tated that it was very ruinous and ready to break
down into the church; that the plates were rotten, the girders quite
rotted through, and all the lead so thin that it could not be repaired;
that three corners also of the stonework were so rent and crooked that
they would need to be taken down. "He supposed that the making good of
the stone tower, the taking down of the old spire and putting up of a
new, and to sufficiently cover the same with lead would cost L1,000
over and besides the old lead and timber." His was a very alarming
statement, but he was not intrusted with the superintendence of this
extensive piece of work. The dean and chapter seem to have hoped that
the matter was not really quite so serious. A few months later they
consulted Henry Fry, a carpenter of Westminster, and he declared that
the mending of the lead and of one end of a beam at the lower end of the
east side of the spire would be sufficient to keep it from falling. He
was evidently skilful and honest, for with his, and some slight
subsequent repairs, the spire stood for another sixty-nine years. One
would think that he deserved more than the 30_s_. paid to him for
his visit and report.

A sum of L160 was, in 1688, spent on the repairing of the old organ and
on a new chair organ, a name often wrongly altered to 'choir organ.' In
1705 the nave was newly leaded, the names of Henry Turner, carpenter,
Thomas Barker, plumber, and John Gamball, bricklayer, being inscribed
with those of the bishop, dean, prebendaries, and verger on one of the
sheets. The altar-piece of Norway oak, "plain and neat," which retained
its place throughout the century, was probably constructed in 1707. A
sketch of its history, with notices of the various adornments that it
had at different times, will be given when the furniture of the choir
is described. In 1724 a return was made to Bishop Bradford that
three-quarters of the whole roof had been re-leaded within the previous
twenty years, and that the rest was believed to be in good order. There
was then no defect in the walls reported; the windows were said to be in
good repair and the pavement also. Until 1730 the bells were rung from a
loft or gallery over the steps to the choir, the approach being from
Gundulf's tower. This gallery was then removed, and the vaulting of the
crossing finished to match that of the south transept, which had been
repaired and decorated not long before according to a plan by Mr. James.
At the