The History Of Selby, Its Abbey, And Its Masonic Associations.

in one as at York , and the whole covered with groining , that of the centre being of oak , though this does not appear as to have been originally intended so , whilst that over the aisles is of stone . And the same distinguished architect says of the exterior eastern facade , " a noble and magnificent composition . " One of the greatest of our living writers , Dr . E . A . Freeman , says : — " It may appear strange to claim the first place amongst the abbeys of Yorkshire

for Selby . That great church has had the luck , good or bad , to be preserved in an almost perfect state . It is certain we have at Selby a foundation of the Conqueror , which grew into a high position amongst the monastic houses of England , and to a specially high position among the monastic houses of its own district , where it could have no rival of its own order except the house of St . Mary of York . Selby and St . Mary's stand alone in their own reputation as Benedictine houses of the first rank , and of these two Selby stands alone as having its church preserved in an all but perfect state . And the Minster of Selby is , in truth , a building worthy of a unique position . In outline it is

certainly lacking : the western towers were never carried up ; the south transept is gone , the only mutilation of the church itself as distinguished from the utter sweeping away of the conventual buildings which joined it on the south side . And even this mutilation was negative rather than positive in the same diocese , though not in the same shire . But in most eyes the glory of Selby will be its choir , ending in a window which may claim at least the second place of its own class in Englandand therefore in the world . Like- York

, , Lincoln , Ely , and Carlisle , Selby has neither apse nor lord-chapels spreading beyond the main building . The ends of the choir and its aisles form the grand and simple east of a type exclusively English . Within , the choir may be thought to suffer somewhat from the common English fault of lowness . A somewhat larger triforurn range would have made the difference ; and the vault of wood is clearly the riht thing if the walls and illars were found unable to

g p support a vault of stone . A wooden vault is , of course , a makeshift , but it is an allowable and necessary makeshift . The wooden vault of Selby is thoroughly good of its own kind , and it is a special relief to one who comes to it from the paltry roofs of its metropolitan neighbour at York . "

Fratres—My agreeable task , and also , I fear , my tax upon your patience , is now nearly finished . I feel sadly too conscious that the foregoing remarks are not worthy of your acceptance , for I am not an architect , nor do I understand architecture ; but the longer I live the more do I venerate the noble pile under whose shadow I pursue my daily work . I have endeavoured in this slight sketch to do my best to draw your attention to the one great feature of our

little town . I must , at the same , time own my deep obligation to Mr . Morrell ' s valuable history of Selby . The preparation of this paper has been a great source of pleasure to me , and if it will be of any service to you I am more than repaid . The facts show you , imperfectly as I have done my task , that Selby occupies no undistinguished place in the history of Yorkshire , and we cannot but feel

very deep gratitude to those Brethren who reared our splendid abbey church which mostly contributed to its fame . It is true that their names are unknown , but we are taught in the Second Degree what are the duties of Craftsmen , and I think we may fairly adjudge them to have acted on the same rules . I will , before closing , venture to throw out the suggestion that there is ample scope for another visit of this College to Selbyfor within ten miles

, you will find the Priory Church of Hemingbrough , the Collegiate Church of Howden , the Priory of Suaith , the Castles of Cawood and Wressle , the Knights Templar Preceptory of Temple Hirst , and many neighbouring village churches of great interest . I thank you , Fratres , for the very patient hearing you have accorded me .