ture came degradation. And then the Renaissance of pagan types,
from which the Gothic had derived its being by a rational development,
was by the revivalists of those days hotch-potched into a more or less
homogeneous mass, which even the genius of Wren could leave but coldly
pedantic.

The history of the architecture of the cathedral might safely stop with
the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1538, since when it is a mere
recapitulation of the doings and undoings of various sets of more or
less deeply incriminated fanatics and restorers.

So that we do not feel inclined to enter into more detail, in the few
remaining notes on the history of the structure.

Dean Gardiner, 1573-89, was a great reformer, and, as we have already
noted, pulled down the thirteenth-century Lady Chapel, and as well the
chapter-house.

In 1643 the cathedral was taken possession of by Cromwell's soldiers,
and the work of spoliation carried on. The organ was probably destroyed
at this time, for Dean Crofts set up a new organ in 1660, the case of
which was re-modelled in 1833, and still remains. It is also perhaps
needless to state that the cathedral was repeatedly whitewashed during
the eighteenth century.

In June 1801 a fire broke out in the roof of the nave, but was
extinguished before much damage had been done.

The various works effected during this century are mentioned
specifically elsewhere in these notes, under the headings of the parts
of the building where they have occurred.

[Illustration: The Cathedral from the South-West Angle of Cloisters.]

CHAPTER II

THE CATHEDRAL--EXTERIOR

Norwich Cathedral does not tell to great advantage from the outside: its
chief charm is undoubtedly the interior. It stands in a hollow, on what
is probably the lowest ground in the city. The best view of the
cathedral is obtained from the low ground to the eastward near the
river, and close to Pull's Ferry; here the extreme length of the nave,
which Fergusson remarked justified the addition of western towers, is
lost partly by foreshortening, and by the projection forward of the
south transept, over which the old Norman tower, with its later
battlements and spire, rises grandly above the sweep of the apse, with
the still remaining circular chapels below.

#The Cathedral Precincts#, or Close, running from Tombland eastward to
the river, are entered by two gates to the precincts and one to the
bishop's palace.

#The Erpingham Gate#,