A NEW WESTMINSTER?
SIR,—In the article 'A New Westminster' (Spectator, November 21) I learn the shocking news that West- minster Abbey is to be demolished. My shock is the greater to see the article signed by John Betjeman, who has been for long such a stalwart and articulate fighter against the wanton or callous or merely ex- pedient destruction of England's superb architectural heritage. From this distance, the arguments he cites in favour of destruction seem to this writer utterly unconvincing : not only incomplete, commercially oriented and somewhat spurious, but negative and too readily defeatist as well.
R,ther than marshal what seem to me to be per- suasive arguments against total destruction, I take issue here with only two of his points : the non- homogeneity of the building's fabric and the quality of the Henry VII Chapel.
In my opinion, the former is no argument at all. Few mediaeval buildings of any size and importance were built all at once, in one consistent style. Except for Salisbury and a few others, every outstanding building that has survived the centuries since its beginnings records the changes in character, accom- modations and taste of the intervening eras. It is this very variety that lends a special character and authenticity to an old building, giving it validity as a multiply-revised palimpsest of human activity, rather than a mere monument, static and 'correct.'
As for the chapel, a 'portion' of which is to be
retained 'if possible,' does it take someone from across the ocean to resent the arrogance that dismisses this structure so lightly as `decadent'? The fantastic, fairly-like character of this lacework of stone is known throughout the world as the most consum- mate achievement of the mason's skill in fan vault- ing, a peculiarly English achievement! Time and taste change; what is fashionable today may be spurned and despised tomorrow and vice versa. But it may well be that, if the chapel now survives this imminent catastrophe, Englishmen themselves may come to value and preserve this unique and priceless jewel in the splendid crown of their ancient native heritage of architecture.—Yours faithfully,
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