bishops of Selsey and Chichester, begun by Robert Sherborn
the 37th Bishop of that see, they defaced and mangled with
their hands and swords as high as they could reach. On the
Tuesday following, after the sermon, possessed and
transported by a bacchanalian fury, they ran up and down the
church with their swords drawn, defacing the monuments of
the dead, hacking and hewing the seats and stalls, and
scraping the painted walls. Sir William Waller and the rest
of the commanders standby as spectators and approvers of
these barbarous impieties." [18]

[18] "Mercurius Rusticus" (1642). Quoted by Walcott.

This is a history in little of what took place in nearly every
cathedral and other church in the kingdom, and this after the
Reformation and its best work had been a fact for a century.

The most important disaster to the fabric during the seventeenth
century was that which so seriously affected the structure at the west
end. It is difficult to decide exactly when and how north-west tower
fell or was removed. Professor Willis [19] is content to say:

"Mr. Butler informs me that there is evidence to show that
the north tower was taken down by the advice of Sir
Christopher Wren, on account of its ruinous condition."

[19] "Archaeological History," Chichester, p. 6, note _c_.

But Præcentor Ede, in a paper written about 1684 A.D. and quoted by
Præcentor Walcott, [20] gives