church—the western porch—only lately finished and still showing the colour of the stone fresh from the carver's hands. Whether this addition is an improvement to the general appearance of the building or not is open to question. To some, among them the writer, it appears that the porch takes away from the appearance of height in the tower, much as the Galilee Chapel at Durham, beautiful as it is in its details, is an excrescence detracting from the effect of the western front of St. Cuthbert's Cathedral Church. Moreover, the single crocketed turret that rises from the south-west corner of the porch proper gives it a one-sided appearance, which is somewhat to be regretted, as with this exception the porch and its lower flanking chambers is symmetrical, as indeed is the church itself in its main features, turret answering to turret, and window to window, porch to porch. The carving on the western porch is elaborate and carefully executed, and if, as must necessarily be the case owing to the conditions under which nineteenth century carving was executed, it lacks the freedom that is so great a charm in old work, it is more in accordance with the general style of the church, and is characteristic of its own

date. This porch was designed by Mr. Basil Champneys, who has succeeded in training carvers to carry out his designs in an admirable manner. A verbal description of the porch is hardly needed, as the illustration on the opposite page will show the reader its character. On either side of the porch is a chamber rising to about the same height as the spring of the arch of the doorway; each of these is flat-roofed, its wall terminates in a pierced battlemented parapet, and is lighted by two rectangular-headed windows facing west. To the south and north of these two chambers respectively, are iron gates and flights of steps giving access to the churchyard.

THE WEST PORCH.

Ascending the southern flight we find before us the west ends of the two south aisles of the church; the roof of the inner one slopes slightly down from the clerestory wall, and the outer one rises into a very obtuse-angled gable. The west end of the inner or true aisle is original, but the outer aisle was extended two bays westward at the time of the recent restoration. The windows of the church, though all or nearly all of Perpendicular character, are not all alike, as may be seen by examining the illustrations; but in most of them the hood moulding after following the curve of the arch at the head of the window, is brought down in a vertical line for a short distance beside the lower part of the window. Most of the windows have four lights, but there are some exceptions, which will be duly noticed as we pass by them. To begin with, the west window of the outer south aisle has five lights. On turning round the south-west corner of this aisle we find the south porch projecting from the second bay. The porch itself consists of two bays, and has two stories. The lower story of the porch proper is lighted by two two-light windows on the western side, the upper story by two windows on the western and southern faces, and by one on the eastern face. Beneath the windows on the south side the following inscription may be read:—

To the honour and Glory of God and in thankful acknowledgement of many mercies this porch is erected by James Jardine of Manchester and Alderley Edge in the year of our Lord MDCCCXCI.

THE SOUTH PORCH.

An octagonal stair turret surmounted by a crocketed pyramidal termination stands at the south angle of the inner bay on the eastern side. The whole of this porch is elaborately carved, as will be seen from the illustration. The next two bays of the south aisle project beyond the general line of the south wall of the church. The walls of this are finished by a pierced battlemented parapet similar to that which runs round the south porch. The windows in these two bays are alike, but the next two in the south wall have five lights, and differ from the last two in their shape and tracery (see illustration, p. 12). To the south of the church about this point stands a sun-dial, shown in the illustration. The three next bays belong to what was formerly known as the Jesus Chapel. In the westernmost of these there is a doorway to give room for which the sill of the window is placed at a higher level than the sills of the other windows. The tracery of these windows differs from the preceding two. From the easternmost of the three bays of the Jesus Chapel formerly projected the Hulme chantry. To the east of the Jesus Chapel stands the octagonal chapter house; three of its sides contain windows of a pattern differing from any of these already mentioned. From within the parapet, which is not battlemented, rises a rather steep pyramidal roof. This is modern. Whether the original roof was of this form or not is not known, but the modern roof is a distinctly agreeable feature. To the east of the chapter house is another window in the south wall, and then we come to the Fraser Memorial Chapel, which forms the south-east angle of the church. This has a four-light window in its south and a three-light window in its eastern wall. Before examining the east end of the church we may remark that the clerestory wall is terminated by a pierced battlemented parapet—a modern addition—and that the pattern is slightly different on either side of the octagonal turret which rises from the junction of the nave and choir. The parapet that runs along the south wall of the chapel of St. Nicholas, again, differs from that which runs along the other walls on the south side of the church.

The east window of the south choir aisle has five lights; passing this we come to the Lady Chapel. This is exceedingly small, projecting only some eighteen feet to the east of the aisle walls. It has two bays, each lit by a small two-light window on either side. Against the centre of the eastern face rises a buttress, on either side of which is a four-light window. As already mentioned in Chapter I. the Lady Chapel windows are eighteenth century work, probably copies of the original windows, and have tracery of Decorated character.

THE ELY CHAPEL.

Beyond the Lady Chapel is the window of the north choir aisle; and beyond this again the eastern termination of the Derby Chapel. This contains a seven-light window. Passing round the north-eastern corner we see the Ely Chapel projecting from the second bay to the west, with four-light windows in its eastern and western walls, and a five-light window on its northern face. From the fourth and fifth bays, counting from the east, projects a low building with a battlemented parapet, a door and square headed windows, erected to contain the hydraulic apparatus used for working the bellows of the organ. To the west of this is a small doorway with an ogee head