with even the lowest notions of plain dealing, and it is well that such proceedings should receive a check. But it is greatly to be regretted that the occasion should have arisen in connection with Bristol Cathedral. The rebuilding of the nave is so good a work in itself, and we hoped so much from Mr. Street's Gothic genius, that we cannot but regret that anything should have occurred to delay the completion of the work. An effort is being made to carry on the building under other auspices-but still under Mr. Street's supervision-and we trust it will be successful.

The choir and chancel of Bangor Cathedral being completed, an effort is making to ensure funds for restoring the nave, completing the tower, and rebuilding the chapter house, all of which, Sir Gilbert Scott estimates, may be accomplished for 12,000l.

The noble minster of Southwell has been restored, under the direction of Mr. Ewan Christian, but now a grave difficulty has interposed in respect of the internal arrangements. The main obstacle is as usual the screen. At Southwell, this is a tall solid wall of masonry, some 15 to 20 feet deep, which virtually divides the building into two churches. Some ecclesiastical authorities wish the building to be kept as it is; the clergy sitting in the choir, the laity in the nave, and the screen being converted into a "chorus cantorum," seen and heard by both congregations. The parochial feeling inclines to the removal of the screen, and the union of choir and nave into one great parish church. The third plan, and that which seems best to satisfy at once artistic feeling and congregational convenience, is to maintain the screen intact, and to treat choir and nave as two distinct churches, employing the choir for morning and collegiate services, and occasions when the attendance would probably be small, and reserving the nave for ordinary Sunday and parochial services.

The works at St. Alban's proceed, but seemingly with some little abatement of zeal, or probably it is merely a waiting for the quickening movement of a decision respecting the nem see Tewkesbury Abbey Church, hardly inferior in interest to St. Alban's, is also under Sir Gilbert Scott's restoring hand, and like St. Alban's, the work is impeded by insufficiency of funds.

Among the dissenting bodies, the Congregationalists and Wesleyan Methodists maintain the greatest activity in church building. One of the more noteworthy suburban Congregationalist churches opened in the year, is at Anerley, by Sydenham. It is a Romanesque building of red and white brick, and Bath stone, 130 feet long, 56 feet wide, and 41 feet high, with the roof in one span, has an angle tower and spire 159 feet high; sittings for 780 on the ground floor, and 510 in the galleries; and cost 12,500l. The architects were Messrs. Elkington.

Christ Church, Chase Side, Enfield, is a cruciform Gothic structure, of brick and Bath stone, with nave, aisles, narthex, double transepts, chancel, and apsidal sanctuary, and a tower and spire 160 feet high. Behind the altar is a reredos, on which is an alto-relievo of the Last Supper, by Sansom. Messrs. Tarring were the architects.

The Tynedale Memorial Chapel, Gloucester, is a First Pointed building of Painswick stone, lined with brick, with accommodation for 700 persons. The principal external features are the deeply recessed doorway, and a tall slender flèche. It was designed by Mr. Tait, of Leicester.

At Wellingborough, a Gothic church, with the peculiarity of being elliptical in plan, has been erected from the designs of Mr. E. Sharman, of Wellingborough. The building is of Dunster stone, with Bath stone dressings, and red Mansfield stone shafts to the columns. The carving, which is in more than usual quantity, was executed by Mr. H. Hems, of Exeter. The plan and all the arrangements are studiously adapted to the Congregational mode of worship, and the church is said to be, from that point of view, very successful.

