ce, was actually a less
indispensable part of the plan than before.

[Illustration: Fig. 5. Aisleless plan: 12th century.]

Sec. 30. The nave of the Norman aisleless church was usually short, and,
where the church was entirely rebuilt, rather wide in proportion to its
length. The naves of churches like Garton-on-the-Wolds or Kirkburn in
Yorkshire, give the effect of spacious halls, of no great length, but
wide and lofty. It cannot be doubted, however, that the fabric of the
Saxon church was frequently kept, or that the church was rebuilt upon
Saxon foundations. It is not unusual, as already stated, to find Saxon
quoins still existing at the angles of naves to which aisles have
subsequently been added. Evidences, on the other hand, of the westward
lengthening of a Saxon nave in the Norman period appear to be rare. At
North Witham in south Lincolnshire, the south and (blocked) north
doorways are Norman work, in the usual position near the west end of the
nave. East of them, however, in the centre of the nave walls, there are
distinct traces of the inner openings of a north and south doorway,
which may belong to the late Saxon period. That we have here a case of
the twelfth century lengthening of an earlier nave may be inferred. The
probability is increased by the fact that, in the neighbouring church of
Colsterworth, where aisles were added during the early Norman period to
a late Saxon fabric, the nave and aisles, towards the end of the twelfth
century, were certainly extended a bay westward. As little architectural
work is done without a precedent, we may assume that the builders at
Colsterworth were following the example of North Witham.

Sec. 31. The great majority of Norman rectangular chancels have been
lengthened and enlarged; for the plain "altar-house" at the east end of
the nave was too small for the purposes of the ritual of the thirteenth
and fourteenth centuries, and afforded no intermediate space between
nave and chancel. However, short and approximately square chancels were
by no means invariable; and, before the middle of the twelfth century,
oblong chancels of considerable length in proportion to their width were
being built. There is a good early twelfth century example at Moor
Monkton, in the Ainsty of York; and the chancel of the middle of the
twelfth century at Earl's Barton, Northants, is of considerable depth,
and was of ample size for all later purposes. At Earl's Barton the
eastern portion was t