Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1920-09-16


During the past 80 years over 100000 has
been expended upon the fabric. This large sum
has been obtained partly through the temporary
suppression of one of the Abbey canonries and the
use of the income for the fabric partly through
subsidies supplied from time to time by the &C.
cesiaStical commissioners in answer to urgent and
piteous appeals, At the present moment we are
indebted to the extent of several thousands of
pounds in respect of moneys borrowed from the
ecclesiastical commission for essential repairs.
NOW, however, are faced with a desperate
state Of things. The sum Of money which more
than SO years ago was fixed for the maintenance
of the fabric and for the services of the Abbey has
become utterly inadequate for these purposes. The
immense rise in the cost of materials and in the
wages of the staff, together with the greatly in
creased standard of efficiency demanded in the last
half century from every branch of service to
church and nation, has brought US to the verge of
bankruptcy. 1t has even been necessary, while
fabric repairs have unavoidably been postponed to
divert to the absolutely essential duty of keeping
up the services and worship of the Abbey the in
adequate sum of money which had been ear
marked for keeping the fabric in repair
1--WE are no longer able to pay our way
"At the same time there is urgent need for
81 The repair of the two great western towers
"2. The reparatiOn of the external sonework
of Henry Wis chapel.
"3. The renovation of large portion of the
parapet running round the roof
81. The repair of the clerestories and flying
buttresses.
There is besides continual large outlay re-
qured by the maintenance in proper repair of
81. The much decayed clOisters and
so. The ancient dwellings which, at the present
scale of prices, can not be kept in suitable struct
ural repair Gas has hitherto been requred) at the
private cost of the officials who are the temporary
occupants x
"But the Abbey must not be allowed to suffer
The Engish-speaking peoples of the world glory in
Westminster Abbey. They will not tolerate the
thought that it's structural condition should suffer
through lack Of adequate funds. They will expect
me to take them into my confidence, as now do
81 know well, after residence for over nine
years in this place, and l know well from the ex-
traordinary experiences in the Abbey during the
years of the Great War; how dear is this church
to the people of this country, to our brothers and
sisters in Canada, Australia, New Zealand South
Africa, and India; and, in peculiar degree, to
our brothers and sisters of the great Republic of
America. y
81 ask for the sum of f25OOOO. OF this. the
sum of 100000 is required for structural repairs
in the immediate future"
The safety of the Abbey and its relics was of
great concern to the dean during the period of air
raids during the war. OF this he writes in the
London Times
lieved that London likely to be assailed from
the air. But as time went on the menace became
evident. The counses of those who at first had
said, oh, there is no practical danger; they will
never get as far London, and if they do Won
can safely take the risk of not being hit could
not possibly be followed by those on whom the
chief responsibility rested. We decided to do all
that was possible for the protection of the chief
treasures of the abbey and to give assurance TO
the public that nothing had been neglected
NEEDLESS to say, many interesting and fantas-
tic suggestions reached me- displaying more sym-
pathy with the security of the building than prac-
teal knowledge Of the cost of the feasibility
of the recommendations What we did NAV no
grouped under three heads-0 The removal of
treasures to safe place; (2) The protection of
certain conspicuous monuments, and (3) The sub.
stitution of wood for glass in four of our most an
cent stained glass windows
"0) The following objects were removed to
the crypt under the cloister house: The corona
ton chair; the old professional shield and sword /:
the saddle, shield and helmet associated with King