Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1879-12-12
Leaning and Crooked Towers and
Steeples.

VI these singular objects, whose
striking appearance is due to various
causes, We meet with number of in.
stances both in Great Britain and on
the Continent. OF leaning towers, per-
haps the most remarkable, certainly the
most widely known, is the celebrated
one at Pisa, in Italy. It is one hun.
dred and eighty. seven feet in height.
being assembled by three hundred and
ffty.fv steps, and is inclined from the
perpendicular rather more than four.
teen feet. Erected about liza, this
beautiful structure is built Of mar BILE
and granite. having eight stories. each
formed of arches supported by columns,
the several stories being divided by
ornamental cornices. Being uncon-
nected with the neighboring buildings,
it was probably intended to be used as
belfry. Notwithstanding its iuclina-
ton, and the fact that seven hundred
years have elapsed since the erection of
the structure, it has withstood the
ravages of time with more than ordi-
nary success, exhibiting at the present
time hardly any percentible sign of de-
cay. 1t would seem that the tower has
not always presented the peculiar ap-
pearance which it has now assumed.
for in the Campo Santa, a neighboring
battle-ground. the cloisters of which
are ornamented with curious paintings
on stucco, there exists representation
Of the tower in an upright position
These paintings are supposed, to have
been executed about 1900, more than
one hundred years after the tower was
built so that it may be considered
pretty certain that the inclination was
caused by the gradual sinking of the
earth, as is the case with those at Boil
ogna, in the same country. The taller
of these latter, that of Asinelli, was
built in 100. It is over three hundred
feet high, and has been stated to incline
two feet and half. 1t may be assembled
from the interior by five hundred steps;
and the summit commands an extensive
view Of the neighboring cities of Imola,
Ferrara, and Modena. The lesser tower
of the two, that of G risendi or CARTS
snidi, compared by u ,nte to the stoop-
ing giant Ant9us, is about one hundred
and forty feet high, and deviates seven
or eight feet from the perpendicular.
1t has been found by experiment that
most lofty buildings of any antiquity
are slightly inclined from an upright
position. In Italy, besides those al
ready mentioned, numerous other in
stances are to be found. The bell tow.
er of st. Mary Zibenics, at Venice,
leans also towers at Ravenna, and be-
tween Ferrara and Venice.
The most remarkable leaning tower
in Great Britain is that of Caerphilly
Castle, Glamorganshire. Being but
between seventy and eighty feet high,
it is eleven feet ont of the perpendicu.
lar. The castle of which the tower
forms part was built about 1921, and
the canting of the tower is said to have
been caused by an explosion of hot
liquid metal used by the occupants OF
the castle to pour on the heads of their
enemies. at q seige which took place in
1926. There are also leaning towers at
Bridgenorth Castle, in Shropshire, and
at Corfe Castle, in Dorsetshire, both
caused by the use of gunpowder during
the civil war between King Charles and
his Parliament.
OF churches with crooked spires the
most noteworthy is the famous one ut
Chesterfield, in Derbyshire. It leans
six feet toward the south, and four feet
four inches toward the west, and its
height is two hundred and thirty feet.
So peculiar is the distorted appearance
of this steeple that it is said 10 appear
falling toward the spectator from what
ever point he approaches it. The sub.
ject was fully discussed at meeting of
the Institute of British Architects in
January 1866, and it was ascertained
that the Oak planks on which the frame
work Of the spire rests are much de.
cayed on one side which is sufficient
to cause the divergence from the per
pendicular. The timbers also have the
appearance Of having been used in q
green and unseas oned condition. The
action Of the sun upon the spire would
therefore cause it to become crooked,
and this may account for the distortion,
without attributing it to design.
There used to be another example of
crooked spire, at the Church of St.
Nicholas, Great Yarmouth, which
served as landmark from tho sea.
Like Chesterfield spire, from whatever
way viewed, it appeared awry. 1t was,
however. taken down and rebuilt per-
pendicular about the commencement of
the present century. Salisbury Cathe-
dral spire is said to lean considerably
from an upright position. There was
q common tradition in Chiches ester some
sixty or seventy years ago that the arch
itect who built the cathedral having
quarrelled with his foreman, the latter
went to Salisbury and built the spire
of the cathedral at that place, which he
carried up more than four hundred feet,
in order to Guido the work of his former
master, which was only three hundred
feet in height. There is, however, no
truth in tue tradition, as Chichester
Cathedral was completed early in the
twelfth century, and Salisbury not I'M
til the thirteenth. Lowestoft steeple is
crooked. which is attributed to the
warping of the lead covered timber of
which it is constructed. In the Lin.
colnshire fens, Spalding Church epire
used to lean SO much that it was in
great danger of tumbling down. Four
miles from Spalding is Surfeet Church,
whose steeple, on account of the marshy
ground on which it is built, inclines in
a frightful manner toward the west. So