305 
and many other secret emblematical marks, were placed by 
the freemasons upon certain stones belonging to the structures 
which they reared — (the cross is to be seen on a stone in 
Calverley Church, near Bradford) — and we constantly find, 
in pointed architecture, the figure of our Saviour, but espe- 
cially that of the Virgin, inclosed in the geometrical figure 
termed " Vesica piscis," which was also the form of conven- 
tual seals, and is at the present day that of all ecclesiastical 
seals. In painted glass it was also introduced ; and, not to 
notice other instances, two may be mentioned as occurring in 
the West-Riding, the one in Elland Church, near Halifax ; 
the other in the Chantry Chapel of Thornhill Church, near 
Dewsbury ; and there is in the possession of my friend, 
N. Scatcherd, Esq., of Morley, near Leeds, an alabaster 
sculpture, representing the Virgin, similarly enshrined, the 
rays diverging from every part of her body — (this relic 
formerly belonged to Sir Thomas More, the chancellor) — 
and the execution is exceedingly beautiful. 
But my present object is to refer to the very singular 
application of the form of the " vesica piscis," which I have 
discovered in the plans of York, Lichfield, and Salisbury 
Cathedrals, determining in a most remarkable manner, not 
only the position of the centre line of the tower, but also the 
exact extent from north to south of the transepts. (See the 
Illustrations, Nos. 1, 2, and 3, plate 3.) From the plans it 
will be seen that the form of the vesica piscis" is similarly 
obtained in each case, which is the more remarkable inas- 
much as the distance from the west end to the centre of the 
great tower differs so greatly in the three cathedrals, that of 
York being 4^ circles of half the width of the nave, that 
of Salisbury 6\ circles, and that of Lichfield 4 ; and also, 
as the respective widths of the nave vary so much, (York 
106 feet, Salisbury 78 feet, Lichfield 66 feet,) Salisbury 
and Lichfield have only one aisle to the transepts, while 
1 2 
