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present condition, as being a more accurate reproduction of a Roman basilica than has hitherto been attempted in England. The interior is a parallelogram 138 feet long, 70 wide, and 56 high, and consists of a nave with sinle aisles 88 feet long; a tribune the width of the nave, and 27 feet deep; the sanctuary, in which is the high altar under a baldachin, or canopy on four columns of black and gold marble ; and a semicircular apse beyond. Triforia and a clerestory are supported on Ionic columns. The ceiling is flat and panelled. At present little has been done in the way of internal decoration. In the apse, in recesses of the chancel, and elsewhere, are a few paintings; in the niches of the tribune are statues of the Evangelists, and midway down the aisles, on the opposite walls, are a gilt Pietà and crucifix, both of colossal size. But the body of the church is left unfinished and unpainted. Withal, however, the general effect is very striking. The building is amply lighted, and seems well adapted to the grand musical and processional displays which are the special features of the services. The building will at present conveniently accommodate about 2,000 persons; when finished it is intended for 3,400. In the basement are a crypt adapted for over 200 worshippers, and a narrow apartment about 100 feet long. Eventually the principal entrance will be by a stately Corinthian portico in Saffron Hill; and it is intended to carry the campanile (in which is Vickers’s great bell from the International Exhibition) to a height of 96 feet. About 15,0001., chiefly raised on the Continent, have been expended on the building up to the present time. The architect is Mr. J. M. Bryson.

Among other Roman Catholic churches are the following :--Our Lady and St. Wilfrid, Blyth; First Pointed ; 120 feet long, 36 wide, with an open timber roof; spire to be added at a future time; accommodates 900 persons; cost, under 3,0001. ; architect, Mr. A. M. Dunn, of Newcastle. Littlehampton, Sussex, church and presbytery; Second Pointed in style; of Kentish rag and Whitby stone; erected at the cost of the Duchess of Norfolk; architect, Mr. Hadfield, of Sheffield. Leamington, Warwickshire; semi-Byzantine ; of brick, with stone dressings ; interior 102 feet long, 75 feet high ; selfcoloured bricks; apsidal termination, with a Majesty in fresco, painted windows, &c.; the roof is borne on coupled columns; the architect, Mr. Clutton. St. Pancras, Ipswich ; Italian Gothic; of Suffolk red brick, with bands of black brick, and Whitby stone dressings. The chief feature of the exterior is a lofty flèche, around the base of which are large statues of angels; of the interior, an elaborate altar with richly-carved reredos, on which are large statues of the Saviour and the four Evangelists, standing within canopied niches, the whole carved by Mr. Earp; the cost was 3,4001. ; architect, Mr. Goldie. St. Wolstan, Great Malver n; Gothic; nave 80 feet by 30, with three side chapels; chancel to be added at a future day, erected at the cost of the Rev. W. Scott; Mr. B. Bucknall, architect. St. Peter's, Bromsgrove ; Second Pointed ; apsidal termination; accommodates nearly 400 persons; architect, Mr. Blount.

Liskeard; plain First Pointed ; of local schist faced with Bath stone ; 400 sittings; cost, about 4001. ; architect, Mr. Hansom. Chatham; of brick, with little external ornament; interior 100 feet by 50; archi

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tect, Mr. Clutton. Pocklington, Yorkshire ; Second Pointed, with apsidal chancel ; nave 70 feet by 26, chancel 15 feet deep; open timbered roof; architect, Mr. Hadfield, of Sheffield.

In Great Ormond-street, London, a Church, Conxent, and Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem are being erected, chiefly at the cost of Sir G. Bowyer, M.P. The style is Italian ; the architect, Mr. G. Goldie. Foundation stones have been laid of a Dominican Convent at Haverstock Hill, London; and of a Franciscan Convent at Gorton, near Manchester ; Gothic in style; architects, Messrs. Pugin and Hansom. A Convent, Italian in style, designed by Mr. J. Spencer, has been erected at Birkenhead at a cost of 10,000i.

Among the several Dissenting bodies there has been great activity in church and chapel building-stimulated largely, no doubt, by“ the Bi-centenary Movement” referred to last year.

The Congregationalists have taken the lead in this movement. It was stated in the Report presented at the annual meeting of the Congregational Union (Oct. 1863) that the Bi-centenary Fund had reached 250,0001.; and that whilst 300 new churches and chapels have been built during the last fifteen years, there are at the present time 300 in progress of erection. Some of their recent churches are curiously unlike the old conventicle type. Indeed, as a rule, there is little to distinguish them externally from the churches of the Establishment. In the interior they are less encumbered with pillars; there is usually a gallery, and never a chancel. Preaching is the chief thing, and the object is to enable the largest number to see and hear the preacher. More attention is given to the comfort and convenience of the congregation, and there are readier means of ingress and egress. A difference affecting the outer form is that there is commonly a deacons' as well as the minister's vestry; and in large chapels a ladies' room.