Congregational churches and chapels have also been erected at Skipsea, Bridlington; architect, Mr. Scott. Westborough, Maidstone; of Kentish rag and Bath stone; Gothic; architect, Mr. Portwee, of Chelmsford. Wickford, Essex; architect, Mr. Portwee. Hatfield Heath; of flint and stone; Gothic; 450 sittings; cost 4,000l.; architect, Mr. Banks. Worksop; Gothic; 450 sittings. Matching Tye, Essex; architect, Mr. G. Perry, of Bishop Stortford. Little Horton, near Bradford, Yorkshire; Italian in style, with campanile 60 feet high, at the north-west angle; architects, Messrs. Healey. Newton Abbot, Devonshire; Early Second Pointed; of local grey limestone with Bath stone dressings; massive tower at the west end, on which is to be raised a spire 150 feet high; architect, Mr. J. W. Rowell. Carmarthen Road, Swansea; of local stone, with Bath stone dressings; architect, Mr. Williams. Weston-super-Mare; Second Pointed in style, cruciform, and thoroughly orthodox, having nave with aisles, narthex, chancel, and transepts. From the intersection of the arms of the cross rises a slender flèche. The church has 800 sittings, and cost about 7,000l.

At the last Wesleyan Conference it was reported that, during the past year, 271 chapels, ministers' houses, &c., had been completed at a cost of 345,5951.; and that 393 erections and enlargements had been sanctioned by the chapel committee, and were now in progress towards completion, at an estimated cost of 353,1127. Few of the chapels are of any distinctive architectural value. Among those round London may be noticed a spacious Italian structure, in the Seven Sisters' Road, Finsbury Park, designed by Mr. F. Boreham, for a congregation of 1,000; and a Gothic building, of Kentish rag and Bath stone, for 1,060 persons, erected at Ravenscourt Road, Hammersmith.

Wesleyan Methodist chapels have also been built, among other places, at Silloth; Gothic; of red brick and stone. Hatfield Peveril, Essex; Gothic; 230 sittings; architect, Mr. A. C. Lewis, of Woodford. Ocker Hill; Grecian; 550 sittings; cost 2,000l.; architects, Messrs. Saxton, of Wednesbury. Roade, Northampton; of red brick and stone; architect, Mr. S. J. Newman, of Northampton. Malpas, Cheshire; of brick and

stone; Gothic; designed by Mr. J. Rogers. Hillsborough, Sheffield; Gothic; 520 sittings; cost 3,000l.; architect, Mr. Webster. Ivy-bridge, Devonshire; First Pointed in style; cruciform, with a tower and spire, 100 feet high; architects, Messrs. Hine and Norman, of Plymouth. Boroughgate, Otley, Yorkshire; of Horsforth stone; Italian in style; 1,000 sittings; cost 6,8007.; architect, Mr. E. Taylor, of York. Chattisham, Suffolk; architects, Messrs. Cattermole and Eade, of Ipswich. Langton, Dorsetshire; First Pointed; of Purbeck stone; 250 sittings; architect, Mr. J. Wills, of Derby. Coniston, Lancashire; First Pointed; of local blue stone; architect, Mr. Eli Cox, Kendal. Wells Memorial Chapel, Eckington; Grecian in style; of dressed stone; 700 sittings; cost 4,000l.; architect, Mr. J. H. Kent, of Chester. Barnton, Cheshire; Decorated; _of coloured bricks and stone; 350 sittings; architect, Mr. H. J. Bennet, of Norwich. Woodhouse Moor; a spacious Gothic edifice, with accommodation for a congregation of 1,100; erected from the designs of Mr. C. O. Ellison, of Liverpool, at a cost of about 11,000l. and others at Moreton Corbet, near Shawsbury; 250 sittings; Eastbury; designed by Mr. Bew; Little Thurrock, Essex, &c.

Primitive, New Connexion, and other Methodist bodies have also built a great many chapels, but none that call for specification. Baptist, United Presbyterian, Catholic Apostolic, and Unitarian churches have also contributed, more or less liberally, to the ecclesiastical architecture of the year.

