REPORT OF THE COUNCIL FOR 1908. 
7 
of St. Mary’s Abbey and St. Leonard's Hospital were in a 
very unsatisfactory condition. The damage is caused partly 
by mechanical and partly by chemical agencies. The former 
includes disintegration by vegetable growth and attrition by 
dust and sand driven by the wind, and the latter by the action 
of the acids in the air, derived from smoke. The Report 
recommends the removal of vegetation, the use of movable 
wind screens, and the treating of the exposed stone work with 
alkalised limewash. Your Council propose to set aside a fixed 
sum each year for the above purposes. 
During the past year an alarm was raised that ceitain 
Committees of the York Corporation recommended the re¬ 
moval of Queen Margaret’s Archway, for the purpose of 
improving the access to and from Gillygate. Your Council at 
once drew the attention of the Town Clerk to the terms of the 
Conveyance of the Abbey Walls, by your Society to the 
Corporation, which expressly provided that no part of the 
wall should be taken down, but that the same should be kept 
in repair by the Corporation. The question came before a 
full meeting of the York City Council, and on an application 
to the Town Clerk, he advised that the contention of your 
Society appeared to him to be correct. We are glad to add that 
the vast majority of the Members of the City Council were 
warmly in favour of the preservation of this interesting relic, 
and appeared to appreciate the action of the Society in hand¬ 
ing them over. 
During the month of July, the Wesleyan Methodist 
Conference was held in York, and two Special Meetings 
and Garden Parties of that body were held in the Museum 
Gardens. 
The preparations for the York Historic Pageant have 
proceeded throughout the year, and everything points to a 
great success. The granting of one free ticket to each 
Member of our Society has been much appreciated. 
The Financial Statement shews that our expenditure has 
exceeded our income by the sum of £81 6s. 6d. This is due 
to the purchase from Mr. Backhouse of the whole of the cases 
fitted up by his late father at West Bank, Acomb, and includes 
part of the specimens contained therein. Although your 
