224 
NATURE NOTES 
regarded as one of the great beauties of the abbey. It is a 
window some fifty feet in height, and finely moulded on Gothic 
lines. Nearly all the tracery has at one period or other fallen 
from the upper part, little but the arch-springs betokening what 
once its architectural beauties were, but, there still remains the 
slender central mullion, which rises almost the full height of the 
window, and forks gracefully near the top. How it is that this 
shaft, so slender in its proportions and of apparently so frail a 
character, should have stood so long, appears strange indeed, 
but it certainl}^ is a monument to the excellence of those thir- 
teenth-century builders who completed the work to which Walter 
de Clare had set his hand a century and a half earlier. But the 
ecclesiastics of that day, who were themselves skilful with the 
mallet and chisel of the mason, worked not for ‘ copper alms ’ 
but for the glory of God, and their work was fashioned to 
endure. 
“ At length, however, it has become evident that this graceful 
shaft cannot remain much longer in its tottering state, and steps 
are being taken to preserve it. 
“ The preservation work on the east window is but part of a 
general overhauling of the grand old pile, which is being carried 
out after consultation with Mr. Waller, the well-known Gloucester 
architect. As is shown by our illustrations, scaffolding at the 
eastern end has been erected both within and without, and this 
has been joined so that the central shaft is surrounded by a 
series of platforms, tier above tier, until the apex of the arch is 
reached. A careful examination of the central shaft has shown 
that the stone has been so much affected by the weather that 
if it is takeir down it is doubtful if it can be put up again. 
What shall be done is still under consideration, one project being 
to strengthen it by the addition of narrow steel bands placed 
close to the stone work. 
“ The other work of preservation takes the form of pointing 
the ashlar in many places and filling in the gaps between the 
masonry on the exposed summits of the walls either with cement 
or lead, for this will prevent the percolation of the rain. Above 
the east and west windows at the extremities of the nave, gaunt 
bare gables, each pierced with smaller Gothic windows, stand 
out against the sky. These also are all being carefully pointed, 
and any loose pieces of masonry will be fixed, so that it will not 
then, as at present, be necessary to warn visitors to beware of 
falling coping stones or other masonry. The mullions and 
tracery of some of the windows to the south of the nave have 
been already strengthened, and a look round will soon convince 
the visitor that the work is being admirably done, and that the 
utmost care has been taken that nothing of an unsightly nature 
shall be introduced into the work. During the present season 
large numbers of visitors have visited, and are visiting, this 
grand old relic of days when Cistercian monks lived godly lives 
there, and angled in the stream that flows ‘ witli a sweet inland 
murmur ’ beneath its walls.” — Soiti/i H'aks Daily Neu>s. 
