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Article OUR AEGHITECTIJEAL CHAPTER. ← Page 3 of 4 →
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Our Aeghitectijeal Chapter.
very important bearing upon architectural history , and because it shows what influence Masons may exercise on the art of architecture if they bestow upon it some share of their attention .
The Surrey Archaeological Association last week occupied themselves with an interesting subject . They met at St . ; . 01 ave ' s Grammar School , and proceeded to St . Saviour ' s , where they heard a paper on the old nave ^ by Mr . W . Pettit Griffith , F . S . A ., one of their members . The audience could not but deeply regret that the fine old nave of this venerable structure had been sacrificed , when ; a sum of £ 12 , 000 would have restored it ;
nor did the v inconsistency pass unnoticed that as much as £ 8 , 000 was raised for building a new nave of smaller dimensions . In despair , because the government of the day—that of Lord Melbourne—would afford no assistance , the parishioners abandoned hopes of preserving the structure , and caused its demolition . The other portions of the building , more particularly the Ladv Chapel , they have from time to time worthily restored ; and
the monuments of Gower and other great men , are well taken , care of . It is a serious want , arising from the defective organization of our administration , that no public department has charge of the public monuments . It is only on a special occasion that a grant is made for such a restoration as that of the cathedral of St . Mungo in Glasgow , but numerous buildings of the highest interest are alio wed to perish because a smalt grant in aid
cannot be afforded . Thus , for instance , a collegiate or other fine church , now become parochial , may be far beyond the resources of the parishioners to maintain , or it may be impossible to levy a church rate—then down goes nave , transept , or tower , as it may ; whereas , as we have said , a trifling contribution would , in conjunction with' local subscriptions , have secured a most valuable relic of antiquity . There are likewise cases where , an old church , chapel , or abbey , not having been made parochial , there are no funds for repair , and some of these buildings being private property would be willingly ceded to the public , and might be turned to some account or preserved from destruction , Except as a quarry of stones an old abbey is no acceptable legacy to a
private gentleman of narrow acres . Here is a subject well deserving of the consideration of Masons ; and wherever due attention is paid by Masons to architecture , there the conservation of the public monuments in their neighbourhood will be one head on which they can do much good . Sometimes a petition or memorial , a letter in a newspaper , or a personal application to some man in power , may put the machinery in motion for saving , restoring , or completing a building of interest .
A very limited yearly grant of the legislature , and the formation of an unpaid commission , would , in the course of time , rescue a great number of objects from oblivion and destruction , and not the least useful and important result would be the stimulus , afforded to private exertions . The contributions of the public would be , before many years had passed away , not a very inconsiderable part of the funds , for donations in aid and benefactions would swell the resources of the commissioners . Thus , by gifts and
bequests , the British Museum , National Gallery , Greenwich Gallery , and South Kensington Museum , have grown up , and whole museums and collections have been given to the nation in consequence of the example afforded by these institutions . The amount of the national expenditure on metropolitan museums is small in comparison with the results , for we have such museums-as the College of Surgeons , Dulwich Gallery , Soane Museum , East India Museum , United Service Museum , Asiatic Museum , r ' . i O Jjt
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Our Aeghitectijeal Chapter.
very important bearing upon architectural history , and because it shows what influence Masons may exercise on the art of architecture if they bestow upon it some share of their attention .
The Surrey Archaeological Association last week occupied themselves with an interesting subject . They met at St . ; . 01 ave ' s Grammar School , and proceeded to St . Saviour ' s , where they heard a paper on the old nave ^ by Mr . W . Pettit Griffith , F . S . A ., one of their members . The audience could not but deeply regret that the fine old nave of this venerable structure had been sacrificed , when ; a sum of £ 12 , 000 would have restored it ;
nor did the v inconsistency pass unnoticed that as much as £ 8 , 000 was raised for building a new nave of smaller dimensions . In despair , because the government of the day—that of Lord Melbourne—would afford no assistance , the parishioners abandoned hopes of preserving the structure , and caused its demolition . The other portions of the building , more particularly the Ladv Chapel , they have from time to time worthily restored ; and
the monuments of Gower and other great men , are well taken , care of . It is a serious want , arising from the defective organization of our administration , that no public department has charge of the public monuments . It is only on a special occasion that a grant is made for such a restoration as that of the cathedral of St . Mungo in Glasgow , but numerous buildings of the highest interest are alio wed to perish because a smalt grant in aid
cannot be afforded . Thus , for instance , a collegiate or other fine church , now become parochial , may be far beyond the resources of the parishioners to maintain , or it may be impossible to levy a church rate—then down goes nave , transept , or tower , as it may ; whereas , as we have said , a trifling contribution would , in conjunction with' local subscriptions , have secured a most valuable relic of antiquity . There are likewise cases where , an old church , chapel , or abbey , not having been made parochial , there are no funds for repair , and some of these buildings being private property would be willingly ceded to the public , and might be turned to some account or preserved from destruction , Except as a quarry of stones an old abbey is no acceptable legacy to a
private gentleman of narrow acres . Here is a subject well deserving of the consideration of Masons ; and wherever due attention is paid by Masons to architecture , there the conservation of the public monuments in their neighbourhood will be one head on which they can do much good . Sometimes a petition or memorial , a letter in a newspaper , or a personal application to some man in power , may put the machinery in motion for saving , restoring , or completing a building of interest .
A very limited yearly grant of the legislature , and the formation of an unpaid commission , would , in the course of time , rescue a great number of objects from oblivion and destruction , and not the least useful and important result would be the stimulus , afforded to private exertions . The contributions of the public would be , before many years had passed away , not a very inconsiderable part of the funds , for donations in aid and benefactions would swell the resources of the commissioners . Thus , by gifts and
bequests , the British Museum , National Gallery , Greenwich Gallery , and South Kensington Museum , have grown up , and whole museums and collections have been given to the nation in consequence of the example afforded by these institutions . The amount of the national expenditure on metropolitan museums is small in comparison with the results , for we have such museums-as the College of Surgeons , Dulwich Gallery , Soane Museum , East India Museum , United Service Museum , Asiatic Museum , r ' . i O Jjt