HALL, ST. CROSS]

But, interesting as are all these portions of the Hospital of St. Cross,
it is the church which has the greatest attraction for architect and
antiquary alike, for it contains good examples of every style. From
Romanesque, through Norman and Early English, to Later Decorated, and to
Transition Norman, the church is considered to be the best example in
existence. This building, unfinished after nearly two hundred years, was
roofed with lead, in place of the thatch which originally covered it, by
William of Edyndon, the famous Wiltshireman who became Master of St.
Cross in the fourteenth century, and who restored the fabric from the
ruinous state in which he found it to a condition of beauty and
strength. The windows of the clerestory were erected by him; he
re-roofed the "Hundred Menne's Hall", and built a new chamber for the
Master.

On entering the church, through the north porch, one is struck by its
loftiness and dignity, the vaulting throughout being of stone, while
almost every ornamental feature of the Norman style can be seen.
Proceeding to the western end of the church, and looking down the nave,
the gradual development of its architecture can be well seen. The east
end is Norman, the bay next the transepts Transition Norman, while the
west end is Early English. The windows vary from Norman and Transition
Norman to Early English, while those of the clerestory are Decorated.
Mention must be made of the fine stone screens and tabernacle-work on
either side of the altar, the altar slab of Purbeck marble, the
triforium of intersecting arches in the choir, and the roof pendants.
The western portion of the church was built during the mastership of
Peter de Sancto Mario, and his fine canopied tomb is a striking object
on the north side of the nave. Interesting, too, are the beautiful
fourteenth-century tiles, some bearing the appropriate motto "Have
Mynde"; and a very human note is struck in the mason's marks, still to
be seen in various parts of the building, especially around the
staircase door in the south transept. What these signs actually mean is
unknown, but some authorities, notably Leader Scott in her work on
_Cathedral Builders_, trace them through the Comacine Guild to the Roman
_Collegia_.

In the south-east corner of the south transept, on the exterior of the
church, is a "triple-arch", which is thought to have been a doorway, and
may have led to the "clerken-house", the original habit