Westminster abbey, its architecture, history and monuments . eginones study of a great mediaeval churchwith the west front, which here, with allIts faults, has a very interesting history,has witnessed a very great number ofhistorical events, and has welcomed hun-dreds of grand pageants, for coronations,consecrations and stately funeral obsequiesof royal men and women. The west front was the last work com-pleted and was probably undertaken byAbbot Esteney, late in the fifteenth cen-tury when the Perpendicular Gothic stylehad attained its full maturity. That part ofthe nave interior which was co
Westminster abbey, its architecture, history and monuments . eginones study of a great mediaeval churchwith the west front, which here, with allIts faults, has a very interesting history,has witnessed a very great number ofhistorical events, and has welcomed hun-dreds of grand pageants, for coronations,consecrations and stately funeral obsequiesof royal men and women. The west front was the last work com-pleted and was probably undertaken byAbbot Esteney, late in the fifteenth cen-tury when the Perpendicular Gothic stylehad attained its full maturity. That part ofthe nave interior which was completed atthis date followed the Early English de-sign set by Henry III: and had the samedesign been continued for the exterior, re-peating Salisbury, RIpon, the east end ofEly or any of the French cathedrals ofthe period, the result might have been ad-mirable. The Abbot continued the westfront to about one-half the height of thetowers as they now stand, and they werenot completed until 1742, In the time ofGeorge II whose arms appear on thedecorations. 792. The Exterior The design is not unlike that of Win-chester cathedral and consists of a centralcompartment having an enriched porch, abroad window of nine lights with threetransoms, and a small gable flanked by twomassive towers. The base of the south-ern tower is concealed by a low, battle-mented structure, a part of the fifteenthcentury Abbots Lodgings, now called theJerusalem Chamber, which must have beenbuilt by Litlington with full knowledge ofits interference with the west front of thechurch. This fact, here and elsewhere(notably at Worcester where the Infirm-ary buildings were grouped at the westfront of the church between it and thebeautiful Severn, thus interfering very se-riously with what might have been madethe most picturesque west front of anycathedral in England), shows that pic-turesque effect was not always consideredby the mediaeval monastery guardians. The west porch is of a single story, isdeeply recessed,
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