The Sun.
London, England, 1861-10-01 00:00:00

THE PALACE OF WESOILN ASTER.

The following is the Report of the Committee ap-
pointed to inquire into the decay of the stonework
in the New Palace of Westminster.

"To THE RIGHT HON. WILLIAM COWPER, M.P.,

CHIEF COMMISSIONER OF WORKS, &c.

" Sir,—We, the undersigned, being the Com-
mittee appointed 'to inquire into the decay of the
stone of the New Palace of Westminster, and
into the best means of preserving the stone
from further injury,' have the honour to submit
to you the following report, in which we have
adopted as the objects of our inquiry the several
points referred to us by your letter of appointment
and instruction, viz.:--

" ' I. The extent and position of the decay.
" ' The causes to which it is attributable, taking
into coesideration the composition of the stone, and
the influence exerted upon it by moisture and by
the acids diffused in the London atmosphere.
"' 111. The best means of preserving the stone
from further injury.
" ' IV, The qualities of the stones to be recom-
mended for future use in public buildings to be
erected in London.

" 1. In proceeding with the important inquiry
thus intrusted this Committee, we beg to state that
•

we first made a careful inspection orthe whole of
the buildings, and that after this inspection we pro-
ceeded to obtain such evidence as appeared to us
best calculated to facilitate the inquiry intrusted to
us by examining a considerable number of witnesses
who had been connected with the building from the
commencement, or who had been concerned in the
various processes which had been actually tried
for arresting the decay which had occurred; and
also another class of witnesses, who had suggested
various theoretical remedies for the same purpose.
"2. We delegated to a subcommittee, specially
appointed, an examination and inquiry into the
condition of other buildings erected in the metro-
polis, in which magnesian limestone had been used ;
and we particularly called the attention of the
scientific chemists, who had been appointed on the
committee, to several points peculiarly within the
limits of their acquaintance with chemical subjects,
" 3. We also considered it expedient to invite by
advertisement the attention of chemists and others
to the subject submitted to the Committee, request-
ing that any plan or suggestion for the prevention
of decay, or for arresting its progress, might be
brought under our notice.
"4. Having thus premised the course the Com-
mittee thought it expedient and desirable to take,
we now proceed to report seriatim on the subjects
brought under our notice by your instructions and
in the order adopted therein.
" The extent and position of the decay.'
" 5. It is extremely difficult to give any very
exact account either of the extent or actual posi.
tion of the decay. It seems from the evidence that
it first began to make its appearance in the por-
tions of the palace at "Westminster executed at the
commencement of the building, about seven years
after their execution ; and yet, in some of the most
recently executed portions—viz., those towards
Old Palace yard, facing Henry VlL's Chapel, the
decay appears to be as obvious as in any other part
of the building.
" 6. In the earlier works—viz., those towards the
Thames, the decay is most apparent in the lower
portion of the building, and in this portion the
decay is confined to what may be called the zones,'
or general levels, which would seem to suggest that
it depends as much upon position in the building
as upon the use of particular beds of stone from the
quarries employed.
" 7. The same remark applies to the part of the
Palace fronting the approaches to Westminster-
bridge, where the decay of the lower portion is
considerable; but in the newest work, facing
Henry Chapel, the decay occurs in positions
which are more varied, and under circumstances
which it is exceedingly difficult to appreciate.
"8. 'We have examined with much care the
upper prtions of the building, and we cannot per-
ceive that the decay has made any important inroad
upon those much more exposed portions, where
decay might more reasonably have been expected.
The decay, however, occurs again to a considerable
extent in the inner courts, which are sheltered in
a great measure from external influences, and per-
haps the very worst specimen we have noticed is
to be found in the small archway leading to the
Reporters' Gallery, near to We►tminster-hall, a
part of the work as much sheltered as in the na-
ture and circumstances of a public building it could
well be.

.‘ 9. The general result of our observations, con-
firmed by the evidence, would seem to suggest that
the stone used in the Palace of 'Westminster is much
more likely to decay in damp and sheltered
situations than where it is exposed to the full
action of atmospheric influences. In the east and
north fronts, before adverted to,t he worst symp-
toms occur in the ashlar between the upper and
lower mouldings of the plinth, and under the first
cornice, where the exposure is inconsiderable; but
the dampness arising from the drip of the mould-
ings and from the action of capillary attraction,
in cases where projections hold the moisture, ap-
pears to exercise an important influence on the
condition of the stone itself.

" 10. It does not appear to us that the decay
is attributable, as is commonly supposed, to the
stones in the building not being placed upon what
is technically called their natural bed, or in the
same relative position as they occupied in the
quarry ; thus, stones which are found horizontally
in the quarry appear to have been often placed
perpendicularly in the building, and used for pur-
poses of the most delicate decoration without any
injurious result. As an instance of this fact, we
may point out the elaborately carved shields of
arms under the range of the first-floor windows ;
the stones used for those shields, though univer-
sally placed perpendicularly to their natural posi-
tion in the quarry, present, so far as we are
aware, few, if any, symptoms of decay.
" 11. The extent to which the decay on the whole
surface has proceeded it is not very easy to esti-
mate. At the present moment the actual decay is
doubtless considerable fora building so recently