4 
JOHN BROWNE. 
Minster. Many were found who approved of the suggestion. 
Others strenuously objected to any change, foreseeing the in¬ 
evitable destruction of the Screen. Tlie leader of the party for 
retaining the screen was Archdeacon Markham, who instructed 
John Browne to examine and report on it. The report was 
accompanied by a plan and view, showing the part that would be 
destroyed if the screen were removed. He proved that the whole 
of the screen—the facade, the western entrance and the eastern 
wall—were of the same period and are indivisible. It had been 
contended that the eastern wall of it had formed part of an earlier 
screen. The feeling against the removal of the screen became so 
great, especially when it was pointed out that it helped to support 
the great tower and that if it were removed the tower might 
collapse, made the authorities decide to leave it “for the present 
as it is.” 
About this period Browne appears to have been also engaged 
on architectural work. In 1837, Sir William Lawson, of Brough 
Hall, a subscriber to the “ History of the Minster,” built a chapel 
to St. Paulinus, at Brough, near Catterick. The building was 
a copy of the Archbishop’s chapel—now the Minster library—at 
York. Browne’s design for the glass for the chapel east window 
was based on that of the Five Sisters, and apparently he was the 
architect of the chapel. 
In December 1838 was issued Part i, containing five plates with 
letterpress, of the new History of the Minster. It was dedicated 
to the Archbishop of York The list of the 158 subscribers in¬ 
cluded the late William IV., ^he Dowager Queen Adelaide, Queen 
Victoria, and H.R.H. the Duke of Sussex. Also Dukes, Earls, 
Lords, Baronets, M.P’s., Messrs. Davies, Etty, Wellbeloved, 
Kenrick, Phillips, and the York architects, Andrews, Atkinson 
and Harper. The author was then residing at 21 Blake Street 
(now Wasling’s Garage), where he continued to the end of his life. 
In 1840 another fire destroyed the nave. Subsequently, on the 
removal of the Chapter Records to another apartment, a number 
of Fabric Rolls were revealed. These were sorted and dated b}^ 
Browne and incorporated in his work on the Minster. 
Browne did many bold pencil sketches of churches, abbeys, 
crosses, houses, trees, windmills, guide posts, stocks, village streets, 
and landscapes. To prevent the lead rubbing, the sketches were 
set with a gum wash. His geometrical drawings were executed 
in strong lines of Indian ink. Other drawings are in pencil and 
