Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-08-23
LET THE GRAY RUIN REST
PLEA AGAINST "RESTORATIoN"
OF GLASTONBURY ABBEY.
Source of nspiratioD-Modern Copy
Of Venerable Pile Might De-
stroy Sentiment.

From the London Spectator
An interesting article on Glastonbury.
while recalling the past. suggests also !,
question for the present We are MI
at one in feeling the appeal of The
place. To Mr.. Greswell ii is pre-eui-
nently the Church of the Celts But il
is also much else besides and with ia
wealth Of long associa tons il becomes
typical of that great spiritual commun-
ION which unites the church OF today
with medieval monk and mason as WI
as with Arthurian knights and hermit
saints of still older day. We must ali
be at one. too in wishing il to "b.-
come again a source of inspiration IN
as full a sense as ever il was in the
past. And here comes in the practical
question, and, We fear. also practical
danger. The enthusiasts first instinct
is to wish that the same ancient church
should be used once more for the same
ancient worship. Many do not stop 10
realize that this wish is impossible ID
fulf1l. Money is offered for a restora-
ton. Guardians of priceless buildings
can generally be persuaded To restore.
and. just as when drunlards per-
slladed to refresh, the good old plausible
plea that no harm will be done this
time receives one more practical conf
ment.
Ii there is any such danger il is wise
to meet il before IL takes shape. and
would ask you to spare us space -
implore the public TO reflect before they
act An amateur may not know that
in adapting ruined masonry 10 carry
weight and keep out water much will
be sacrificed through necessity and much
through want of appreciation. But ee
ought TO be bic 10 see iwhat he seldom
does seet that the twentieth century
cannot produce twefth-century art. Be-
tween that age and ours the differences
are immense. To take just one. Tie
old workman was quite different from
the workman of today. He not
educated in board schools and on the
halfpenny press. but in the schools Of
folklore and nature and real life. He
was saturated with legends Of the saints
and OF the Holy Grail and with the ideals
and the atmosphere of which his art
is the expression. The spirit of the
man lies at the root of architecture -
of all arts: and unlike causes produce
unlike effects even when the mystic
word Gothic has been conjured with.
Belonged to Middle Ages.
Glastonbury Abbey Church AS it was
in the middle ages is a thing we can
never have again. The fragments which
remain we value for their beauty and
their sentiment. The beauty which is "a
source Of Inspiration will not he found
in modern lifeleSs copy. and ii GER
tainiy will not be found where tie copy
gives out and the restorer. driven back
on conjecture. repeats old tags ad nau-
seam like a schoolboyS copy OF Latin
verse The sentiment Of an old building
is If possible. even more easily destroyed
than its beauty. Amid the ruined stones.
left as their builders left them can
soak ourselves in the ideals of the past.
and may seem in imagination almost Ia
hear the voices and talk with the spirits
of the dead. But with the old stoaes
refurbished. swamped by unsympathetc
masses of new work. outhavored by q:
peryasive modernity-alas, know the
process and the effect-what mortal with
eyes what ghost with local attachments.
would not fee the place? Restoration
would i'm fact actually repel precisely
those men who have most ina gination
and who would most value the assoca-
tons of Glastonbury. Such men would
infinitely prefer TO hold their common
worship in a new church hard by and
have the precious relies of the past pre-
served for them unmutilated
My society has nothing but sympathy
with the idea Of founding a college at
Glastonbury which should gataer no and
perpetuate the inspiring traditions of the
past. 4 chapel for practical needs would
cost little. and should be Independent Of
the ruins and should not interfere with
them. TO restore the old buildings
would absorb enormous sums which had
far better me devoted 10 living work: and
after all 1t is living work coupled with
reverence for our forefatherS which
would constitute the true restoration
of the Glastonbury of the past.