expression. The middle figure is that of a knight who had a law-suit with the Convent.

South of the Chapter-house is a groined-passage, of the same date, leading to the Base Court, and the alley or cloister communicating with the Abbot's House.

Next and last, in the Eastern range of the Cloister, and entered by a doorway which still bears traces of painted enrichments of the Early English mouldings, is the FRATER-HOUSE, a fine vaulted apartment of transition Norman work, 104 ft. long, and 29 ft. wide. The rude, headless figure of a monk, that stands near the north wall, was found, several years ago, during a partial excavation of this apartment, together with the smaller figure near it. From the upper end, which extends to the river, but is at present separated by a modern wall, is a communication on the east side with the CELLAR, of the ample dimensions of 59 ft. by 18 ft., beyond which was the BREW-HOUSE, 30 ft. by 18 ft. Before the walls

of these buildings were pulled down to the present level, about eighty years ago, Dr. Burton's plan indicates what, apparently, was the site of the great boiler in the massy partition wall; and on its recent excavation, the ruined surface bore marks of subjection to intense heat. For the advantages of drainage and refrigeration, one side of these places was built on arches above the river, which, ultimately, seems to have endangered the stability of the eastern end.*

From the Frater-house we ascend, by a modern contrivance, for the proper staircase from the Cloister Court is still filled with rubbish, to the Court House, or, as it is called in the records of the Abbey, "THE HALL OF PLEAS,"- —an interesting apartment 42 by 22 ft., groined to a central pillar without base or capital. The Court of the Liberty of Fountains-a large and privileged district, was held here until a period within recollection, when, in compliance with modern habits and associations, it was transferred to Fountains Hall. The compartment at the upper end, where the seneschal and his officers sat, is shown by the grooves of the cancelli or bars by which they were surrounded, in the central pillar.

* Under the arch, at the eastern extremity of this water-course, was found during the recent excavation, a hoard of silver money, consisting of 354 pieces, generally in excellent preservation, ranging in date from the reign of Philip and Mary to that of Charles the First; a few clipped pieces being Spanish coin. They were laid, at the depth only of a foot, on a piece of slate, and were doubtless committed to this particular place by an inhabitant of the adjacent country who had been slain suddenly during the Great Rebellion; for it was easy to be identified by any who shared the

secret.

The apartment over the Court-house, now nearly ruined, may have been the place where the records and muniments of the Abbey were deposited, if the room above the Gate-house was not appropriated to that purpose.

On descending to the Cloister Court, we enter the Kitchen, a valuable example of the domestic architecture of the twelfth century; vaulted like the Court House above, to a single slender pillar. A more interesting instance, however, of the skill and confidence of the architect, may be observed in the heads of the two fire-places-each not less than 16 ft. long and 64 ft. deep-the heads of which are straight and formed of huge stones, dovetailed together on the principle of an arch. Hence, too, another requisite must have been contributed; for the kitchen is entirely destitute of windows on three sides, and the triangular apertures to the south seem intended rather for the admission of air than light. The two openings in the west wall have been, no doubt, the hatchways by which provisions were served to the Refectory, but enlarged in modern times, to obtain a prospect.

THE REFECTORY, which forms the central apartment on the south side of the Cloister Court, is a very beautiful structure, of the Early English period, of the magnificent dimensions of 109 by 46 feet. As it was, therefore, incapable of being covered by one ridged roof, it was divided by a row of four marble columns, of which, however, all remnants but the foundations have been destroyed, within the last century. From the recess of the west side, a portion of scripture was read during the repast. The parapet of the staircase has been broken down and unskilfully repaired, but the bracket of the pulpit remains, in the form of an expanded flower.

A door at the south-west corner of the Cloister Court leads to THE BUTTERY, a curiously contrived room, which has, also, an outlet towards the river, and an opening to the Refectory, which was the Hatchway. On making an excavation here, a few years ago, a quantity of ashes was found on the floor, the flags of which bore the marks of a protracted fire.

The west cloister having been, no doubt, already examined, we now pass to the BASE COURT, on the south side of the Chapter-house. The whole area of this Court, as well as that of the buildings which enclose it, on the south and east sides, have been discovered only in a recent excavation from the kitchen to the Chapter-house; which, by restoring the old level, has both added considerably to the ground-plan, and increased the picturesque appearance of the Abbey.

