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HEXHAM ABBEY CHURCH,-NORTHUMBERLAND.

The remote history of this edifice commences in the year 673; when St. Wilfrid, under the pious auspices of Etheldreda, wife of King Egfrid, began the erection of a church and monastery at Hexham, the beauty and splendour of which were the wonder of the age, and the admiration of all historians. This was the fifth stone church built in England, and the first which had been constructed with chancel and aisles. In 678, Hexham was erected into an episcopal see, and so continued, under the pastoral care of twelve successive bishops, till the year 821, when the prelacy gave way before the cruel ravages of the Danes; and at length, in 876, the church and town of Hexham were completely destroyed by "the terrific sea-kings of the Baltic."

The diocese of Hexham was, in 1112, appropriated to the formation of a prebendal stall in York cathedral; and in the following year, the archbishop, pro tempore, commenced the restoration of the church, of which, time and the ravages of war had left but few remains. In 1296, the Scots invaded Hexham, and destroyed the nave of the Abbey; and this portion of the edifice was never afterwards rebuilt.

The inhabitants of Hexham, opposing themselves to the innovating principles of the Reformation, continued to cherish the ancient faith; and the surrenders which were extorted from the monasteries, so highly provoked their indignation, that they excited the principal religious houses to insurrection. This struggle was of short duration : fire and sword, the ready weapons of religious zeal, completed the destruction of those men who, excited by party strife, could discern in the reformation of religion nothing but disappointed avarice, and the reckless licentiousness of a turbulent prince.

The Abbey Church of Hexham, as it exists in the present day, consists of a transept and choir; the former 156 feet, and the latter 70 feet in length. From the centre of the edifice rises a square tower, 90 feet in height. For the want of a nave, both the exterior and interior of the building are rendered less striking in their appearance than they would otherwise have been.

The principal entrance is by a modern door at the north end of the transept, opening at once into this portion of the structure. The spectator beholds "one lofty aisle, open on all sides, grand in its pristine nakedness, pleasing in its simplicity, and astonishing in the magnitude of its proportions and the unity of its parts. At equal distances. from the centre, four light and lofty arches spring from as many masses of tall clustered columns, supporting the tower, and opening into each division of the edifice. The west side is one wall, pierced, however, into galleries, and lighted by many lancets. At the north end is the wood work of the large door, above which the gallery is continued beneath a long range of pointed windows. With this the south end corresponds, excepting that the place of the gallery is supplied by a huge balcony, and a heavy flight of steps connected with the spiral stairs, that lead to the gallery of the choir, to the belfry, and

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