Cathedral George Gilbert Scott's name is as inti mately associated with cathedral restoration in England as was that of Viollet-le-Duc with similar work in France; for, though Scott was not the actual leader of the Gothic movement, he was for many years its most prominent exponent. Few of the English cathedrals are without evidence of his restorations, which for the most part were executed as far as possible in the exact manner of the originals, and few are without much of his original work in the shape of reredoses, lecterns, pulpits, screens, monuments, and other church accessories. Nor was Scott's work by any means confined to the restoration of ancient churches, since probably more designs for churches emanated from his office than had ever before come from one man. Much of this work was necessarily done by assistants, yet Scott himself was a quick and thorough worker, and the average was good. Among Scott's great restorations arc the cathedrals of Worcester, Lichfield (the west front of which is probably the most beautiful, though not the largest, in the world), much of Westminster Abbey, including the chapter-house and northern porches, and Christchurch Cathedral and vari ous other works at Oxford. Ely Cathedral was also under his care until his death. Among the numerous new churches designed by him are the fine Cathedral of St. Mary at Edinburgh, which has some Scotch features; the chapel of St. John's College, Cambridge; St. Mark's, Leamington Priors, the choir of which is as lofty as the nave; and Edensor and Don caster churches.
George Edmund Street came next to Scott in Gothic celebrity. Sir Charles Barry, famous also, was during the concluding years of his life fully absorbed by the Houses of Parliament, while William Butterfield was the leader in a movement in the direction of the greater use of materials of various colors and polychromy generally. Among Butter field's works may be mentioned All Saints and St. Albans, London, the restoration of St. Cross, Winchester, the parish Church of St. Andrew at Rugby, and the chapel and newer portions of the famous school at the same place. The churches erected in England during the last half of the present century have not all been small ones; in many cases they are noble as well as costly structures.
New the great increase of population in England there has come about a redistribution of boroughs, and this has been fol lowed by a partition of bishoprics and the creation of new episcopal seats. As it is not imperative that the seat of a bishop should be the largest town in his diocese, cities possessing grand abbeys and minsters have in most cases been made the seats of the new bishoprics.
Cathedral of St. Albans has a grand abbey, for the most part in the simplest Norman style, though with portions erected at various later periods, and this abbey is now the cathedral of the bishopric of St. Albans. It is the longest of England's cathedrals, but at the same time probably the least lofty, the height of the nave inside being only 66 feet. Lord Grimthorpe expends a large sum yearly on its restoration; he is his own architect, and is engaged in a constant quarrel with those poor archi tects who require pay for their services. The Norman lantern in the
centre, built of Roman bricks taken from the walls of the ancient Vern lam, has been supported upon new piers. The methods of Lord Grim thorpe—better known by his former name of Sir E. Beckett—have given rise to much discussion. St. Albans was primarily a Norman structure, but contained, like most cathedrals, work of various later dates. Archi tect Beckett has chosen to consider everything later than Geometric Gothic irredeemably bad, and in his restoration of the west front has deliberately pulled down the large perpendicular window in order to sub stitute therefor a modern one of his own design in what he believes to be a better phase of Gothic.
Population in England has sought the North, and, except in Eastern Yorkshire, where the large Minster of Beverly is not needed for cathedral purposes, has outgrown the cathedral accommodation furnished by medi val minsters. At Manchester was built a cathedral Perpendicular in style and singular in not possessing the cruciform shape. The huge un gainly Church of St. Nicholas at Newcastle is to be Newcastle cathedral until a new one takes its place, while the new bishopric of Liverpool also a temporary cathedral in St. Peter's. The site for the new cathedral at Liverpool is fixed, and a competition has been held, resulting in the choice of three designs above all others. All three may be called Gothic, but, while two are strictly so in outline and interior, the third (that of William Emerson) is concentrated into a grand cupola-crowned pyramidal pile with features which bring to mind the Florentine duomo, and even recall Sta. Sophia.
Truro the new cathedrals erected in the present period is that of Truro, the foundation-stone of which was laid in ISSo. It is a good example of Early English, with lancet arches and little tracery except quatrefoils pierced in the tympani of the arches which enclose the twin-lancets of the clere-storey. There is a fine rose-window above the triple porch of the south transept. The west end has two towers, and a larger tower, open interiorly, so as to form a lantern, occupies the inter section of the nave and transepts. In true cathedral fashion, this church has a chapter-house and cloisters as well as a baptistery. Its dimensions, though small compared with the larger class of mediaeval cathedrals, are nearly equal to those of some of the smaller ones, as Wells, Lichfield, or Exeter. It is 28o feet long, 65 feet wide across the nave and aisles, and 115 feet across the transepts. It is vaulted throughout. The outline of the towers seems rather ungraceful, as the spire of the central tower is too low and the spires of the western towers do not sit well upon the sub structure. Other fine churches are those of St. John in Red Lion Square,. London, and St. Augustine's at Kilburn, both Early English. St. Michael's Priory and pro-cathedral, Hereford, erected from the designs of Welby Pugin, and Stonyhurst Chapel and College, a large Tudor Gothic pile with a frontage of nearly 600 feet, may serve as examples of the numerous large structures which have of recent years been erected by the Catholic denomination in carious parts of Great Britain.