ter, by which the sum of L60 per annum was to be allowed for
repairs.

In the time of the civil war it suffered less than might have been
expected. It was subsequently in danger of total destruction from the
machinations of some persons, who are said "to have agreed amongst
themselves for their several proportions of the plunder expected out of
it." The little cloisters and the Lady Chapel were begun to be pulled
down, and "instruments and tackle provided for to take down the tower,"
but in 1657 the church was made over by grant to the mayor and burgesses
at their request, and from this it is to be assumed that they wished to
prevent it from possible ruin. Mr Dorney, speaking in 1653, recommends
to the officers of the city then elected, "that they would, together
with others, join their shoulders to hold up the stately fabric of the
College Church, the great ornament of this city, which some do say is
now in danger of falling."

In 1679 we find an insensate prebendary securing an order from the
Chapter for destroying some of the old glass in the west window of the
choir. Bishop Benson (1734-1752) spent vast sums of money on the
building, and to him are due the paving of the nave, and pinnacles to
the Lady Chapel, which were removed at a recent restoration. A stone
screen (removed in 1820) was erected at the entrance to the choir by
this energetic Bishop, and his architect, Kent, in whose hands he was,
suggested the fluting of the pillars of the nave.

Fifty years ago, in 1847, under the energetic administration of Dr
Jeune, the Treasurer, extensive repairs and improvements were begun by
Mr F. S. Waller. The crypt was drained, concreted, and later on glazed.
The grounds round the cathedral have been lowered, enlarged, and laid
out, and the drainage has been properly done. Of the restorations during
the last fifty years mention has been made in detail in the description
of the various parts of the building that have been restored, and there
is no need to repeat.

Restoration is a cause of much strife, and in the hands of many
architects it means destruction of the original features of the
building. Gloucester has suffered somewhat at the hands of Sir Gilbert
Scott, but probably not a tithe of what would have been inflicted upon
it had Wyatt been turned loose with an absolutely free hand. Mr Waller,
writing in 1890, said: "Forty years ago everything not 'Gothic' (the
fashion of the day) was destroyed; but were it possi