The Roman Catholics have been very busy, but they have the habit of leaving their churches incomplete. Some of those consecrated or on hand are important structures, as the Cathedral, Clifton; the Jesuit Chapel of St. Aloysius, Woodstock Road, Oxford, with chapels to Our Lady and St. Joseph, and to the Sacred Heart; St. Catharine of Sienna, Birmingham, internally a rather splendid structure, but as yet only a torso; the convent and church of St. Joseph, at York, a sufficiently grim pile, by Mr. Goldie; the monastery of St. Joseph, Highgate, a very peculiar edifice; the church of St. Margaret, Barking Road; both designed by Mr. F. W. Tasker; the church of the English Martyrs (not those of Mary's reign), by Messrs. Pugin; St. Joseph's, Havant, designed by Mr. J. Crawley; St. Lawrence, Park Street, Birkenhead; St. Mary, on the East Parade, Bradford, a very large but incomplete structure, designed by Mr. Simpson; St.Werburgh church and Franciscan monastery, Chester, designed by Mr. J. J. O'Byrne, of Liverpool; St. Edward, King and Confessor, Sutton, by Guildford, Surrey, a First Pointed memorial church, founded by Miss Salvin, and designed by Mr. C. Buckler; and others at South Shields, Ukeston, West Cornforth, West Grinstead, and elsewhere.

4. BUILDINGS FOR PUBLIC PURPOSES.

The most important of the new municipal buildings, the Manchester Town Hall, or as it is now proposed to name it, the City

H

Hall, is progressing steadily, but without undue haste, towards completion. Its admirable arrangement, magnitude, grandeur, and picturesqueness, are making themselves the more felt as the building advances, and the tower and spire, which it will be remembered will be nearly 300 feet high, are becoming noteworthy features from many parts of the city. The architect, Mr. A. Waterhouse, was also the architect of the Assize Courts. As an example of what is being done this way in towns of smaller size, we give an engraving of the Town Hall, Leicester, opened in August last, from an excellent photograph taken for us by Mr. T. Johnson, of Leicester. The building is of Suffolk brick and Ketton stone, and, as will be seen, is in one of the varieties of the popular Queen Anne's style. It is of considerable extent, the principal front being 216 feet long, and from 60 to 80 feet high; the depth is 118 feet. The façade comprises a centre, slightly advanced, and long wings. In the centre is the chief entrance, with a recessed window and balcony over it, whence official announcements, and electioneering and other speeches may be made, and it rises into a great terminal gable, in which are carved the borough arms. The marked features of the façade are the long array of windows, the bold cornice over the principal floor, and the gabled dormers and chimney shafts which break the monotony of the tall heavy roofs. The massive clock tower on the right, 115 feet high, is also an important feature in the composition. Taken as a whole, the exterior may be regarded as in its way a really successful work; it is a great addition to the architecture of this rapidly improving town, and honourable to the architect, Mr. F. J. Hames.

The interior provides sufficient, and it is said very convenient accommodation for judicial as well as municipal purposes; the judicial section being the more imposing, the municipal the most adorned. On the judicial side are assize courts, judges' rooms, borough courts, police courts, and a handsome suitors' hall, 34 feet by 20 feet, lofty, solidly fitted, and having the windows filled with painted glass, portraying Simon de Montfort, Bishop Latimer, and other distinguished personages historically associated with the town, popular mayors, and eminent benefactors. On the municipal side are the Mayor's parlour and private rooms, council chamber, town clerk's and corporation offices, school board rooms and offices, and on the second floor a large club or commons room, 68 feet by 32 feet. The most richly ornamented room is the Council Chamber, which is 56 feet by 32 feet, semi-circular in plan, with an elaborate plaster ceiling, on which are represented the borough arms, and varicus floral scrolls and grotesque forms. The walls are decorated with portraits and paintings brought from the old Town Hall.

A handsome suite of Municipal Buildings has been opened at Reading. They were designed by Mr. A. Waterhouse, are of the local grey brick, red terra-cotta, and stone, Gothic in style; are not large and not overloaded with ornament. The chief external feature is the tower, which to the finials is about 100 feet high. In it is