e central tower in
particular, which he was instructed to deliver in writing, Mr. Cottingham
said:

"To enable me to form the opinion which I have now the honour of
reporting, I have carefully examined the construction of the four great
piers which support the tower; they are of Norman workmanship, and
sufficient in bulk to carry a much greater weight than the present tower,
had the masonry been more carefully constructed; they consist of a series
of semi-circular columns attached to a thin ashlar casing, which surrounds
the piers, and the chambers or cavities within are filled with a rubble
core, composed of broken stones, loam and lime grouting; this was
undoubtedly sufficient to carry a low Norman tower, but when the great
Early English shaft was added on the top of this work the pressure became
too great for such kind of masonry to bear. The ashlar and semi-columns,
not being well bonded and deeply headed into the rubble cores, split and
bulged, and the cores, for want of a proper proportion of lime, diminished
and crushed to pieces. To remedy these defects, a second facing of ashlar
has been attached to the piers, in some places by cutting out a part of
the old ashlar, and in others by merely fixing long slips of stone round
the pier with iron plugs, run in with lead,--these most unsightly
excrescences have destroyed the beauty of the original design, without
adding any strength to the masonry. The same unskilful hands blocked up
all the original Norman arches, except one, connected with the tower piers
and communicating with the aisles, choir, and transepts, leaving only a
small passage-way in each.

"The first triforium arches in the choir and east side of the south
transept, abutting against the tower, have also been closed up with
masonry, so as to leave scarcely a trace of the rich work which lies
concealed behind it. These injudicious performances have tended to weaken
instead of strengthen the tower. The interior walls above the main arches
of the tower, up to the bases of the fifty-two pillars, which surround the
bellringers' chamber, are in a very ruinous state, particularly at the
four angles, where rude cavities, running in a diagonal direction, have
been made large enough for a man to creep in,--these unaccountable holes
have tended very much to increase the danger, as all the masonry connected
with them is drawn off its bond, and many of the stones shivered to pieces
by the enormous pressure above. Th