At this period I conceive the South View, or, as it may be called, the Show side of the Cathedral, was perhaps but little inferior in real beauty to any one in England,—Canterbury, York, and Salisbury excepted. To prove this, let us examine its parts. The West End newly finished, and the Tower, and the other works of his predecessor and the architecture of the upper part of the Choir, new enough to harmonize therewith, this front view must have presented a very beautiful appearance. Though the battlements are now all gone, enough remains to lead us to suppose that the whole line was finished with rich pinnacles, and battlements. {14a} The buttresses were very fine, and the grouping of those at the corner of the South Transept peculiarly good. All the Windows appear to have had fine canopies, and what original tracery remains is of great beauty of design, and delicacy of execution; and though now none exists, we may reasonably suppose the Windows filled with painted glass. The picture appeared complete; but it was not long to last, as the funds for its support were soon afterwards absorbed; and tradition avers that during the Usurpation of Cromwell, it was even degraded so far as to become a stable! At the Restoration, it was probably in bad condition. The exterior of the Choir appears to have been worse than the rest, for that has been cased; while from the workmanship of that casing, and the present mullions of the Windows, I apprehend these reparations were made since the Restoration. This casing is the last considerable reparation of the walls, but as the roofs have been kept in repair, and the present worthy Dean {14b} is laudably assiduous in giving every reparation the funds of the building will admit, we may hope that no further dilapidations will ensue, and perhaps, after a time, that some restoration may take place. More minute attention than I have hitherto been able to bestow on some particular parts, may enable me hereafter to make some addition to and perhaps corrections of the present rapid sketch of this very interesting Edifice. I know not how far these observations may coincide with Historical Records; but it is proper to state that they are made up solely from my own examination of the present state of the Building. Footnotes. {3a} Mr. Thomas Hodkinson, Architect. {3b} In his _Description of the Cathedral Church of Ely_. {3c} _Architectural Antiquities_, Vol. I. p. 3.