EDITORIAL NOTE

The Editor wishes to thank all those who have assisted him with notes and information in the compilation of this volume during the long period that it has been in preparation. The work was almost finished and partly in type when the war and post-war conditions required it to be put aside for nearly ten years. On the resumption of work it was difficult to pick up the threads left by a scattered staff, but since that time the whole volume has been revised and brought up to date. In this work the Editor has particularly to thank Dr. John Bilson, who by his unique knowledge of Durham Cathedral has afforded much help in the revision of the architectural description of that great monument. This piece of work, although begun by Mr. S. C. Kaines Smith, M.B.E., M.A., F.S.A., was mainly written by the late Mr. John Quekett, M.A., F.S.A., whose brilliant career as a literary architect was cut short, to the sorrow of his numerous friends, on the battlefield in Flanders on 31 July 1917. Mr. Quekett left his account of the Cathedral buildings almost complete from the east end of the church to the eastern part of the nave. From this point the remainder of the account of the church and all the description of the monastic buildings have been written by Mr. F. H. Cheetham, F.S.A., who at the same time has made such revision in the earlier part of the work as alterations in the meantime have necessitated. The Editor desires further to thank Professor Hamilton Thompson, M.A., F.S.A., for reading the proof of the whole of the account of the Cathedral and Monastery, and Mr. C. R. Peers, C.B.E., F.S.A., F.B.A., for advice and help in the parts of the description, other than that of the historical development of the church for which he himself is responsible.

Acknowledgment is also gratefully made to the Very Rev. Henry Gee, D.D., F.S.A., Dean of Gloucester, Brigadier-General Herbert Conyers Surtees, C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O., M.V.O., F.S.A., D.L., J.P., Mr. W. T. Jones, F.S.A., Mr. E. V. Stocks, M.A., the Rev. Canon E. Sykes, the Rev. Canon W. Bothamly, Mr. K. C. Bayley, F.S.A., and Mr. C. H. Hunter Blair, M.A., F.S.A., for assistance given to the Editor in various ways. The Editor also thanks the clergy who have read the proofs of their parishes or otherwise helped in passing the pages through the press. He would mention the assistance he has received in this way from the Rev. F. P. Bates, the Rev. J. Bennett, the Rev. W. A. Blackwell, the Rev. E. Doddington, the Rev. J. Clegg, the Ven. Archdeacon Derry, the Rev. A. T. Dingle, the Rev. E. A. Douglas, the Rev. J. C. Douglas, the Rev. A. T. Faber, the Rev. J. R. Fuller, the Rev. E. H. Greatorex, the Rev. D. Hodgson, the Rev. C. E. Jackson, the Rev. J. H. Kirner, the Rev. H. Martin, the Rev. H. S. Milner, the Rev. E. R. Ormsby, the Rev. J. Ousey, the Rev. M. B. Parker, the Rev. G. W. Reynolds, the Rev. A. C. Rose, the Rev. T. Rudd, the Rev. T. E. Scott, the Rev. F. T. Salter, the Rev. H. Williamson, and the Rev. W. R. Wyldbore-Smith.

The Editor has to thank H.M. Office of Works and the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-upon-Tyne for permission to reproduce the plan of Finchale Priory, Mr. Brook Kitchin for the plan of the Deanery, Durham, taken from The Story of the Deanery, Durham, by the late G. W. Kitchin, D.D., F.S.A., Dean of Durham, and Mr. W. T. Jones, F.S.A., for various photographs and plans of Durham Castle, especially for use of the large detailed plan of the Castle prepared by him. It is also with pleasure that the Editor expresses his gratitude to the Durham and Northumberland Archæological Society for the grant they have generously made from their funds towards the heavy expenses of producing this volume.