s restoration
involved the outlay of a considerable amount of money, and if more had
been forthcoming more would have been undertaken, such as the
restoration of all the tombs and chapels, and the old windows in the
choir.

The font in 1828 was removed from the nave and placed in the apsidal
chapel in the south transept, from which position it was again removed
in 1878.

A final restoration was set on foot in 1864, and Sir Gilbert Scott
reported that L15,000 was necessary to make good the dilapidation and
decay which extended, in his opinion, from the foundations to the
roof. The necessary amount was not forthcoming for several years. Then
a new committee was appointed, with Sir Edmund Lechmere as its
chairman. In 1875 the restoration began, the choir being undertaken
first. For this purpose the church was divided into two parts by means
of a hoarding. When the pavement in the choir was removed, the graves
there were all carefully examined and their identification verified
where possible. Many fragments of historic stonework were found, and
these have been grouped together in the south-east chapel, which forms
a kind of museum.

After the work in the choir was advanced enough, the nave was
undertaken and thoroughly done; the floor was relaid on a foundation
of cement, all open graves being filled up.

On September 23, 1879, the building was re-dedicated with a service
modelled somewhat on the lines of the original dedication service in
1123.

During the last twenty years little has been done to the fabric.
Windows and other decoration have been lavished upon the interior, the
money expended amounting to several thousands of pounds, a sum which
might have been spent with more benefit to the fabric, upon purchasing
the precincts, and on repairing the timber-work which supports the
roof.

Interesting though the general question of the "restoration" of
ancient buildings is, and interesting though Tewkesbury is as a
particular case, this is not the place to go into it, but it may be
well to quote from Mackail's "Life of William Morris," vol. i., p.
340, a letter which William Morris wrote to the _Athenaeum_ about the
restorations proposed at Tewkesbury.

"My eye just now caught the word 'restoration' in the morning paper,
and, on looking closer, I saw that this time it is nothing less than
the Minster of Tewkesbury that is to be destroyed by Sir Gilbert
Scott. Is it altogether too late to do something to save it--