ngcourses, at the foot of these
statues, are three rose windows of exceptional grace and beauty. The
central one has eight spokes radiating from a flat medallion enriched
with conventional foliage; these support trefoil-headed arches which
have their outer mouldings thickly covered with dog-tooth; the whole is
bounded by two circular bands, the inner one ornamented. The two other
rose windows have six spokes instead of eight, the trefoiled arches have
foliage, and the inner moulding of the bounding circles is continuously
waving. The spokes in all three windows have the dog-tooth on each side.
On each side of the lower part of these windows is a trefoil-headed
niche containing a figure. Below these, and resting upon the long
stringcourse that runs above the great arches, are sets of seven
trefoil-headed niches, with a half-niche at each end. Four of these
niches are pierced for windows, which have trefoils with pointed heads,
though the trefoil heads of the niches themselves are round at the
top. The three intervening niches contain figures. All these nine
figures have a nimbus; and as these, with the three under the crosses,
make up twelve, it is assumed that they represent the Apostles. The six
smaller statues, just above, are said to be kings; the twelve below,
benefactors. There are thus thirty statues in all, and most were no
doubt carved at the time of the erection of the front; but two or three
appear to be of earlier date, and may possibly have formed part of the
embellishments of the Saxon church.

[Illustration: Gates to West Porch.]

=The Towers north and south=, up to the height of the parapets, are of
the same date as the portion already described. They are ornamented with
blank arcading in six stages, of different dimensions and character; all
is in perfect harmony with the rest of the composition. The loftiest of
the stages of this arcading has a sub-division with round arches; and
the stage above the great stringcourse has round-headed trefoils so as
to be in keeping with the row of similar arches in the gables; but with
these two exceptions all the arches on the arcades of the tower are
pointed and without cusps. Of the spires which surmount these towers
that on the south is by far the more elegant. It has pinnacles at the
corners of square section, and then another set of triangular pinnacles,
resting on open arches connecting the corner pinnacles with the spire.
These triangular pinnacles are double