The east end of the choir was covered before 1841 by the "Grecian" screen,
a wooden erection placed there by Bishop Bisse in 1717, and above it a
Decorated window containing a stained glass representation of the Last
Supper after the picture by Benjamin West. The improvement effected by the
removal of this screen with its heterogeneous appendages was immense. The
great Norman arch was once more exposed to view; and, in place of the
Decorated window, we now have three lancets at the back of the clerestory
passage.

In describing the discoveries led up to by the removal of the old screen,
Dean Merewether says: "By cautious examination of the parts walled up it
was discovered that the capitals were all perfect, and that this exquisite
and grand construction, the mutilation and concealment of which it is
utterly impossible to account for, was in fact made up of five arches, the
interior and smallest supported by the two semi-columns, and each of the
others increasing in span as it approached the front upon square and
circular shafts alternately, the faces of each arch being beautifully
decorated with the choicest Norman ornaments. Of the four lateral arches,
the two first had been not only hid by the oak panelling of the screen,
but were also, like the two others, closed up with lath and plaster as the
central arch; and when these incumbrances and desecrations were taken away
it is impossible to describe adequately the glorious effect produced,
rendered more solemn and impressive by the appearance of the ancient
monuments of Bishops Reynelm, Mayew, Stanbury, and Benet, whose ashes rest
beneath these massive arches, of which, together with the noble triforium
above, before the Conquest, Athelstan had probably been the founder, and
the former of those just mentioned, the completer and restorer after that
era."

The reredos is in Bath stone and marble, and was designed by Mr.
Cottingham, junior, as a memorial to Mr. Joseph Bailey, 1850, who
represented the county for several years in Parliament.

The sculptor was Boulton, and the subject is our Lord's Passion, in five
deep panels occupying canopied compartments divided by small shafts
supporting angels, who carry the instruments of the Passion. The subjects
in the separate panels are:--1. The Agony in the Garden; 2. Christ Bearing
the Cross; 3. The Crucifixion; 4. The Resurrection; and 5. The Three Women
at the Sepulchre.

[Illustration: EAST END OF THE CHOIR