THE CHARM OF ST. MARY’S ABBEY 
AND THE 
ARCHITECTURAL MUSEUM, 
YORK, 
By E. Ridsdale Tate. 
(licentiate r.i.b.a.) 
Before entering into the details of the two subjects chosen for 
your attention this afternoon, I may say either of them is, in my 
opinion, a sufficiently interesting and instructive subject to occupy 
a single lecture ; but as the two are so closely interwoven and 
bound together, it would be a difficult matter to separate them, 
even if one had the desire to do so. 
Mental reconstructions of St. Mary’s Abbey have, from my entry 
into the Architectural profession, been one of two fascinating sub¬ 
jects, and many plans, elevations and sections have in consequence 
been drawn in the air. Not until the year 1902, when the 
excavations of the Choir of the Abbey were in progress, did an 
opportunity arise for the realization of my dream. My professional 
duties periodically called me from London to Carlisle, and on these 
occasions I contrived to break my journey at York to pay a visit 
to the Abbey. It was the sight of the beautiful fragments lying 
about that roused the dormant enthusiasm—then followed the 
burning of the midnight gas, and the Nave of St. Mary’s Abbey 
appeared—on paper, of course—a resemblance of its former 
grandeur before that thief of monastic property (Henry VIII. I 
mean) robbed York of one of the noblest buildings in the realm. 
I venture to say that the Abbey Church of St. Mar}/, outside the 
walls of York, was unsurpassed by any of the monastic establish¬ 
ments in Great Britain. Events happened which ultimately 
brought me back to reside in my native city, and soon afterwards 
I became a member of this Society. 
