nd, for instance, once
stood at its eastern extremity, opposite the Cathedral. But of the
Gothic work of 1483 not a stone is to be seen. The stained glass
windows were bought by a traveller in 1802, and by him taken to
England, after the Revolution had suppressed the Church.

[Footnote 29: Their affection was not always grammatical, as may be
seen from the old title "Rue du Gros Horloge" on the corner of the
street to-day.]

A somewhat better fate has awaited the exquisite example of French
Renaissance architecture which used to be at No. 129. Of this very
remarkable house, known for uncertain reasons as the Maison de Diane
de Poitiers, and certainly worthy of any court beauty of the time, the
facade has been carefully preserved in the little square behind the
Tour St. Andre in the Rue Jeanne d'Arc. As the upper storeys project
over the road, it must have been built before 1520, the date after
which such overhanging constructions were forbidden. Every inch of the
wooden surface is covered with delicate arabesques and figures. The
proportions of the various storeys are admirably indicated, and the
wall-openings grow smaller as they rise, until the whole is crowned
with an equilateral triangle, in which a round-headed arch on square
pilasters fills the central space. A round medallion with a bust is
placed on each side of the second storey windows, and the floors are
boldly indicated by deep lines of shadowed carving. The house, of
which nothing but this marvellous facade remains, was originally
called by the sign of the Cock, and is known to have belonged on the
30th May 1525, to Jean Le Roy, who appears in the parish lists of 1471
as a draper. His son Noel married another of the bourgeoisie, one
Marion Ribault; and from her possession until the town bought it from
the Hospital, which held it last, the line of title-deeds is unbroken;
the important point to notice being that it was built not by a noble,
but by a tradesman.[30]

[Footnote 30: There is a charming picture by Bonington, who was
particularly attracted by Rouen, of "Le Gros Horloge," showing this
house still in its old place in the famous street.]

But it is the Grosse Horloge itself that is the jewel of the street.
As you look at it from the west you can see constructions built in the
Middle Ages, in the Renaissance, in the reign of Henri Quatre, and in
the days of Louis Quinze. The Belfry Tower, or Campanile, is, as is
fitting to its ancient history, th