five feet, in breadth fifty-six, and in height thirty-four, affording ample space for promenading, to those who drink the waters. In the recess at its eastern end is a marble statue of Beau Nash, executed by Prince Hoare; the right hand of the figure rests upon a pedestal, on the face of which is delineated a plan of the Royal Mineral Water Hospital, towards the establishment of which national charity he greatly contributed, by his exertions, in obtaining donations of money, and of which he was one of the Treasurers from the time that it was opened for the reception of patients, in 1742, until his decease in 1761. At the western end is an orchestra for the band, which is of a high class, and attends on stated days during the winter months of the year. There are three entrances on the northern side; opposite the principal entrance, within an apse on the southern side, is a fountain, which is supplied, direct from the spring, with a continous stream of mineral water, at a temperature of 114° F. The supply of water from the spring to the Fountain amounts to eight gallons and a half a minute. The three lights in the recessed window were liberally provided by citizens. They represent respectively the legend of Bladud and the pigs; the Romans building the Baths; and the Crowning of King Edgar. This room is opened on week days from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. during the whole year; on Sundays from 12.15 p.m. to 2 p.m. throughout the year. There is a convenient entrance to the King's Baths.

CHURCHES.

THE ABBEY.

The Abbey Church of Bath is a very noble structure, the last specimen of the ecclesiastical Gothic architecture, upon the larger scale. It is built in the shape of a cross, from the

centre of which rises a

r

r a hundred and sixty-two feet fty-si high; the light, perforat tlements of which are particularly beautiful. The length the edifice, from east to west, is two hundred and ten feet, and from north to south one hundred and twenty-six; the breadth of the body and sideaisles is seventy-two feet. Oliver King, Bishop of Bath and Wells in the reign of Henry VII., undertook this costly building, though many years elapsed before it was fit for the reception of worshippers; for, neglected by his four immediate successors, Adrian, Wolsey, Clark, and Knight, it fell into decay, and being offered for sale to the Corporation of Bath, by the commissioners under the Act of Dissolution, and the purchase refused, the glass, iron, bells, and lead, intended for the structure, were disposed of in a foreign market. In the reign of Queen Elizabeth collections were made throughout all England for the reparation and completion of the church; and with the monies raised by these means, and the munificent assistance of Mr. Bellott (by whom the great eastern window was glazed, being painted checker or Billettwise) and James Montague, Bishop of Bath and Wells, it was at length restored, finished, and appropriated to the service of God. The grand entrance is at the west, through a noblearched door-way, formerly by a descent of four steps, and, as Mr. Warner observes, "It must be confessed that the general effect of the coup d'œil, when the vision takes in the interior of the building, is wonderfully striking. Beauties rush upon the spectator from every part; he is immediately sensible of the chastest uniformity, proportion, and harmony, in its several numbers; in its arches and its clustered columns and piers, together with airiness and lightness, proceeding from its large and elegant windows, that seldom occur in buildings I In the late restoration the glass was removed, but if the reader will glance at the two clerestory windows on the north side of the choir, it will be seen that the glass is there inserted, and its quaint old form and character preserved.

2

2 But a large portion stuck to the fingers of the collectors,

of a similar age and nature.

But previously to entering the

building, the attention is powerfully arrested by the grandeur of the western front, one of the most singular pieces of architecture existing ;" which is thus described in Warner's History of Bath, page 245 :

I

"The grand entrance in the centre is filled with a rich ornamental door, given in 1617 by Sir Henry Montague, brother to the bishop of that name; it is charged with the arms of the see, impaling those of Montague, and round the shield is the device of the Order of the Garter, Honi soit qui mal y pense. In two other shields are the arms of Montague only; under the two upper shields on a label is this inscription, Ecce quam bonum et quam jucundum, &c. Above the shields is a profile helmet, with the crest of a griffin's head, behind is hung a flowing mantle, and at the bottom of the door are two ornamented bosses. This design strongly marks the decorative taste of the above date. The architrave round the entrance is composed of a number of mouldings, and a sub-architrave diverges from it, and forms a square head over the arch; the spandrels of the arch are filled with labels, enclosing wounded hearts, crowns of thorns, and wounded hands and feet, figurative of the five wounds of our Saviour. On each side there are rich canopied niches, inclosing the statues of St. Peter and St. Paul, the Apostolic patrons of the church; they stand on brackets; on that under St. Peter is the blended white and red rose and a crown, and on the corresponding bracket under St. Paul is the portcullis with a crown likewise; the attributes of the two saints are partly destroyed. - A very small cornice runs over the head of the arch, supporting an elegant open battlement, which is divided in the centre by a niche, once filled, it may be supposed, with a statue of Henry VII., as his arms and supporters remain perfect at the bottom of it.

There is a much longer notice of the beneficent prelate in the author's edition of Britton's "Bath Abbey."

The lower parts of the first division over the impost to the turrets which are of square forms, have simple narrow openings to light the staircases within them. On the upper begins the representation of the bishop's vision; here the ladders take their rise from a kind of undulating line, expressive of the surface of the ground, and here the angels begin their ascension, though much damaged. On each side of the ladders are remains of figures which have some distant resemblance to shepherds; over them are ribbons, the inscriptions on which are not legible; other openings for light appear under the rounds of the ladders. The second divisions take octangular forms, and on their fronts is seen the continuation of the ladders and the angels. On the tops of the ladders are the bustos of two saints, each holding a book. On each side of the front cant of the turrets are three tiers of statues, standing on pedestals, and finishing with pinnacled canopies; they represent the twelve apostles, among which St. John and St. Andrew are conspicuous. The third divisions are filled with compartments, as are the battlements to them, and finish with open spires.

The west window is of extreme richness; it consists of two sub-arches, and a large division between them, each sub-arch having three divisions, which are likewise seen in the heads of the sub-arches; the spandrels between the heads and the large division in the centre have each three divisions; the heights from the bottom of the window to the springing of the arch have also three divisions; in the heads of the sub-arch three divisions; and the large division in the centre has also three divisions. The curious observer must at leisure follow in the more minute parts this mystic architectural design. In the centre of the tracery, near the head of the window, is an angel issuing from a cloud, bearing a shield, once charged, it may be presumed, with the arms of the see; an architrave forms the whole line of the window, and its arched head is bounded by a subarchitrave, beginning with the springing of the arch. The spandrels of this arch are filled with an angelic choir, who, in attitudes of adoration, are chaunting forth the praises of the