ted and decayed, Edward the Fourth resolved to pull down the
pile, and build a larger and statelier structure in its place. With this
view, he constituted Richard Beauchamp, Bishop of Salisbury, surveyor
of the works, from whose designs arose the present beautiful edifice. To
enable the bishop to accomplish the work, power was given him to remove
all obstructions, and to enlarge the space by the demolition of the
three buildings then commonly called Clure's Tower, Berner's Tower, and
the Almoner's Tower.

The zeal and assiduity with which Beauchamp prosecuted his task is
adverted to in the patent of his appointment to the office of chancellor
of the Garter, the preamble whereof recites, "that out of mere love
towards the Order, he had given himself the leisure daily to attend the
advancement and progress of this goodly fabric."

The chapel, however, was not completed in one reign, or by one
architect. Sir Reginald Bray, prime minister of Henry the Seventh,
succeeded Bishop Beauchamp as surveyor of the works, and it was by him
that the matchless roof of the choir and other parts of the fabric were
built. Indeed, the frequent appearance of Bray's arms, sometimes single,
sometimes impaling his alliances, in many parts of the ceiling and
windows, has led to the supposition that he himself contributed largely
to the expense of the work. The groined ceiling of the chapel was
not commenced till the twenty-seventh year of the reign of Henry the
Seventh, when the pinnacles of the roof were decorated with vanes,
supported by gilt figures of lions, antelopes, greyhounds, and dragons,
the want of which is still a detriment to the external beauty of the
structure.

"The main vaulting of St. George's Chapel," says Mr. Poynter, "is
perhaps, without exception, the most beautiful specimen of the Gothic
stone roof in existence; but it has been very improperly classed with
those of the same architectural period in the chapels of King's College,
Cambridge, and Henry the Seventh, at Westminster. The roofing of the
aisle and the centre compartment of the body of the building are indeed
in that style, but the vault of the nave and choir differ essentially
from fan vaulting, both in drawing and construction. It is, in fact,
a waggon-headed vault, broken by Welsh groins--that is to say, groins
which cut into the main arch below the apex. It is not singular in the
principle of its design, but it is unique in its proportions, in which
the exac