THE ARCHITECTURAL MUSEUM. 
l 3 
the site of the Sacristy have been erected the boundary wall and 
buildings in connection with the School for the Blind, a great 
portion of which is built of Abbey stones. 
Unfortunately these are not the only walls in proximity to the 
Abbey which are built out of its ruins. The lower walls of this 
Museum have much to answer for in this respect ; and it is a grave 
question to ask whether the early 19th century builders or those 
of the great Abbey grabber were the greater offenders at this spot. 
Before touching upon any historical events concerning the 
Abbey, I would like to make one point clear, so that no miscon¬ 
ception or regret may follow should it be expected that some 
reference to other ruins and buildings in the grounds of the Society 
are to be included in this paper. Much as I would like to have 
included them, because they all have charm, and a great deal of 
interest is attached to them, but the time at our disposal this 
afternoon will not permit. The buildings to which I refer are St. 
Leonard’s Hospital (the east end of the little chapel is a gem of 
Early English—13th century architecture), the Multangular Tower, 
forming one of the massive fortifications of York under the Roman 
occupation; the “ Hospitium,” or guest house of the Monastery; 
St. Mary’s Gate, with the Abbot’s Court House and Chapel of the 
B.V. adjoining ; the Boundary Wall of the Monastery along 
Marygate, the Prison, Record Tower, Princess Margaret’s Gate¬ 
way, and, lastly, the Abbot’s House, afterwards converted into a 
palace for the Lord President of the North—a Council set up by 
Henry VIII. at the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries, 
1539— an d later converted and added to, to form a palace for 
himself, where he stayed when on a short visit along with one of 
his queens, Catherine Howard—being altered and mangled again 
for other monarchs, until there is now little left of the original and 
sumptuous lodging belonging to the Abbot of St. Mary’s. Piow- 
ever charming these remains are, you will I am sure agree with 
me that the task imposed upon me in dealing with the charms of 
St. Mary’s Abbey and the Society’s Architectural Museum is not 
a light one, so that I must get on with my story. 
The story of the founding of the Abbey is an interesting one. 
When reading it one is faced by two different accounts of its origin. 
They are both instructive, but to arrive at the actual facts is a 
somewhat complex problem. The first theory is that chronicled 
by Ingulf and Roger de Idoveden. Hoveden tells the story of these 
monks who in 1073 came with inspired zeal from Evesham in 
