The Sun.
London, England, 1870-02-03 00:00:00

ST. S7'LPHEN'S CRYPT.

The restoration of this beautiful relic of the archi-
tecture of the 14th century is now completed, and
the sternest economist who visits the Houses of
Parliament will hardly grudge the expenditure on
a spot so suggestive in name and so rich in tradi-
tion. The chapel itself was burnt, and no attempt
was made to revive its ancient glories. But the
Crypt remained, and its restoration, when works of
mare obvious necessity had been finished, proceeded
gradually, until now it is one of the richest, thoagh
:ntrmior.

The progress of the work has been before de-
scribed. Among the most recent additions is the
erection of an elaborate wrought-iron screen,
separating the western bay from the rest of the
chapel, and forming it, in fact, into an ante-
chapel. The screen, which is about five feet high,
with central gates, is finely executed by Messrs.
Hardman, of Birmingham, and the design recalls
that of the grille over Queen Eleanor's tomb in
Westminster Abbey. A pair of delicately-worked
iron gates of corresponding design have also been
placed in the archway leading to the Baptistry,
and as the whole of the ironwork has been gilt a
very rich effect is produced. The Baptistry is a
little gem of art, in its way quite unique. In
plan it is octagonal, enclosing an area only 11
feet across and 20 feet high ; but within this nut-
shell structure there is choice work and material,
which few visitors will like to pass without close
scrutiny. The roof is groined and decorated
with scroll-work on a gold ground, the groin ribs
springing from shafts of polished Purbeck marble.
To a height of six feet the walls are lined with
polished alabaster and marble, inlaid with ornamen-
tal devices, and surrounded by a projecting cornice
of alabaster boldly carved with conventional foli-
age. The paving is of Minton's tiles intermixed
with marble. A window of two lights, with
tracery of a geometrical design, occupies the east
side of the octagon ; and a gilt candelabrum of
wrought-iron will supply the needful artificial
light. Above the cornice the walls are beautifully
painted in compartments by Messrs. Clayton and
Bell, that opposite the door representing a full-
length portrait of our Saviour, and the west com-
partment a full-length painting of St. John the
Baptist. On the other walls are angels pictured in
the attitude of adoration and swinging censers,
while above and below the angels the remaining
portions of the wall are covered with scrollwork
in gold and colours. On each side of the window
recess is a series of medallions, bearing the heads
of Saints—St. Peter, the patron Saint of West-
minster ; St. Stephen, who gives his name to the
chapel, and the four Evangelists. In the centre of
the Baptistry stands, of course, the font, which is
cut from a large block of alabaster, and rests on a
group of eight polished marble shafts with carved
foliated capitals. The Baptistry itself is entered
from the western bay of the Crypt or ante-chapel,
andis shut off from it by an archway fitted with the
fine gates before described. At the entrance is a
marble slab, let into the floor, with an incised de-
sign, representing the entrance of Noah into the
Ark, which the church holds up to us as a type
of baptism ; and in the thickness of the walls of
the entrance archways there are full-length figures
of Moses and St. John the Baptist, representing the
Mosaic and Christian dispensations.
It is not often that the " dim religious light"
which penetrates here—very dim on most days—
allows you to see all the beauties of the Crypt or
the Baptistry. A bright summer day is wanted for
a satisfactory examination of either. But you see
enough to be satisfied that here is a miniature
chapel of exquisite beauty, the restoration of which
must have been a labour of love to all engaged
which
ofi t
the formed"
a
in it, and which is now worthy of the historic me-
mories connected with it. St. Stephen's Chapel, of
part, was one of the finest speci-
mensD
seemsecora "Decorated"
aarchitecture
do f
itnh e
manyllth
century, and
respects the still earlier structure of La Sainte
Chapelle, in Paris. Its glories will now be handed
down by the Crypt, which has been so carefully
restored, or rather rebuilt, under the direction of
Mr. E. M. Barry, R.A., the architect to the New
Palace at Westminster. But one thing remains.
The chapel, for such it now is, is there ; but where
is the congregation ? Altar, pulpit, font, and seats
—all are ready fur use ; the crypt is well warmed,
and might be well lighted; and no visitor can help
regretting that a structure so beautiful and so fit for
devotion should not have its last and most natural
complement of regular service and worship in con-
nexion with the great building of which it forms a
part. During the session the officers of the two
houses might easily supply a congregation ; and has
not Mr. Speaker a chaplain ?