with dog-tooth mouldings, and have trefoils in the
spandrils. It is of two stories without windows in the sides; in the
upper story there is a triple lancet window at the west end, the
middle light being higher than the one on either side; the lower story
receives light through the western opening. The arch of entrance is
very elegant, and worthy of notice; it is receding, with rich and
various mouldings, which on each side rest upon slender columns; a
central group of shafts separates the opening into two smaller arches,
with good tracery in the tympanum. The length on each side,
internally, is occupied by two large pointed arches, comprehending
under each two tiers of subordinate ones, the upper tier of five and
the lower of three, which contains both outer and inner arches of
different heights, supported by very slender columns; all the shafts
were originally of Purbeck marble, with elegant capitals; the ribs of
the vaulting are of free-stone, but the vault is of clunch. The arch
of communication with the Tower is also very beautiful; it is similar
in form to the exterior arch, but the ornaments in the mouldings are
richer and more delicate: this has just been restored, and the Purbeck
marble pillars--some of which had disappeared and others had become
decayed--have been replaced by pillars of Devonshire marble with
Purbeck plinths and capitals; the vesica in the tympanum has been
filled with stained glass representing St. Etheldreda, the foundress;
the original oaken doors have been repaired, faced, and ornamented
with scrollwork in iron: this has been effected at a cost of more than
L1000. contributed by Mrs. Waddington, of Twyford House, Winchester,
as a memorial to her husband.

[Footnote 26: Parker's "Introduction to the study of Gothic
Architecture," p. 91.]

+The Interior of the Tower+

has been considerably improved by the removal of a floor which had
been inserted just above the lower arches, thus opening it to the
great lantern, bringing into view a series of beautiful colonnades
and arches, for many years hidden, except to those who explored the
upper portions, besides relieving it of the weight of a large quantity
of stone and materials.[27] The tops of the four fine arches which
originally supported the Tower can now be partially seen; they were
spacious openings, but are contracted by interior arches in a
different style, which were inserted in the early part of the
fifteenth century, for the purp