parish church of
St. Peter, derived one advantage from the revolution. Another church,
dedicated to St. Germain, which had previously stood immediately before
it, so as almost to block up the approach, was taken down, and the west
front of the cathedral was made to open upon a spacious square.--Solid,
simple grandeur are the characters of this front, which, notwithstanding
some slight anomalies, is, upon the whole, a noble specimen of early
pointed architecture.--It consists of three equal compartments, the
lateral ones rising into short square towers of similar height. The
southern tower is surmounted by a lofty stone spire, probably of a date
posterior to the part below. The spire of the opposite tower fell in
1553, at which time much injury was done to the building, and
particularly to the central door-way, which, even to the present day,
has never been repaired.--Contrary to the usual elevation of French
cathedrals, the great window over the principal entrance is not
circular, but pointed: it is divided into three compartments by broad
mullions, enriched with many mouldings. The compartments end in acute
pointed arches. In the north tower, the whole of the space from the
basement story is occupied by only two tiers of windows. Each tier
contains two windows, extremely narrow, considering their height; and
yet, narrow as they are, each of them is parted by a circular mullion or
central pillar. You will better understand how high they must be, when
told that, in the southern tower, the space of the upper row is divided
into three distinct tiers; and still the windows do not appear
disproportionately short. They also are double, and the interior arches
are pointed; but the arches, within which they are placed, are circular.
In this circumstance lies the principal anomaly in the front of the
cathedral; but there is no appearance of any disparity in point of
dates; for the circular arches are supported on the same slender
mullions, with rude foliaged capitals, of great projection, which are
the most distinguishing characteristics of this style of architecture.

"The date of the building establishes the fact of the pointed arch being
in use, not only as an occasional variation, but in the entire
construction of churches upon a grand scale, as early as the eleventh
century.--Sammarthanus tells us that Bishop Herbert, who died in 1049,
began to build this church, but did not live to see it completed; and
Ordericus Vitalis