Too soon the ruthless hand of the arch-destroyer, Wyatt, was laid on the luckless Cathedral, who wrought mischief second only to that of the Puritan fanatics. As the canons felt cold, he walled up the pier arches of the choir and closed the eastern tower arch with a glass screen, removed the altar to east end of the Lady Chapel, patched the piers with Roman cement, hacked away the old stone-work, in order to make this cement stick, and fixed up a large organ screen between the nave and the choir. Roman cement became the passion of the hour. Statues were made of it, old stone-work repaired with it; arches, mouldings, niches and pinnacles were coated with it. Happily its reign is over. Sir Gilbert Scott began his restoration in 1856. The difficulty of the work was enormous. He endeavoured to imitate the ancient sculpture and stone-work, and restore the Cathedral to the condition of its Early Gothic purity. Though some of the work has been severely criticised, we must take into consideration the difficulties caused by Wyatt and Roman cement which he had to encounter; we must remember that Gothic revival had not reached its highest development in 1856, and be thankful that so much has been spared to us of this once magnificent Cathedral. EXTERIOR When we enter the _Close_ we notice that little is left of the fortifications that once made Lichfield into a fortress. Here and there a few traces of the walls remain. Lichfield was never a monastery, so there are no cloisters. The view of the Cathedral upon entering the close is very striking and beautiful. The colour of the stone is remarkable, as it is built of red sandstone. The three spires are extremely graceful. A fine view of them is obtained from the south side across the lake. The two west spires were built by Bishop Northbury (1322-1359), and are Decorated. The upper part of the north-western one was rebuilt, and there has been some renovation of the other. The old central tower fell during the siege, and was rebuilt by Bishop Hacket at the Restoration. The style is Perpendicular, having been built in the fashion of the west tower.