orman vaulting (similar to that yet
existing in the north aisle of the nave), and as the south wall had
inclined outwards, and the whole fabric of the aisle was from this
cause in danger, he erected large buttresses to prevent further
settlement; but failing in this design, he was compelled to take down
the Norman vaulting, and he then substituted vaulting of the same style
of architecture as the buttresses he had just erected. Such great care
could scarcely have been taken in those days to preserve the Norman
piers only; the first object must have been to retain, for economical
reasons, as much as could possibly be retained of the old aisle. It may
be remarked also that the Norman piers incline in some cases as much as
one foot towards the south, and the buttresses of Abbot Thokey also
incline in the same direction from three to four inches in their whole
height. The Abbot's buttresses, therefore, must have gone out of the
perpendicular after their first erection, or else the present vaulting
would show settlements, which it certainly does not.

The tracery of the windows is unusual in design, and is similar to that
in a window of the chapel at Merton College, Oxford. Ball-flower
mouldings adorn the aisle windows inside and out between the south door
and the steps leading up to the south transept, and the same ornament is
repeated in the vaulting of three of the bays and in the triforium of
the choir.[2]

Abbot Morwent's work at the west end of this aisle is similar to that in
the north aisle.

The #Monuments# in this aisle are not numerous, but are of modern
historic interest. Near the west end of the nave is a statue by Silvier
to Dr Jenner, who introduced the practice of vaccination. Under the west
window of this aisle is an interesting wall-tablet in a canopy to John
Jones, who was registrar to eight bishops of the diocese. The background
is formed of files of documents, with their seals and dates exposed to
view. There is taste in the colouring, and the design is effective. John
Jones was M.P. for Gloucester at the exciting time of the Gunpowder
Plot. He is said to have had the monument put up in his lifetime, and to
have died soon after it was completed.

After passing the south door, a marble sarcophagus, with a bust upon it,
will be noticed. This is to the memory of Sir G. Onesiphorus Paul,
Baronet, (by Sievier). His name is well-known in connection with prison
reforms. Close by is a wall tablet to the wido