er than
it is now.

[Illustration: THE SEDILIA.]

=The Sedilia.=--The last bay on the south side is now occupied by three
sedilia and a piscina, which form one block. As might be expected from
the mediaeval position of the altar, they once stood in the second bay
from the east, and they were not removed to their present position until
the last restoration. Sir Gilbert Scott considered them late Decorated
work, but they have rather the appearance of late Perpendicular. Over
each seat is an ogee canopy, cinquefoil, crocketed, and surmounted by
a huge finial. These canopies rest on square pillars, the sides of which
are adorned with a sort of 'four-leaved flowers,' while the capitals are
encircled with foliage in which are animals and monsters. Each pillar is
surmounted by a pinnacle, and behind each canopy rises a crocketed
gable, again crowned by a huge finial. The gables, the pinnacles, and
the tops of the canopies are the work of Sir Gilbert Scott, who found
the sedilia in a mutilated condition. Below the seats and the piscina
runs a chamfer with 'four-leaved flowers' along it, and below this are
panels enclosing trefoils containing faces. But the most curious feature
of these sedilia is not perceived until a glance is given beneath the
canopies. The carved ends of the cusps are in reality the heads of
extraordinary grotesques whose bodies are curled up against the under
surface of the arch. Some of these figures, in addition to their proper
physiognomy, have faces carved on the crowns of their heads. The
piscina, which has been converted into a credence table, has another
ogee canopy, and is backed by a wall, along the top of which runs a band
of foliage that is continued round the top of a square pillar at the end
of the block.

The fine oak chairs in the Sanctuary are of modern construction but of
old material, while the rails, lectern and pulpit are all modern.[98]

In the four easternmost bays the choir is separated from its aisles
(except where the sedilia already block one arch) by elaborate oak
screens of various designs, in the upper part of which the tracery is
largely pendant--an arrangement characteristic of Yorkshire. These
screens have been restored, but contain much of the old work, most of
which is probably of the same date with the stalls.[99] Until the last
restoration they were surmounted by seventeenth century galleries in the
so-called Jacobean style.

[Illustration: CHOIR STALLS, FIFTEEN