The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-06-07
CATHEDRAL
 RESTS ON LOGS Lsgend of Old West.
 minister Church, FOREST WAS USED UP The Permit ta Cmf An rrhfs vxocx vzyo~
WAS USED UP
The Permit to Gut All This Wood Was Issued by William the Con- queror and 1t Served .
 Good Purpose.

London, June s.--The restoration of Winchester Cathedral. now in pro- gress, has revealed the fact that the massive building rests upon logs of beechwood laid side by side in d peat bog. This discovery seems to indi- cate the truth: of the ancient legend of
 Rampage Wood though 1t has never in part at least.
 Briefly. the legend is this: Bishop Walkelin. or Walkeiyn, to whom fell the task of rebuilding Winchester Ca- thedral in the year 1o7s. discovered that he had need of q large amount of timber, and petitioned the King, Wn- liam the Conquerer, for leave to take what he required from Hanepinges Wood. then apparently royal posses. sion, situated about three miles out of Winchester, on what is now the road to Airesford. William replied that he might have all he could cut and carry away in -four days and nights" and the Bishop thereupon sent far and wide for all the woodmen in the district, and in the allotted time actually succeed ed in Telling every tree in the wood with one notable, exception--and car rying it away.
 The story. which is duly set out In the Annals of Winchester,r. the genu- ineness of which cannot be doubted, c2TeHUIY year by year to record aiI the doings of the city. admits no contradiction. but it has always been a mystery as to what use was made of this enormous quantity of timber. Rampage Wood, as 1t is now called. has always been . large one. and it's boundaries we'll defined. Some of the timber was used in the roof of the south transspt. ana some more, probably. In the north transept. but what became of the rest nobody could suggest until the massive ch-trunks were discovered a year or two since actually beneath the foun- | dations.
 Wood Fansous for Beeches. The placing of these trees in the foundations to overcome the difficulty of building on . swamp site, has ai- ways been credited to De Lucy, who re- built the cathedral In 1902, but 1t is probable that WaikelI1 had recourse ! to a similar method, for the conditions must have bAen always the same. Color Is lent to this supposition by the fact ! that the annals distinctly state that Walkelin rebuilt the cathedral from | Its foundations. Rampage Wood has always been noted for its beech tim l Der, although oak does well there too, and some of the latter wood was also employed in the cathedral at or about the same date. At the present time the tallest bseches of the neighbor- hood are to be seen in this wood, and
 those which were used for the caths-
 dral were of necessity tall and straight, | as they have proved to be on removal l As to the one tree which Waike1in
 Is reported to have saved, there Is
 good reason to believe there is truth | in this also. The tree in question is the Gospel Oak" now dead, but still substantially existing. under which St. Augustine is supposed to have preach ed. It is on the property of Sir John Shelley, whose family succeeded to the Arlington estates from the Dukes of Buckingham and Chandos and is now carefully rai1ed round and band ed together with iron to preserve it as far as possible. This venerable tree stands at the upper end of Rampage Wood, and is the only one of such great age in the wood, although other very ancient specimens are to be found in Arlington Park itself
 Have Half of Restoration Fund.
 Rather more than half the sum re- quired to ensure the safety of Win chester Cathedral still remains unsub- scribed, but donations are coming in steadily If slowly, and great things are expected of the pageant which is to be held during the last week of June in the historic grounds of Wolvesey Pal- ace in the ancient city. The whole
  spectacle will be devoted to the cathe- dral fund, after the bare payment of expenses.
 Meanwhile the work of restoration goes on as fast as possible, but there Is the constant fear of having to ease up in the endeavor to save the noble building, and if the restoration has to be stayed for want of funds the dam gers and inconvenience of delay are many. The difficulty of getting togeth- CT again the large body of experienced workmen would in itself be very see rious. and involve further waste of precious time. The men are now used to the work In each of its separate de- partments. and once dispersed 1t would be impossible to get them all back again. To take on new hands in the middle of the work might jeopardize It's thoroughness.
 The pesult of the first appeal of the Dean and Chapter on behalf of the Fabric Preservation Fund, which is quite distinct from the other repairs in progress at the cathedral. amounted to S140,000 and the second appeal has so far brought forth about $l0,OO0. The sum of $167 900 Is still required to al- lay the anxiety of those engaged in this colossal work. The preservation of winchester Cathedral Is actually as much a national concern as the safety of St. PauIs.