astic precincts till they were removed by an edict of Edward
VI.'s to the old chapel of St. Stephen's. The wise head of the
monastery, Abbot Henley, made a stipulation at the same time that the
Government should bear the expense of all future repairs. Whether this
compact was faithfully carried out at first we do not know, but after the
Dissolution, when the building lapsed finally to the Crown, it fell into
a shocking state of ruin, and was used as a kind of lumber-room for State
documents. In the eighteenth century it was fitted up as a record
office, and the architecture ruthlessly maltreated. The original roof,
which was in a ruinous condition, was removed altogether; wooden shelves,
galleries, and staircases concealed the painted walls; a boarded floor
was added half-way up, and rolls of dusty and inflammable parchments
increased the constant risk of fire. In 1834 when the houses of
Parliament hard by were burnt, watchers were stationed on the roof of the
Chapter House, ready to remove the Doomsday Book and other valuable
records should the conflagration spread and the safety of {127} this
historic building be seriously threatened. So urgent did the danger from
fire appear long afterwards to Sir Gilbert Scott, when he was Surveyor of
the Abbey fabric, that he prevailed on the Government of 1865 to remove
the records, and obtained a grant of money from Parliament for the
purpose of restoring the place as far as possible to its original aspect.
Altered as it must have been by this restoration, yet Scott did his work
well, and as we look around us we see traces of its ancient splendour,
although irreparable damage from neglect and misguided attempts to repair
the ravages of former generations has been wrought at various times. The
very interesting mural paintings, for instance, which date from the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, have been slowly yet surely fading
ever since the wooden panelling was removed forty years ago, and
well-meant modern experiments, which were intended to preserve the
colour, seem only to have added to their destruction. Above the inner
door are two graceful stone figures, one of which is said to represent
St. John the Baptist; the central medallion of Christ is by Sir Gilbert
Scott, but does not compare favourably with the thirteenth-century
sculptures. The tracery of the windows was restored after the pattern of
{128} the only one which Scott found intact, but the ancient painted