DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1212#0188
126 TALLIs's ILLUSTRATED LONDON;
the reign of Edward the Confessor. The abbey was found
to be in so dilapidated a state in 1629 that reparation, on
an extensive scale, was deemed necessary, and Dr. Wil-
liams, the dean (afterwards Archbishop of York), at his
own expense renovated the building, increased the library,
and augmented the number of scholars on the foundation.
Considerable injury was inflicted on the abbey daring the
period of the Commonwealth. Its usual services were
suspended, its revenues confiscated, its vessels of gold and
silver carried away, and its walls defaced by the hands of
the brutalised soldiery. In the following century a par-
liamentary grant was voted for the reparation of West-
minster Abbey, a labour in which Sir Christopher Wren
was engaged for twenty-five years, from 1698 to his death,
in 1723. Under his superintendence the two great western
towers were completed ■ and it was his intention to have
also erected a lofty steeple. In the reign of George II.
additional sums were granted by parliament for carrying
on the works, which were thoroughly repaired at the na-
tional expense. At the close of the last century a hand-
some choir was erected, after a design of Mr. Kcene,
surveyor to the abbey. In 1803 a fire broke out in the
square tower on the roof, owing to the negligence of some
workmen who had been employed to repair the leads, and
had left their furnace unguarded while they went to din-
ner. The flames greatly damaged the new choir, and
threatened the destruction of the entire building. Crowds
of people assembled, eager to avert the ruin which im-
pended over the venerable abbey, and brought water in
buckets from the Thames to extinguish the fire, but it was
not arrested till the arrival of the engines, and it was four
hours before all the danger was past. The damage,
which was considerable, was repaired by the dean and
chapter, and soon afterwards parliamentary grants were
voted for the restoration of Henry the Seventh's chapel, a
labour which was most admirably accomplished.
Having given the history of Westminster Abbey, we
proceed to notice its dimensions, externally and internally,
the reign of Edward the Confessor. The abbey was found
to be in so dilapidated a state in 1629 that reparation, on
an extensive scale, was deemed necessary, and Dr. Wil-
liams, the dean (afterwards Archbishop of York), at his
own expense renovated the building, increased the library,
and augmented the number of scholars on the foundation.
Considerable injury was inflicted on the abbey daring the
period of the Commonwealth. Its usual services were
suspended, its revenues confiscated, its vessels of gold and
silver carried away, and its walls defaced by the hands of
the brutalised soldiery. In the following century a par-
liamentary grant was voted for the reparation of West-
minster Abbey, a labour in which Sir Christopher Wren
was engaged for twenty-five years, from 1698 to his death,
in 1723. Under his superintendence the two great western
towers were completed ■ and it was his intention to have
also erected a lofty steeple. In the reign of George II.
additional sums were granted by parliament for carrying
on the works, which were thoroughly repaired at the na-
tional expense. At the close of the last century a hand-
some choir was erected, after a design of Mr. Kcene,
surveyor to the abbey. In 1803 a fire broke out in the
square tower on the roof, owing to the negligence of some
workmen who had been employed to repair the leads, and
had left their furnace unguarded while they went to din-
ner. The flames greatly damaged the new choir, and
threatened the destruction of the entire building. Crowds
of people assembled, eager to avert the ruin which im-
pended over the venerable abbey, and brought water in
buckets from the Thames to extinguish the fire, but it was
not arrested till the arrival of the engines, and it was four
hours before all the danger was past. The damage,
which was considerable, was repaired by the dean and
chapter, and soon afterwards parliamentary grants were
voted for the restoration of Henry the Seventh's chapel, a
labour which was most admirably accomplished.
Having given the history of Westminster Abbey, we
proceed to notice its dimensions, externally and internally,