On the west side, it will be observed to have had a pent-house attached to the Frater-house; on the south, the cellar and brew

house, before mentioned; and, on the east, three apartments which will attract attention only from the fact, that they were the prisons of the Abbey. These favourite localities of the novelist were used for the punishment of such monks as had been found guilty of felony

or other heinous crimes; but, in this instance, the larger cell, on the south, may have been required by the secular authority which the convent enjoyed within "The Liberty of Fountains." In each, however, it is evident, solitary confinement and the most strict isolation was inflicted, from the consequent presence of a convenience, which added only to the offensive character of the place. The apartments on the east side of them, as well as those in the upper story, may have been used only for subordinate purposes, since the former were approached through the Abbot's coal-yard; indeed, an ash-heap was found in front of the round-headed door-way, at the time of its discovery. The stair-case at the north-west corner may have served some apartments of the Abbot's house over the passage. The whole of the apartments of the Abbey have now been visited, and an idea probably formed of the nature, wants, and arrangement of the most definite and perfect exponent of the monastic system remaining in the kingdom. The recent excavation has, however, disclosed, in the ruin of the Abbot's house, now before us, an equally interesting example of our early domestic architecture, which furnishes, also, additional evidence of the dignity, hospitality, and general social condition of the rulers of these influential establishments.

Previously to the month of November, 1848, the site of this house remained in the condition in which it was left when Sir Stephen Proctor pulled it down for materials for Fountains Hall-a shapeless mass of rubbish, overgrown with weeds and brushwood, which rendered it inaccessible, and entirely concealed any trace of foundations that might have been sought. From a practice, however, which prevailed in the Cistercian houses, supported, locally, by inferences derived from the records of the Abbey, I have been induced, for some years past, to point out this as the site of the Abbot's house, in opposition to the received idea that the Hospitium, on the west side of the great cloister, had been appropriated to the purpose; but beyond this suggestion, nothing, until the period in question, was ascertained. At that time, the arched space above the river requiring repair, and, consequently, a removal of the soil, a pavement was discovered, which indicated the important character of the ruined building; and ultimately led-by the noble owner's direction—to the extensive and interesting excavation which has ensued.

Before proceeding to a survey of the ruin, it should be observed by how great sacrifice of labour the site of the house has been obtained in this particular and favourite locality; for, as the valley is extremely contracted, and the Skell incapable of permanent diver

sion, the only expedient of the monks was to build above the river; and four parallel tunnels, each nearly 300 feet long, still attest their perseverance and skill.

As far as remains enable us to judge, the building of the house was undertaken by Abbot John de Cancia, after he had completed the Choir and Lady Chapel of the conventual church. The wealth and reputation of the monastery was, in his time, nearly at its height; and the sweeping donations it had received from the Percys, and Mowbrays, and Romillies, and their sub-infeudatories, had enabled them to realise their architectural designs on the grandest scale. Until this time, the residence of the Abbot was probably of the humble, but not unusual, materials of wood and plaster; as, indeed, the lodgings of the Prior of Bolton seem to have been at the time of the Dissolution.

The character of the structure, like that of the Abbey, has been plain and substantial, depending more on the grand proportion and combination of the main outlines than the elaborate decoration of particular features and parts. The arrangement must, however, either have been very commodious, or the domestic economy invariable; for it seems to have remained unaltered until that era of social change which heralded the sixteenth century, when one of those great architectural reformers-Darnton or Huby-built a separate Refectory, and formed several apartments, by dividing the Great Hall, which decreased simplicity of manners had rendered of unnecessary dimensions.

The chief or state approach to the house was by a spacious ALLEY, from the east side of the Cloister Court, richly, but not continuously, decorated by a trefoil-headed arcade, supported by a double row of shafts, and so deeply recessed, as, subsequently, to have required the insertion of solid masonry behind the foremost shaft. THE HALL, to which this passage led, has been, unquestionably, one of the most spacious and magnificent apartments ever erected in the kingdom, and admirably adapted for the entertainment of those distinguished persons and their hosts of gentilitial retainers by whom the Abbot was continually visited. Its internal length is not less than 171 feet, and its width 70 feet; the bases, or foundations, of eighteen cylindrical columns, shafted and banded with marble,-indicating its division into a nave and two aisles, the latter having circulated round the extremities of the former. The number and position of its windows cannot be ascertained; but the jambs and bases dug up within the area, show that they were plain lancet lights similar to