As an example of a first-class Congregationalist church we give an elevation of Stepney Meeting (No. 2), just erected in place of one of the oldest Independent chapels about London. The old chapel was noted for the four lofty pillars which supported the roof, they having been presented for the purpose by the States-General of Holland in 1674, and being consequently a memorial of the friendly intercourse then subsisting between the English Nonconformists and the Dutch. The new building, as will be seen from the woodcut, is of the Second Pointed Gothic. It is of hammered stone in irregular courses, with Bath stone dressings. The chief features of the front are the lofty steeple and the wheel-window. The spire, 150 feet high, is of stone, very well proportioned, and, with the clustered pinnacles at the base, sits well on to the tower. The tracery of the window is very graceful. The entrance is by three doors of equal size, which

open into a corridor, divided from the body of the church by a glazed wooden screen. The church is of five bays, has a highpitched roof, and is flanked at the end by two low square towers. The interior is 82 feet by 57. A gallery is carried round three of the sides. The light iron pillars which support the gallery are the only obstruction to the sight. The roof is curved and panelled. There is a large chancel arch, but no chancel. The great wheelwindow is filled with stained (not painted) glass. The church has

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1,350 sittings, and careful provision is made for warming and ventilating. At the back of the church are convenient and well-fitted minister's and deacons' vestries, and a ladies' room. The cost of the building was 10,0001. The architects were Messrs. Searle, Son, and Yelf.

Another Congregational church of some architectural pretension, but inferior to that just noticed, has been erected on the site of the old reservoir of the New River Company, Tolmar-square, Hampstead-road. It is 81 feet long by 51 wide; has an entrance tower with a lofty spire, vestries, &c. In style it is Second Pointed. It is built of Kentish rag, with Bath stone dressings; has 1,200 sittings, and cost 5,0001. The architect was Mr. J. Tarring.

In the country Congregational churches and chapels have been opened or are approaching completion at the following among other places :--Abingdon, Berks, to accommodate 800 persons ; cost, 2,1001. ; style Italian, interior rather ornamental ; architect, Mr. J. S. Dodd, of Reading. Colchester, Essex, on the site of the old Octagon Chapel. The new building, which is Second Pointed in style, is of Kentish rag, with Caen stone dressings, and consists of a nave 88 feet long by 51 wide, with galleries ; a tower and spire 125 feet high; vestries, a library, lecture-room, &c. It has 1,050 sittings, and cost about 5,0001. ; architect, Mr. F. Barnes, of Ipswich. Albertroad, Farnworth ; “Grecian;" of white brick, with Yorkshire stone dressings; 800 sittings; cost, about 2,5001. Newmarket; Gothic; of flint, with bricks interspersed ; 68 feet by 42. Darlington ; Second Pointed; of stone in irregular courses; cruciform, with a tower and spire 100 feet high; and a large five-light window in the principal front; 700 sittings; cost, 2,0001.; architects, Messrs. Pritchett, of Darlington. Harrogate; Second Pointed; tower and spire 130 feet high; interior, consisting of nave and aisles divided into five bays with gables, and a large five-light window at the end, is 85 feet by 45 ; has a gallery at west end, organ loft at east end, and will accommodate 700 persons ; architects, Messrs. Lockwood and Mawson, of Leeds. Horton-lane, Bradford ; Renaissance, rather ornate; 1,300 sittings; schools attached ; cost together over 10,0001.; architects, Messrs. Lockwood and Mawson. Guildford, Surrey ; Second Pointed ; interior 63 feet by 47, and 40 feet high; 700 sittings; cost, nearly 3,0001."; architect, Mr. Peake. Attercliffe Chapel, Sheffield ; "Gothic; cruciform, with tall spire; in the interior á waggon roof, and a platform instead of a pulpit; 1,000 sittings; cost, 2,3001. ; architect, Mr. J. Taylor. Wheeler-street, the Lozells, Birmingham; of brick, with black and white courses at intervals, and Bath stone dressings ; Italian in style, with a portico of the Corinthian order ; two galleries ; 1,000 sittings; cost, about 3,5001. ; architects, Messrs. Poulton and Woodman, of Reading West Derby-road, Liverpool ; Conventional Gothic; of local red sandstone, with white Stourton stone dressings; entrance by a porch, which leads into a spacious corridor, divided froin the body of the chapel by a glazed Gothic screen; front flanked by tall turrets; apsidal termination, within which stands an octagonal platform, 13 feet in diameter, for preaching from, of Caen stone, with carved figures at the angles, and pierced panels ; 850 sittings ; cost, 4,500l.; Messrs. Poulton and Woodman,

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