piUar, and the round Norman with the 

 pointed Gothic arch. The masonry is so good that 

 the remains are, even now, firm and massive ; and 

 the winding staircases within the walls are still in 

 good condition in many places. The nobleness of 

 the edifice consisted in its extent and proportions ; 

 for the stone would not bear the execution of any 

 very elaborate ornament. The crowned heads of 

 Stephen and his Queen Maude are seen outside the 

 great western window of the Abbey, and are now 

 among the most interesting of the remains. But it 

 is all triste and silent now. The chapter-house, 

 where so many grave councils were held, is open 

 to the babbling winds. Where the abbot and 

 his train swept past in religious procession, over 

 inscribed pavements echoing to the tread, the 

 stranger now wades among tall ferns and knotted 

 grasses, stumbling over stones fallen from the 

 place of honour. No swelling anthems are heard 



