._]

CHAPTER III

THE INTERIOR

As soon as the visitor enters the church, he will be able to contrast
the Norman work of the twelfth century with that which succeeded it in
the thirteenth, as both are brought into juxtaposition immediately
within the western doorway. The surviving #Bay of the Nave#, which
probably marks the boundary of the monastic choir, now answers the
purpose of a vestibule to the church, from the body of which it is
separated by the organ-screen, the instrument being carried on a gallery
built against the western wall. The nave arches, at each end of the
passage thus formed, are semicircular in shape, with a zigzag moulding
on the inner sides, and rest on massive rounded piers, with square bases
and abaci and simple cushioned capitals--the whole obviously of early
twelfth century date. The northern arch has been built up, and a small
Tudor doorway, inserted in the wall, gives access to the transept.

At right angles with the southern arch, and on each side of the entrance
to the choir aisle, or ambulatory, there is a cluster of #Early English
Columns#, still bearing a portion of the vaulting-shafts, from which it
can be seen that the pitch of the roof to the nave aisle was much higher
than that of the ambulatory to which it was attached, probably implying
a corresponding difference in the height of the nave. The slender
columns on both sides are alike in their moulded bases, which resemble
those left (_in situ_) among the ruins outside, as far as the latter can
be discerned; but there is an interesting variety in other details, the
capitals of the northern group being cut into foliage, while they are
moulded on the south, where also the shafts are banded.

#The Organ-screen# (modern) is an elegant piece of work in oak, panelled
and canopied in the Perpendicular style. With the organ-front above, it
forms an admirable background to the choir-stalls, which are arranged in
the space within the old central tower, the seats for the congregation
being carried along towards the east, facing each other chapel-wise, in
continuation of the stalls on either side. A description of the organ
will be found in the Appendix.

[Illustration: THE SOUTH AISLE FROM THE WEST, SHOWING THE EARLY
ENGLISH SHAFTS
_E. Scamell. Photo._]

#The Tower Arches# are worth particular notice. Those on the north and
south are pointed, and much narrower than the others, which have a bold
se