and narrow Perpendicular windows on each side, of
three lights each, with a transom. These windows are ornamented with
ogee gables, and between them are three niches, one above the other,
with canopies. The external buttresses are split up with vertical
mouldings and ornamented with niches and panelling. The tower is crowned
with a battlement. Horizontal string courses with gargoyles divide the
buttresses at intervals. There are no pinnacles on these buttresses, and
they appear never to have been finished. It is possible that it was
intended to set another storey on the top of the present one, but this
is merely conjecture.

This tower, or rather its Perpendicular casing, for it was originally an
Early English tower, is, with the western the latest part of the
minster, but it is by no means the least beautiful. The English
architects of the sixteenth century, if they were inferior to earlier
builders in invention and vigour, were at any rate supreme in the
management of towers. Their wonderful sense of proportion, their
habitual use of vertical lines, and the character of their windows
helped them to build what are perhaps the finest towers in Europe, and
the central tower of York Minster is one of the finest of all. Even the
absence of pinnacles, if it is an accident, seems to be a lucky
accident, and gives this tower an unrivalled dignity and air of
restraint suitable to the character of the whole cathedral. For whatever
may be said against certain parts of the exterior, as a whole it is one
of the most magnificent in the world. It shows best from certain points
of view--from the north, for instance, or from the network of narrow
streets to the south. It may be contended that the central tower is not
quite lofty enough compared with the two western towers for perfect
symmetry of outline; that, seen from certain aspects, it is rather
square and box-like in appearance; that from no point of view are the
western towers satisfactory. But the minster produces its great effect
by its enormous bulk and dignity, its vast length, the variety and yet
unity of its outlines, the severity and restraint of its form.

[Illustration: Seal of St Mary's Abbey.]

CHAPTER IV

THE INTERIOR

#The Nave.#--The most casual observer will have noticed that churches of
the Gothic style are divided vertically into bays, and that in
cathedrals and large churches these bays are usually further divided
horizontally into three compartme