The
termination of this turret is the most singular part of the structure:
it is surmounted by a cap, considerably higher than the pinnacles, and
composed, like a bee-hive, of a number of circles, each smaller than the
one below it. A few ruined arches of the east end of the church, and of
one of the side chapels are also existing. The rest is levelled with the
ground, and has probably been in a great measure destroyed lately; for
piles of wrought stones are heaped up on all sides.
If historical recollections or architectural beauty could have proved a
protection in the days of revolution, the church of Bec had undoubtedly
stood. Ducarel, who saw it in its perfection, says it was one of the
finest gothic structures in France; and his account of it, though only
an abridgement of that given by Du Plessis, in his _History of Upper
Normandy_, is curious and valuable.--Mr. Gough states the annual income
of the abbey at the period of the revolution, to have exceeded twenty
thousand crowns. Its patronage was most extensive: the monks presented
to one hundred and sixty advowsons, two of them in the metropolis; and
thirty other ecclesiastical benefices, as well priories as chapels, were
in their gift[57].--Its possessions, as we may collect from the various
charters and donations, might have led us to expect a larger revenue.
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