26 
THE CHARM OF ST. MARY’S ABBEY, ETC. 
way and arcading, as also the chapel and bridge, are carefully 
depicted in both Cave's and Halfpenny's “ Views of York." It 
may not be known to every member of this Society that a valuable 
collection of original sketches of Old York by Cave is housed in 
this Museum, but for want of space cannot be exhibited. 
Fifteenth century pillar and arch stones from St. Crux Church, 
demolished in 1886, are preserved as a memorial of an act of un¬ 
pardonable vandalism ; again, there are a few reminders of another 
similar act, by the demolition of the beautiful 13th century gate¬ 
way of the Priory of the Holy Trinity in Micklegate. 
Before closing this account of the charms of the Philosophical 
Society’s Architectural Museum, there is to be noted a reminder 
of what must have been a very beautiful Norman Church—dedi¬ 
cated to the mother of Constantine—St. Helen-on-the-Wall, which 
occupied a site in Aldwark. There are two or three capitals with 
enrichment unlike anything we know of in York or its vicinity ; 
they are worthy of examination, as indeed is the whole collection, 
forming as it assuredly does a veritable store-house for the archi¬ 
tect, archaeologist and sculptor. 
The charm of St. Mary’s Abbey lies mainly in the gracefulness 
of its lines—its elegance and proportion—not in elaborate carving 
or excess of dog-tooth enrichment, but in the beauty of its mould¬ 
ings. Wherever carving is introduced it is subordinated to the 
general design, as for instance, in the nave wall arcade. You will 
find a capital with mouldings on it, or perhaps a group of such ; 
then you will see in the midst another carved with simple ivy 
leaves clustered under the moulding ; and so with the windows, 
there is endless variety of details, and yet every part is in perfect 
harmony. 
Nowhere in England is there another spot so full of charm as 
York ; and where in York is there a more charming spot than the 
Gardens of the Philosophical Society, in which stand the beautiful 
fragments of that once powerful and noble monastery of St. Mary’s. 
Here we must leave the venerable pile in the evening.of its glory. 
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