Further changes are now taking place, especially on the northern bank of the river, which by degrees are completely altering its scene.
At a point where the river begins to curve round to Westminster, embosomed amongst orchards and trees, we see the high roofs and pinnacles of the new Temple, and the massive tower which forms its treasury, for the Knights Templars have lately abandoned their old home near to Holborn, and have moved down to the riverbank.
Here they have erected some very splendid buildings, notably their refectory arid church, the latter happily still standing, and perhaps this spot, with its lawns and trees down to the river, is the only one which has survived and retained some of the characteristics of the riverside London of long ago.
That old road along the brow of the hill is becoming more and more like a continuous street as it bends round with the course of the river to Westminster, and here again we note the changes that have taken place.
Edward the Confessor's stately Norman church is gone, and its place has been taken by a magnificent pile, of which the choir and transepts are finished. It looks stupendous, with its clustering chapels round the choir, and its long Lady Chapel, the precursor of the present Henry the Seventh's Chapel, and of the same length.
Yet the whole structure, in spite of its size, is remarkably light and airy, and is girt with curious flying arches or buttresses. It is not finished, and one sees scaffolding to the west, showing that the nave of the church is now building.
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