thedral, and are,
apparently, only variations of the same plate. They represent the tower
itself as octagonal, make it of excessive breadth, and give it three
windows in each face.

The new spire was demolished, after an existence of a little less than
eighty years, by Mr. Cottingham, who took down at the same time most of
the old tower, and raised the present rather plain one, which bears no
spire. Our illustrations render any description of the form of this
tower unnecessary. It did not meet with approval, even before it was
made more insignificant in appearance by Sir Gilbert Scott's heightening
of the transept roofs. An apologist for Mr. Cottingham says that he was
not altogether responsible for its faults, since he was compelled to
modify his design, through a strong conviction among the townspeople,
especially among the local builders, that he was overloading the
supporting piers. He obtained expert opinion that they were capable of
bearing twice the weight, but at last yielded, though he complained that
by his so doing his work was spoiled.

[Illustration: NORTH-EAST VIEW, WITH RUINS OF GUNDULF'S TOWER
(FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY MESSRS. CARL NORMAN AND CO.).]

#The Bells# are hung in this tower. They are six in number, and their
sizes range from 34 to 52 inches. Mr. Stahlschmidt, from whose "Church
Bells of Kent" the following particulars are derived, regrets that he
could find nothing of the bell-history of the cathedral between 1343,
the date of Bishop Hamo's four, whose names have just been given, and
1635, the year in which the present third bell was, according to its
inscription, made by John Wilner. In 1683 Christopher Hodson, a London
founder, re-cast the fifth and tenor bells for L120. The contract, which
describes him as of St. Mary Cray, where he had probably a branch
establishment, still exists, and he seems to have done the work near by,
perhaps even within the precincts. The treble was re-cast by John Wood,
of Chancery Lane, in 1695, at a cost of L9, and the contract for this
work also is still preserved. In 1711 Richard Phelps, a well-known
founder, supplied an estimate for the re-casting of a cracked bell (the
fourth) weighing 15 cwt. He did not, apparently, obtain the commission,
for this particular bell is recorded to have been re-cast during the
next year by James Bagley, of Cripplegate, London, on behalf of his
father Matthew, who was then near the end of his career. After finishing
this work Jam